05/19/2026
Behind the Drywall/brick: The $$$$ Question Every Investor Faces 🛠️
Take a look at these photos. We’re deep into a renovation on an old property, and when we opened up this wall, we uncovered a piece of history: a 100-year-old cast iron waste pipe serving the upstairs toilet.
By all accounts, it was working just fine. No active leaks, no major backing up.
At this point, a lot of people face a crossroads. Do you leave it and "hope for the best" to keep costs down? Or do you go the extra mile, rip it out, and replace it?
Let's be real—burying it would have been the easier, cheaper route today. But the AKO way isn't about just fixing the issues you can see right now; it's about preventing the disasters of tomorrow. Cast iron doesn't last forever, and the last thing we want is a future tenant or buyer dealing with a catastrophic leak later on.
So, the decision was easy. The old iron is history, and a brand-new PVC line is coming in.
Doing things right the first time is the right thing to do. Doing the same thing twice, always cost more money and takes longer.

What would you have done here? Drop your thoughts in the comments! 👇
Kimberly AshkenaziOmer Ashkenazi