sawdust123
New Member
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
Hi,
My home is a two-story place in southern CA that is about 30 years old. The original plumbing consists of rolled copper pipes running underneath the slab. I am not sure where the second story pipes run to but I assume it is back down to the slab. Tonight a section of hot water pipe under the slab sprung a leak. This section branches off to all of the bathroom fixtures in the house (kitchen and washing machine are beforehand).
I really don't want to tear into the slab. It would be an expensive proposition and part of the pipe may actually run beneath a staircase making it inaccessible. Also, this is the second hot water leak beneath my slab in two months. The other one was in a closed loop that went down a wall and back up it a few studs later. I was able to short circuit that loop by opening up the wall and running pipe outside the wall (it was inside the garage). Even if I could short circuit this loop too, I no longer trust the integrity of the remaining hot water pipe beneath the slab.
My hope is that I can just run new 3/4" copper pipe on the inside of the garage and run 1/2" copper feeds through the wall where the bathrooms are. The water heater is in the garage and all the bathrooms fixtures are within 10' horizontally from the garage wall. In some cases the 1/2" copper pipe would have to run horizontally through the wall studs and perhaps some floor joists.
My questions about this fix are:
1) Does it sound like I will be violating any codes?
2) Could PVC pipe be used?
3) If PVC could be used, would it be preferable (other than from a cost issue)?
4) Are there any tricks or tools that could make this job a lot easier?
5) How often do I need to keep horizontal pipe supported?
6) What important questions have I forgot to ask?
I am not a contractor but I am pretty handy and don't mind buying the right tools for the job. In fact I was just debating if I should get a MAPP torch last week. I think I have my answer now.
Thanks for your help
My home is a two-story place in southern CA that is about 30 years old. The original plumbing consists of rolled copper pipes running underneath the slab. I am not sure where the second story pipes run to but I assume it is back down to the slab. Tonight a section of hot water pipe under the slab sprung a leak. This section branches off to all of the bathroom fixtures in the house (kitchen and washing machine are beforehand).
I really don't want to tear into the slab. It would be an expensive proposition and part of the pipe may actually run beneath a staircase making it inaccessible. Also, this is the second hot water leak beneath my slab in two months. The other one was in a closed loop that went down a wall and back up it a few studs later. I was able to short circuit that loop by opening up the wall and running pipe outside the wall (it was inside the garage). Even if I could short circuit this loop too, I no longer trust the integrity of the remaining hot water pipe beneath the slab.
My hope is that I can just run new 3/4" copper pipe on the inside of the garage and run 1/2" copper feeds through the wall where the bathrooms are. The water heater is in the garage and all the bathrooms fixtures are within 10' horizontally from the garage wall. In some cases the 1/2" copper pipe would have to run horizontally through the wall studs and perhaps some floor joists.
My questions about this fix are:
1) Does it sound like I will be violating any codes?
2) Could PVC pipe be used?
3) If PVC could be used, would it be preferable (other than from a cost issue)?
4) Are there any tricks or tools that could make this job a lot easier?
5) How often do I need to keep horizontal pipe supported?
6) What important questions have I forgot to ask?
I am not a contractor but I am pretty handy and don't mind buying the right tools for the job. In fact I was just debating if I should get a MAPP torch last week. I think I have my answer now.
Thanks for your help