Q: My house had to be completely re-plumbed at a cost of thousands of dollars. I was told that inferior pipes were installed... MORE AT markandsheilate...
I liked this presentation, not only clearly outlined in many aspects of pipes and failures, but some of the reason as to why and what causes such failures. All home owners should watch this so they will be fully aware.
As I understand it, it is the Chlorine in the 'city' water that causes the Polybutylene to fail unexpectedly. I have Poly tubing in my house and my water is from a well with sediment filters installed and a pressure tank set at 80 PSI max pressure before shutting off the well pump. I've had not issues over the last 13 years or so and the house was built in the early '90's. I am slowly starting to replumb the Poly tubing under sinks and bathtubs with PEX. Plus I want to install shutoff valves at the sinks and tubs for quick and local access to shut off for servicing those valves and fixtures.
In my experience working with PB from the eighties, I have not seen any problems, inside or outside of the pipe. I have seen the fittings become brittle and break. Replacing the fittings has been all that is needed. People fail to mention that PEX is also affected by chlorine in the water as well as UV light, petroleum oils and even oxygen! PEX A produces a fair amount of toxins into the water, about four times as much as PEX B.
If the water pressure in a residence is higher than 80 psi, a pressure reducing valve should be installed and the utility should pay for it. Pressure higher than 100 psi in the hot water side can exceed the ratings of PEX (new plastic) pipe and cause failures.
This video is old. Here’s what’s current. Your insurance will cancel you if you have it, period. They will do a 4 point inspection and cancel you either before you pay or within 90 days. Change it now before you get put in the situation of paying high risk insurance. They will also check the homes history and if it has a history of water claims they will cancel you. It doesn’t matter if it was the pervious owner. Your roof also has to have at least 3 years left according to the inspector. It’s a real nightmare caused by all the crooks.
We just had a leak and got it repaired,our house was built in 93 and was never told about this recall until this happened 2 weeks ago and my neighbor and plummer told me about it.
Thanks for your feedback. I did some research, then fact checked with experts. There's a lot of scare tactics on the web about this stuff from folks that want to sell people something. I wanted to keep this factual and to have something I could refer my own clients to. Thanks for watching! Mark T Fiedler
It will cost between $4500 and $5000 to replumb my house (two estimates); I found a plumber who will do it for $3000, as he is his own company, and the bigger guys cost more to pay all their employees; he is bonded and insured, and I want to believe him; should I?
Mark and Sheila, can CPVC be patched into PB pipe using cement and primer? I have PB pipe that a rotten little rodent chewed through, and created a leak in my bedroom/bathroom wall. Unfortunately, the hole chewed in the pipe is about 1 inch off the stud on the floor that the pipes come up through in the framing, leaving me not much PB to work with. TIA for any help
I liked this presentation, not only clearly outlined in many aspects of pipes and failures, but some of the reason as to why and what causes such failures. All home owners should watch this so they will be fully aware.
As I understand it, it is the Chlorine in the 'city' water that causes the Polybutylene to fail unexpectedly. I have Poly tubing in my house and my water is from a well with sediment filters installed and a pressure tank set at 80 PSI max pressure before shutting off the well pump. I've had not issues over the last 13 years or so and the house was built in the early '90's. I am slowly starting to replumb the Poly tubing under sinks and bathtubs with PEX. Plus I want to install shutoff valves at the sinks and tubs for quick and local access to shut off for servicing those valves and fixtures.
In my experience working with PB from the eighties, I have not seen any problems, inside or outside of the pipe. I have seen the fittings become brittle and break. Replacing the fittings has been all that is needed. People fail to mention that PEX is also affected by chlorine in the water as well as UV light, petroleum oils and even oxygen! PEX A produces a fair amount of toxins into the water, about four times as much as PEX B.
If the water pressure in a residence is higher than 80 psi, a pressure reducing valve should be installed and the utility should pay for it. Pressure higher than 100 psi in the hot water side can exceed the ratings of PEX (new plastic) pipe and cause failures.
This video is old. Here’s what’s current. Your insurance will cancel you if you have it, period. They will do a 4 point inspection and cancel you either before you pay or within 90 days. Change it now before you get put in the situation of paying high risk insurance. They will also check the homes history and if it has a history of water claims they will cancel you. It doesn’t matter if it was the pervious owner. Your roof also has to have at least 3 years left according to the inspector. It’s a real nightmare caused by all the crooks.
We just had a leak and got it repaired,our house was built in 93 and was never told about this recall until this happened 2 weeks ago and my neighbor and plummer told me about it.
I see you avoided using the word " inferior product" when referring to the Polybutylene 🤣
this is SUCH an informative video on pb pipe! great work Mark & Sheila. Where did you get all of this great info
Thanks for your feedback. I did some research, then fact checked with experts. There's a lot of scare tactics on the web about this stuff from folks that want to sell people something. I wanted to keep this factual and to have something I could refer my own clients to. Thanks for watching! Mark T Fiedler
Nice video!
It will cost between $4500 and $5000 to replumb my house (two estimates); I found a plumber who will do it for $3000, as he is his own company, and the bigger guys cost more to pay all their employees; he is bonded and insured, and I want to believe him; should I?
Mark and Sheila, can CPVC be patched into PB pipe using cement and primer? I have PB pipe that a rotten little rodent chewed through, and created a leak in my bedroom/bathroom wall. Unfortunately, the hole chewed in the pipe is about 1 inch off the stud on the floor that the pipes come up through in the framing, leaving me not much PB to work with. TIA for any help
Late reply, PB can NOT be glued. There are fittings that will connect PB and CPVC.
No Go sir...polybutylene is a joke. Copper also does not hold up against the water that we have in the southwest, always use PEX