Venice Gondolier - 10/23/05 -
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Published on: 10/23/2005
Last Visited: 10/23/2005
... any pipe material will leak over time, according to Sleuth vice president and part owner Luke Salzlein.
"If you maintain 70 psi which is pretty close to the average city or county pressure on any pipe (about 40 psi on a well), eventually it is going to fail," Salzlein said."You put plumbing under pressure, its going to leak."
Salzlein said there is a life span for all pipe materials.
"Soft copper (all fittings in the walls) is good for anywhere between 20-30 years, hard copper with stick (fittings under floor )30-40 years, and galvanized pipe over 60 years," Salzlein said.
Salzlein said in a new home he is building, he is installing CPVC pipe.
The downside of CPVC, he said, is it tends to get brittle with age and crack.He said plumbers like working with CPVC because it is easier to cut, carry and install.
He said there is a rule of thumb for deciding how much trouble you could be in if your pipes leak.
"You get more than one leak within five years," Salzlein said, "your system is probably letting you know it's failing."
He said more than two leaks in that time you probably should think about repiping.
Salzlein said the leaky pipe stories have gotten so bad that if one person on the block has to repipe, everybody else on the block wants to repipe even though they may not have any leaks.Repiping an entire house can cost anywhere from $5,000 up.
Salzlein said during the busy season, his company detects more than 200 leaks a week.He said they detected 187 leaks last week.
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