So... I found a ticking time bomb in my wall.

[Profreedomokie]

I found a small leak on the floor under our hot water heater one day. I found out when we bought it and it was old enough that I told my wife to call a plumber to replace it. She said when the plumber tilted back his hand truck to haul the old one out, it collapsed within itself.

 

[travisstorma]

Just flex seal it on up.


We had something like that when I was younger. I remember my mom being so mad. Plumber showed up, took a look and said he had to go to the supply house to get a part... never to return.


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[Dumpstick]

Chances are good that you'll chase that rusted pipe many feet through the house. All the rest of the plumbing is the same age, put in by the same guy.

Where are you comfortable stopping ? At the meter ?

 

[NightShade]

Yeah, have to agree that if that line is bad the rest of it is as well. Looks like a slab construction as well. If it is hopefully you have good attic access otherwise prepare for a major PITA.

I honestly would rather have a house with a basement than slab construction every day of the week. Too many issues can be hidden in a slab and they are a monster to find and fix later on.

And if it's all the same stuff put in at the same time I have to agree it's best to just stop at the meter. Good luck with it.

 

[SPDguns]

House is on a crawl space. The bad pipe only went to the "T" joint about 2 feet away under the house (pic #3). I'm gonna tell the plumber to upgrade with the PEX starting at the water heater and go until he runs out of time or I run out of money.

 

[steelfingers]

Wow!

 

[Cowcatcher]

Just looks like surface rust. Hit it with the air hose and some krylon or rustoleum(if money is no object) and you'll be good for atleast a couple days probably. No need in spending more than is necessary.

 

[Dumpstick]

One thing to remember when swapping to Pex.
Pipe (copper or steel) is measured by I.D.
Tubing is measured by O.D.

IOW, 3/4" copper pipe carries more water than 3/4" PEX tubing.
If you replace pipe with tubing, go up at least one size.
You will notice reduced flow otherwise.

 

[NightShade]

Pex is also very easy to do. The major issue is the crimp connectors and the tool for it. But once you have one you can probably replace all the stuff on your own for a whole lot less than a plumber will charge. To go from Pex to what ever else in the middle of a job just use one of the sharkbite connectors so you can keep the water on when you decide to stop working. With a crawlspace it should be easy enough to do and you can even potentially use a distribution style system like what is used in new construction. Just get a manifold to bring all your connections to and replace one set every weekend. The hardest par is bringing the main line in to the manifold. Once that is done it's pretty easy going out from there, usually the main line is very large, like 1 inch but off from that is all 1/2 inch ran to each fixture so you tend to have less issues with pressure drops like when someone flushes the toilet while someone is in the shower.

It's always an option though. A crawlspace just makes it a lot easier to do since you can probably just cut the line at what ever room you are working in and then fish the lines back through the holes they were already in. Then just pull them to the manifold and connect. If you had a whole weekend two people could probably do it all. The hardest part will be removing the old stuff.

 

[John6185]

I don't know if you have a crimper but there are small "pocket-size" crimpers you can buy for around $30.00 or as you are doing the entire house, it might be worthwhile to either rent one from Home Depot or buy one outright. I've got a couple of pocket size ones and if you were close to me I'd loan one to you. I'm in MWC.