muskrat85
New Member
Hi all -
I've learned so much from this forum over the years, but have a question I couldn't find an answer to:
I was replacing a sink the other day, and shut the main water valve to the house (a gate valve), and when I went to re-open it, it broke shut
Had to call the city out to shut the water off at the street (at 4pm on a Sunday...) and frantically replace the valve while the guy waited outside... Not fun!
I'm guessing the valve is as old as the house (mid-80s), so I'm glad to have replaced it with a ball valve.
But in the course of replacing it, I noticed the main supply line to the house is a bit corroded and discolored where it comes through the cement floor. I'm surprised to see nothing protecting the copper. The cement is also a bit "domed" up around the pipe, which I wonder if that's from corrosion (or just poor concrete finishing).
Obviously this is soft copper. In the course of replacing the gate valve, I definitely felt it bend just a touch when I was trying to un-stick the old valve.
Is this corrosion anything to be concerned about? I suspect not (it seems superficial, and I imagine this soft copper is fairly thick, and the 80's are not that long ago...), but I'd hate to be ignoring some warning sign that this is going to explode and flood my basement.
I've learned so much from this forum over the years, but have a question I couldn't find an answer to:
I was replacing a sink the other day, and shut the main water valve to the house (a gate valve), and when I went to re-open it, it broke shut
Had to call the city out to shut the water off at the street (at 4pm on a Sunday...) and frantically replace the valve while the guy waited outside... Not fun!I'm guessing the valve is as old as the house (mid-80s), so I'm glad to have replaced it with a ball valve.
But in the course of replacing it, I noticed the main supply line to the house is a bit corroded and discolored where it comes through the cement floor. I'm surprised to see nothing protecting the copper. The cement is also a bit "domed" up around the pipe, which I wonder if that's from corrosion (or just poor concrete finishing).
Obviously this is soft copper. In the course of replacing the gate valve, I definitely felt it bend just a touch when I was trying to un-stick the old valve.
Is this corrosion anything to be concerned about? I suspect not (it seems superficial, and I imagine this soft copper is fairly thick, and the 80's are not that long ago...), but I'd hate to be ignoring some warning sign that this is going to explode and flood my basement.
