It is always the easy stuff that bites you

[Lisa Starr]

As already mentioned, our son purchased his 1st home and it was a foreclosure. We've completed the demo of the 3 basement bedrooms (I wouldn't have let my dog sleep in one, let alone a child) and are beginning the infrastructure upgrades. As he is living in the home, everything have to be done in such a way as to maintain basic utilities.

Today's project was the water service into the home. First issue was there were no shutoffs on either side of the water meter. Thankfully, it is small town USA and the authority came, shutoff the water at the street, waited for me to break the line, add a shutoff and then turned the water back on. Once that was accomplished, I broke the line on the house side of the meter and began sweating copper to replace the PVC that was there and add a pressure regulator. I also stubbed a leg off a tee to eventually re-plumb the service to a detached garage. For now, that stub was hooked back into o the PVC feeding the home and unfortunately, routed over the Electrical Panel! While I was in there, I have everything in place to supply the new home run Pex system with nothing crossing over the panel. For all this work, the only joint to leak was the damn push fit connection between the copper and PVC. Isn't that the way it always goes?

[Mark Bolton]

For all this work, the only joint to leak was the damn push fit connection between the copper and PVC. Isn't that the way it always goes?

Thats why I avoid those things like the plague. Your lucky it leaked when you saw it and didnt blow apart in the middle of the night or during the day when no one was there. I will never, ever, trust a connection to an o-ring and a little stainless sheet metal barb washer.

Those, and s.s. braided flex connectors, give me the heebie jeebies.

[Paul F Franklin]

Lisa, you are right on. No matter how much planning you do, and how much you try to anticipate and head off problems, *something* will bite you. As Mark said, good you caught it right away.

[Doug Dawson]

Thats why I avoid those things like the plague. Your lucky it leaked when you saw it and didnt blow apart in the middle of the night or during the day when no one was there. I will never, ever, trust a connection to an o-ring and a little stainless sheet metal barb washer.

Those, and s.s. braided flex connectors, give me the heebie jeebies.

I thought you were going to say that you avoided foreclosures.

[John K Jordan]

Zounds, I hate to do plumbing. Better you than me!
I'm thankful for plumbers though.

Some folks bought a foreclosure house on our street. The bank hired a company to winterize the plumbing since winter was coming. We watched the company show up and work in the house a while. Unfortunately it was a MONTH AFTER the coldest spell that winter. When I looked at the certification they posted on the door they had lied and dated it as if they had done the winterization long before the cold snap!

Cue new buyers looking at the house and about to buy. I told them about the winterizing scam but the guy said no problem, he could do any plumbing needed. It took them four days to get the water turned on. Every time they turned the valve at the street the checkers inside hollered "TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!". They had to tear out half the walls in that house since almost all of the copper pipe in the house had burst from freezing.

[Brian Elfert]

I am in the process of renovating a basement bathroom. I am running all sorts of plumbing issues. A buddy soldered in a new shower valve and it started leaking more than 24 hours after installation. Tonight I discovered the drain pipe is cracked so I need to remove a bunch of mortar that was dumped into the hole to fix where they put a big hole in the floor apparently to install the drain originally.

I also discovered the plumbing for the shower valve sticks out in front of the wall so I don't know if the new shower walls will fit without fixing that. The old fiberglass shower fit over the pipes I guess.

[Stephen Tashiro]

the only joint to leak was the damn push fit connection between the copper and PVC.

Was the copper a copper pipe or was it copper tubing?

[Charlie Velasquez]

......
For now, that stub was hooked back into o the PVC feeding the home and unfortunately, routed over the Electrical Panel! While I was in there, I have everything in place to supply the new home run Pex system with nothing crossing over the panel.

Good. My neighbor failed inspection because he didn’t move the plumbing when he updated his service panel. He thought it would be fine as it was a continuous run with no joints above it. Was told no other mechanicals above the dedicated space of the panel unless protected from condensation or leaks. He had to add a drip pan that discharged away from the work area of the panel.

[Bill Carey]

.......... Isn't that the way it always goes?

Your plan never survives the first encounter with the enemy - and plumbing is Enemy #2 in my book. When I bought our first house 50 years ago my wife had never seen it, and she sat in the car and cried for 3 hours on moving day. It had been abandoned for 3 or 4 years, was 600 sf and had 3 bedrooms. I got us moved in and took a shower only to find the tub wasn't connected to the drain line and the water had just dropped into the basement. I took a radiator hose off my truck and made the connection, and that hose was still there 10 years later when we sold it. (by that time it was 2800 sf). The only thing I hate more than plumbing is electric. Why can't everything make saw dust???

[Lisa Starr]

We went into this home with our eyes wide open. Because it was a foreclosure, we could only hope the HW heater, furnace, and plumbing was intact, if poorly done. From our point of view, we lucked out. When the water was turned on, nothing leaked. When the gas was turned on, nothing leaked. When we fired up the furnace, it worked. When we lit the HW heater, it worked. Mind you, there are a myriad of issues from structural (undersize main beam) to stupid (no trap on bathroom sink), but we can work thru them and have a better home at the other end.