I own a 24 year old house in Central Florida with copper piping. I’ve already gotten pinhole leaks in 1 corner fitting that has been repaired. It was the corner fitting where the main supply feed comes into the house, so there was no interior damage.
I’ve gutted my guest bath/shower (tub was leaking,. not the pipes) and the piping that I see is bad. Lots of green on the pipes, all the way into the slab. Other exposed pipes that I can see (hot water heater, under sinks, etc) have visible green.
I’ve talked to some Home Depot people and the plumber who fixed my above pipe and they said at 15 yrs, copper in FL starts to go. So I’m past my prime.
I’ve decided that re-piping my house is probably the right thing to do, especially since I already have 1 bathroom gutted.
I know nothing of the process and am looking for advice. I’d like to know what I must find out from plumbers I get quoted on. Do I want them to re-plumb with copper again or use PEX? Can they replumb in portions? Meaning, can they do everything except my master shower so I still have a place to shower? After they did the guest shower I could put up the walls/tile in a day and have plumbers out in 2-3 days after to finish the work.
Replies
Copper normally lasts a lifetime, except in areas with corrosive water or air. You must be living in one of those areas, so it's wise not to use copper again.
Either CPVC or PEX would be good alternatives and would function well, but local code may limit your choices. PEX is fairly new in this country, but has a long history in Europe and has a good reputation. It's easier to install in an existing structure than CPVC. One plastic to stay away from is polybutylene (PB), but I don't think anyone installs it anymore.
They can replumb your house in stages. Typically they'd have the water off for a while during the day and restore everything at night. Obviously the whole house has to be shut down when they are hooking in the main line, but that would only be a few hours. It's certainly reasonable to ask that you have one working bathroom and kitchen every night, but if you want everything to work with only a few minutes' interruption it will cost you more in labor.
When comparing quotes, make sure you understand what each is providing. If one quotes CPVC and another PEX you can't compare them. It may be good to ask each of your plumbers to quote doing the job in both, or whatever else they recommend. Also see if they include patching walls, cleanup, or whatever. And of course, check all the normal things you'd check for any contractor: experience, references, insurance, guarantee, and so forth. You can probably get $10 or $20 for the scrap copper if the contractor was just going to send it to the landfill.
Be wary of any advice from a HD employee, that's my advice. What's in your water that it eats copper pipe?
Talk to a couple of good plumbers and find out what they recommend. If you don't know who the good remodel plumbers in your town are, call a couple of the good general contractors and ask who they recommend. It might also be good to talk to your building inspector--they usually know good tricks, and they always know who the good contractors are. Your scheduling needs will be typical, and they'll cost you a few extra bucks for a return trip.
I wasn't basing decision on the HD employee, he was just another guy who has had similar problems.
My water hardness is a 12 or 14. I had it tested a few months back but forgot the #. The plumber I did talk to said this is common in central FL. Maybe frm the hardness?
There was a RainSoft water softener used on the house for ~5 years, but it has been out of use for the past 2 or 3. It's salt based unit that brings hardness to 0 and removed pretty much everything from the water. I noticied green on the piping on the softener as well. it has some short runs of some cast metal pipe. It doesn't look like copper. Maybe brass? These pipes were connected to the main water supply by PVC, so there was no direct connection of metal pipes, but there was a mixture of pipes. Maybe this has caused the problem?
Currently the softener isn't plumbed in at all.
Hardness won't cause perforation, so using a softener or not will not affect the life of copper pipe. Hardness can cause mineral buildup in water heaters, and of course, minerals on faucets and such. It can also increase soap scum in tubs and showers. But, it's not related to your perforation.
If the other pipe you spoke of is brass, there is no problem joining brass and copper together in the same system. They are compatible.
The water may be acidic. If that's the case you'd need a different kind of treatment system, to adjust pH. But, with plastic pipe it would be unnecessary.
Have you asked local municipal water departments? Even if you are on a well, the folks at surrounding water departments are trained in water and generally know what well water in the area is like. Try to get a hold of the municipal engineer. Every town has one even if the title is something like "superintendent".
That's a pretty typical problem in a lot of Florida cities. I had several houses in Cape Coral (southwest Florida) with the same leaks. Eventually you have to re-pipe. It's still a growth industry around here with many plumbers specializing in re-piping. The most typical material is CPVC but PEX would be good too. Plumbing costs for a 2000 square foot 3/2 usually run about $2500.00 but that does not include repairing your drywall or repainting. The plumbing part takes a plumber and helper 2 days start to finish.
Areas of Florida are notorious for corrosive water. In those areas some sort of plastic is the only way to go. Either PEX or CMVC could be used -- probably depends on the plumber, and possibly what local inspectors prefer.
A plumber should be able to do a section at a time, within reason, and with the understanding that there will be some added cost.
One thing you need to be aware of is that the plumbing in the slab will probably have to be abandoned, with new plumbing run through the attic.
I know slab plumbing is lost, except for the drainage piping, I suspect that's some form of plastic or cast iron and isn't going to give me issues.
As long as they can do sections at time while still giving me hot water service for shower, I'm OK.
Is it true they only open up the wall in the area to apply new shut offs/fittings and not down the entire run?