I was renovating my house and have to open up the ceiling. Once the ceiling was opened up I see that our copper water piping has some green residue only on the joints. I was doing some research online and seem that the conclusion is mixed, some say not to concern while other think that it needs to be fixed.
There is one or two drops of water on the joint where there is green. Do I need to worry and replace the pipe with PEX and copper fittings? If I were to do something now is the time as the ceiling is open up. I have attached a picture for reference.
Best Answer
The connection is leaking. What more do you need?
There is water on the outside of the pipe. It has been leaking for possibly decades and evaporating as quickly as it leaks. The moisture, along with the solder and possibly flux, has corroded the outside of the pipe, leaving the characteristic green-blue color of dissolved copper.
More importantly, the leakage flow is verrry gradually eroding the sides of the small opening. The opening is growing, the flow is growing, and eventually, it will start dripping and then pouring on everything below...
I've seen this in a pinhole leak in a copper 90 degree elbow. The elbow had been installed for at least 30 years in the ceiling over the entrance hall. The first visible symptom was water dripping from the ceiling light fixture. When we opened the ceiling, there was an extremely fine mist coming from the pinhole. All the nails and screws in the joist space were rusted out...