Thursday, August 16, 2007
Epoxy Lining our Leaky Pipes
Around 2 months ago, we found that we had a leak in our copper water pipes under our kitchen. A guy came out, found the leak, and fixed it for us. Fortunately, the pea gravel under our slab sent the water harmlessly down into the ground. We replaced the tiles that got broken in the process and life was good again.
After returning from vacation last month, we were hearing the same sounds in our bathroom again indicating another under-the-slab pipe leak. The piece that was taken out showed some corrosion, but we were hoping for more time before having to do anything drastic. No such luck.
We decided to work with a company that does epoxy lining in the pipes rather than re-piping the house. It was much less intrusive in terms of damage to the walls, etc. then doing a repipe. We did this project last week.
The water was off for 2 1/2 days (Wednesday morning until mid-day Friday). The company doing the work was very considerate of how we would live in the house during that time. Each night, they gave us a 2 gallon water container by the kitchen sink for washing and bottled water by each bathroom sink for brushing teeth, drinking, etc. They also filled buckets with water and carried them upstairs so that we could "flush" the toilets. The girls used the one hose we had working to take a back yard "shower" on Thursday night, but I held out for the water to turn on Friday. Overall, it was not an entirely uncomfortable process.
It did give us a good perspective of what we will have to deal with if water is disrupted by a disaster like an earthquake. We have a couple of holes to patch in the wall, but otherwise we are back to having a secure water supply system!
After returning from vacation last month, we were hearing the same sounds in our bathroom again indicating another under-the-slab pipe leak. The piece that was taken out showed some corrosion, but we were hoping for more time before having to do anything drastic. No such luck.
We decided to work with a company that does epoxy lining in the pipes rather than re-piping the house. It was much less intrusive in terms of damage to the walls, etc. then doing a repipe. We did this project last week.
The water was off for 2 1/2 days (Wednesday morning until mid-day Friday). The company doing the work was very considerate of how we would live in the house during that time. Each night, they gave us a 2 gallon water container by the kitchen sink for washing and bottled water by each bathroom sink for brushing teeth, drinking, etc. They also filled buckets with water and carried them upstairs so that we could "flush" the toilets. The girls used the one hose we had working to take a back yard "shower" on Thursday night, but I held out for the water to turn on Friday. Overall, it was not an entirely uncomfortable process.
It did give us a good perspective of what we will have to deal with if water is disrupted by a disaster like an earthquake. We have a couple of holes to patch in the wall, but otherwise we are back to having a secure water supply system!
# posted by - Rob @ 1:28 PM 
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corrosion? I'm wondering who did your copper in that house.
not sure how they do the epoxy in the water pipes and still insure proper flow.
My pop has pretty much ditched copper for Pex. It's much easier to handle and damn near instant. shame you have a slab thats the real problem. You have to dig up the freeking foundation to fix anything major.
Of course thats why they use copper becuase it doesnt corrode unless it touches another metal.
not sure how they do the epoxy in the water pipes and still insure proper flow.
My pop has pretty much ditched copper for Pex. It's much easier to handle and damn near instant. shame you have a slab thats the real problem. You have to dig up the freeking foundation to fix anything major.
Of course thats why they use copper becuase it doesnt corrode unless it touches another metal.
Actually I read some articles on this showing that copper is starting to corrode with the changes in how they clean up our water. There are theories that without chlorine our water chemistry is attacking the copper faster than ever.
In our case, it looks like some salt or flux got in the line from a water softener system that the prior owners had. That seems to be what started the corrosive effect. That corrosion slowly took its toll -- kind of a Grand Canyon effect in miniature.
In our case, it looks like some salt or flux got in the line from a water softener system that the prior owners had. That seems to be what started the corrosive effect. That corrosion slowly took its toll -- kind of a Grand Canyon effect in miniature.
well that makes a bit more sense. Shame you cant retro fit it with Pex http://www.ppfahome.org/pex/faqpex.html
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