At our house, the pipes are already over 30 years old and I'm wondering if they should be flushed regularly. A tradesman recommended it to me recently, but I'm not sure if it's really necessary or just a way to make money.
For pipes that are older than 30 years, a flush is definitely worth doing, but not annually - more like every couple of years or when you notice the water getting cloudy or smelling off. The tradesman has a point there, because deposits and rust build up in older pipes and can eventually become problematic. That said, you don't need to have someone come out all the time; only do it when it's actually necessary - either get it tested regularly or wait until you notice something's wrong.
I wouldn't do it automatically just because a tradesman suggests it 😅 With pipes that are 30 years old, flushing can definitely make sense if you notice problems like discoloration, low water pressure, or weird tastes - then it's definitely time for it. If everything's running fine and the water's clear, you can skip it. Just get a second opinion from another plumber and then you'll know whether it's really necessary or not.
Don't automatically flush your water lines every year - that's really often unnecessary. Only do it if you actually have problems like cloudy water or weird smells, then flushing makes sense with pipes that old.
Sounds to me like the classic "your pipes are old, so you need to do something about it" tactic. The truth is: flushing is only worth it if you've got concrete problems. Cloudy water, discoloration, weird smells, or suddenly lower pressure - those are the real indicators. As long as that's not happening, regular flushing is more about making money than necessity.
With 30-year-old pipes, a flush can definitely be worth doing once to see what's going on - but not as routine maintenance every couple of years, more as a one-time measure or if those problems actually show up. A plumber who wants to push regular flushing on you without concrete symptoms should make you suspicious.
A practical tip I haven't seen mentioned yet: check your water quality yourself before you call anyone. Just run the first water from your tap in the morning into a glass bottle for a week and watch if it gets clearer or stays brown. If it's clear right away, you probably don't need to do anything. If it stays cloudy or takes a while to clear up - then you've got a real problem and flushing could help.
The problem is that with pipes that are 30 years old, you can't always tell whether deposits have already built up inside - some people don't have any symptoms at all and still have this stuff sitting in there. A one-time flush for inspection might be worth it, then at least you'll see whether anything still comes out afterward or whether the pipe is actually fine. After that you can decide whether you want to do it regularly or not. But I wouldn't recommend just blindly paying for it every few years just because the pipe is old.
The problem with such blanket recommendations is: whether your pipes really need flushing depends much more on their condition than on their age. 30 years is certainly not early stage, but it's not automatically a reason to act. First, check whether you actually have problems - cloudy water when you turn on the tap, discoloration, strange smells, or low water pressure. If none of that is happening, you probably don't need to do anything.
But if the pipes start causing problems, then flushing is definitely worth it. That was also my impression when I noticed similar things in our house - it only made sense once something really went wrong. The annoying part is: there are a lot of tradespeople who want to sell this as regular maintenance, even though it's usually a waste of money. My advice would be to wait and see first, and only act when you spot concrete signs. If something really does turn out to be necessary, you get it flushed - not as a precaution every few years, but only when needed.
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