Polybutylene In a million dollar house

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Twowaxhack

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Had a customer call last night with a leak in the crawlspace on Polybutylene.

The home is large and was completely piped in poly in the 80’s.

I’ll snap a few pics so you guys can ride along on this service call
 
The home has 6 full baths and a half bath in the garage.

1” water service, PVC.

2- 50 gal water heaters.
1- tankless

Not a piece of 1” inside the foundation walls, all 1/2” and 3/4” poly.,

water pressure is 60# and the home is 75’ from the water meter.

The owners had it built in the 80’s and this is the first leak they’ve had on the poly.

For kicks I shot them an estimated cost to repipe of $9800.00.
Actual cost would be time and material.

Everything is very accessible. Does not include drywall repair.
 
Lol. Just the whole Florida vibe. Million dollar house with cheap pipe. I've been to Florida a few times and my grandparents retired there for a while. Its a great and strange place.
 
Florida = God’s waiting room.

Looks like you added a small bit of [blue] PEX, and a 90 ELL? Crimp fitting?

Did you show the client the piece you took out, and tell them “all the virtues of old PB piping?”

What was their reaction to the re-pipe estimate?
 
Yes, I cut out the leak and transitioned to pex. I used a 90 to take the strain off the pipe right there, that’s where the leak was.

The owner is well aware of the issues with PB.

No reaction for the estimate yet, it was emailed.

Money is not a problem for these people, although they probably don’t want to spend it on a repipe. Most people don’t.
 
I don’t mind patching a system up repeatedly. I make good money doing it.

I always inform that ultimately a repipe is the least expensive way to go. Eventually that’s what must be done and all the money for the patch jobs is wasted.
 
Lol. Just the whole Florida vibe. Million dollar house with cheap pipe. I've been to Florida a few times and my grandparents retired there for a while. Its a great and strange place.
A cheap pipe that lasted for 40 years!!! I have seen copper fail in less than 20 years.
 
Last edited:
The home was built in 1985, Thats 36 years and this is their second leak.

It’s starting to fail where it’s under strain.

It costs around $250 to repair an accessible leak at this customers location. When the leaks start ruining the interior they will replace the pipe.
 
I don't like to have the plastic vs copper debate. It's dependant on water quality as others have said. Real pex a is fine, the variants I'm not keen on. I'd prefer copper as it's water that'll I'll be drinking and plastics are what they are.
Can't avoid plastic as most city mains and service lines are plastic.
 
The main problem with plastic is the UV degradation which isn't a thing once it's buried. Ductile is still pretty common in my area, but yes c900 isn't uncommon.

Is more like we have some of a bad thing why add more?
 

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