Polybutylene Disaster

The Re-Pipe

To prepare for the plumbers, I had to move a lot of stuff out of the way. Unfortunately, that meant moving my entire library. Five bookcases full of books and magazines. It also meant moving the television and stereo equipment. Interestingly, I discovered more water damage when I moved the TV and stereo cabinets. These were located on the wall which contained the original leak, in a room with carpeting. Well, of course it turns out that the wood in the TV stand and stereo cabinet had been absorbing water up through the carpet which was starting to turn colors from mold/mildew and little bugs. Yeccchh.

Criminy sakes!

Thursday, June 21, 2001. Major surgery on the walls. The crew showed up at 4:30am and began working by 5:00am. By 10:00am, most of the new copper had been put down the walls and attached to the fixtures. It was amazing. People in the attic, people in each room tearing walls apart...

Another crew worked outside and replaced the service from the street. The main shutoff was relocated next to the garage. The plants didn't fare so well, but that's OK... I had planned on redoing some of the landscaping anyway. This whole event just moves up the schedule a little.

One little nice detail was putting the hose bib up a little higher. Makes it much easier on us folk who are getting, shall we say, old and weak.

The only drawback, a few exposed pipes. They decided to run kitchen related services in a trench around the yard and in through the outside wall in order to avoid demolishing the interior walls and ceiling (another footnote - AVOID POPCORN TEXTURE CEILINGS) since it is almost impossible to access this area of the attic. A little paint, maybe a few small plants, nobody will ever notice.

By 2:30 pm, the entire crew was done, and aside from the need to paint where the drywall repairs occurred, you would never know anyone had been there.

The bill: $3775.00

Well, hopefully I won't have to worry about the pipes in the house for another 100 years or so.

The plumbing company I used is called "Repipes by Peerless Plumbing", 602-265-5508. They were in and out in one day, and the only thing they didn't do was paint the walls. The drywall guys did an amazing job. The repairs are flawless. I have no doubt that once I touch them up it will be impossible to tell they were ever disturbed.