Annie Porter
New Member
Hi!!
Our house was built custom new contruction in 2001 in Orlando, Florida. It was a knock-down rebuild as opposed to a new subdivision etc. so we don't have neighbors to compare notes with. We are not the original owners but have lived here 5 years. Unfortunately we've had two severe pipe breaks in the past year. Our house has PEX.
In March of 2014, we came home to 8 inches of water flooding our entire downstairs. A pipe behind the kitchen sink had cracked. The plumber noted this was strange given the age of house and type of piping but we considered it isolated. The damage and restoration were extensive all floors and cabinetry was damaged.
Now in December 2014 we've had our second failure. This time we came home sooner but still to several inches of standing water throughout downstairs. It was a pipe behind the downstairs bathroom sink in this case. The plumber said this is the second time he's seen PEX crack like this ever, and both were in our house. See pictures. Again it was the pipe and not the fitting that are damaged. It was the cold water line both times.
We are terrified this is a bad batch of piping and we will continue to flood until we repipe. If this happens upstairs I cannot even imagine!
So after a bit of research I'm posing these questions - any insight would be forever apprecaited!!
1) Can anyone identify the brand/type/manufacturer of our PEX? See pics. It is not the terra cotta/orange pex (note that copper comes out of the hot water heater) but rather an opaque white/clearish pipe. The f1807 fitting is marked with "MBPEX" and the metal has logos - either a large W with a line through it or a small W on top of a small M with the registered trademark R in a circle next to it.
2) Thoughts on the cracking itself?
3) If we had to replumb, would it be all pipes throughout the house typically or just pipes near these fittings - like behind fixtures?
4) Does anyone know of an expert in this type of situation in the Central Florida area?
Our house was built custom new contruction in 2001 in Orlando, Florida. It was a knock-down rebuild as opposed to a new subdivision etc. so we don't have neighbors to compare notes with. We are not the original owners but have lived here 5 years. Unfortunately we've had two severe pipe breaks in the past year. Our house has PEX.
In March of 2014, we came home to 8 inches of water flooding our entire downstairs. A pipe behind the kitchen sink had cracked. The plumber noted this was strange given the age of house and type of piping but we considered it isolated. The damage and restoration were extensive all floors and cabinetry was damaged.
Now in December 2014 we've had our second failure. This time we came home sooner but still to several inches of standing water throughout downstairs. It was a pipe behind the downstairs bathroom sink in this case. The plumber said this is the second time he's seen PEX crack like this ever, and both were in our house. See pictures. Again it was the pipe and not the fitting that are damaged. It was the cold water line both times.
We are terrified this is a bad batch of piping and we will continue to flood until we repipe. If this happens upstairs I cannot even imagine!
So after a bit of research I'm posing these questions - any insight would be forever apprecaited!!
1) Can anyone identify the brand/type/manufacturer of our PEX? See pics. It is not the terra cotta/orange pex (note that copper comes out of the hot water heater) but rather an opaque white/clearish pipe. The f1807 fitting is marked with "MBPEX" and the metal has logos - either a large W with a line through it or a small W on top of a small M with the registered trademark R in a circle next to it.
2) Thoughts on the cracking itself?
3) If we had to replumb, would it be all pipes throughout the house typically or just pipes near these fittings - like behind fixtures?
4) Does anyone know of an expert in this type of situation in the Central Florida area?
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