Plumbing – Copper failing under the house

copperleakpexplumbing

I am in a 10 year old house. Custom built, very nice home. Twice in the last year, have encountered a leak under the slab.

History

  • The first time about a year ago, I agreed to have the lines rerouted overhead in attic with PEX. Worked fine.
  • This month, another leak happened in the other end of the house, again, the hot water side.

The House

  • The house was on a circulating pump that ran 24/7.
  • We are on hard water that has a high pH factor out of the tap.

The Plan

  • I am going to have the entire house re-routed with PEX in the attic.
  • We are in a fairly cold climate (Oklahoma) but the attic is well insulated and we are going to have them insulate the pex.
  • I don't want to jack hammer up the floor every six months because it is an expensive wood floor, and tile in some areas.

Here's my question(s):

  1. Would the running water from the pump create more friction in the copper pipes thus creating a breakdown in the copper?
  2. Should I just re-route the HOT Water? The cold water line has yet to fail, and I would have to tear out some tiled shower walls where the outdoor faucets are, and prefer not to have to rebuild the showers, however, if the cold water is intent on failing soon, might as well replace both at the same time.

Best Answer

when conduit or plumbing is covered in concrete it must be insulated from the cements high alkalinity, otherwise the metal will corrode and eventually fail. I don't believe the circulating pump has any detrimental effect on your copper pipe. Although it should be on a thermostat so it only works when needed. What I've noticed alot more in recent years is the quality of copper pipe (most imported from overseas) has become much lower. This and a high pH level could be why the copper is failing. If you are going to replace any damaged pipes it would be wise to re-route the pipes in the concrete to be safe. PEX when installed properly is the better alternative than copper.

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