How should exterior-mounted supply lines be insulated?

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Moby

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I had a plumber install an outdoor shower on an exterior wall of my block house (Florida). He put black foam insulation tubes and tape over the water pipes and while the shower works great, the black foam and tape looks pretty bad. I questioned his use of this material, but he insisted it was correct. I didn't have the heart to complain much because he was undergoing cancer treatments, and figured I could just correct the problem later myself.

But how? This can't be normal, but I'm not seeing normal-looking options at the store either.
 

Moby

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Here is a picture:
image.jpg
 

Reach4

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You could look at


to see if that inspires you.

I had not seen your photo before writing the above. At this point, I might look for a paint that would be good on the flexible foam insulation. I don't have a suggestion for paint.
 
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Moby

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Thanks, but there are an awful lot of corners and such that mine would have to go around, so I think that would not give a neat result. Is there truly no commercially produced product for this purpose?
 

Reach4

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You might do a search engine search for "plasti dip" spray. If you decided to try it, experiment with a piece of insulation first.
 

Moby

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And spray it over the black insulation? And the taped joints and such?
 

Moby

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I'm looking for a solution that will look decent, now and in several years. I'll scrap and redo the whole thing if I must, but what is the normal way of doing it?
 

FullySprinklered

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I did my first homeowner plumbing down in N Fla, thirty something years ago. The rules are different down there, so don't let any of these cold-weather arm-chair plumbers steer you wrong. I'm seeing some stuff there that might not be necessary, depending on your location in the sunshine state. How far down the peninsula do you reside?
 

Moby

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I am around Daytona Beach and it does get below 32 degrees here a couple of times a year. Maybe I need to reroute the pipes underground?
 

FullySprinklered

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Typically, around here, pipes freeze, (and burst), when the temps go below freezing at night and stays below freezing all day, and below twenty again the next night and then surprising everyone on the second or third day when the pipes thaw.
Thirty-two ain't much. Think long-term freezing with temps in the teens or lower over a couple of days to damage pipes.
 

Jadnashua

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Insulation will NOT prevent pipes routed like you have from freezing...the only thing that could work is to run them into the walls, and then, even, the valve might freeze and split. All insulation does is slow the transfer of heat, but it will still move from the warm side to the cold side. Given enough time, no insulation would prevent those from freezing. Hopefully, you have an interior shutoff and a drain valve so you can drain the lines. Running the lines in pex might prevent the lines themselves from being damaged in a freeze situation, but it will have nothing to do with the rigid fittings or valve. The force exerted by freezing water is huge.
 

Terry

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Foam cell doesn't prevent the pipe from freezing, but it does make the inspector happy.
The only way to keep a pipe from freezing, is to postion it in a warm space.
 

Cacher_Chick

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Plastic piping is often covered only to protect it from UV damage. If it was plumbed with PEX, an occasional freeze would not be a problem.

I have seen pipes freeze with only a couple of hours time in 28-29F overnights. Here in WI, any supply piping above the lowest frost line must be installed in a manner which permits it to be drained and/or blown out.
 

Moby

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If it is covered with what though? If PVC and PEX have to be covered outside, there surely must be a product to neatly cover them.

Maybe I should replace them with copper?
 

hj

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NO insulation "looks nice". But it does NOT "prevent" freezing either. All it does is slow the freezing process down so that MAYBE someone uses the water before it has a chance to freeze. He could have slid the insulation around the elbows rather than making the bends, but that is about the only way to make it look "neater".
 

Jadnashua

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Water filled pipes outside when it gets below freezing, unless the water is flowing, will freeze regardless of the insulation you put on them. If they are pex or cpvc, then protecting them from UV will aid their longevity, but will do nothing in your situation to protect them from freezing. If it was run in pex, they wasted a lot of money using a lot of fittings. Even if you ran them in copper, you'd still probably want to insulate them, but copper, while stronger, is still no match for ice.

If you want this to last without major problems, you need to drain those lines during a cold snap. As to how to cover them to make them look nicer, you could build a standoff from the house to cover them, or have them rerun inside of the wall which, if they were on the house side of the insulation would keep the lines from freezing, but not the valve.
 

Reach4

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You have not said what kind of pipe is under the insulation. Also, what is that horizontal yellow-looking pipe in the right side of your photo?

I am thinking that the insulation might be, at least partially, to keep the hot water hotter.

I was suggesting that you might some kind of paint. Moby, I was suggesting that you search for paint discussion. I have used the Plasti Dip spray, but only on rigid items. One popular use is on auto emblems. On those, you can actually pick the coating off with a fingernail, yet it is durable for most use. I am not suggesting that you use Plasti Dip, but to include that in your search.

Now what if you paint the insulation with the same paint that is used on the concrete? It might do OK if you don't flex the insulation. I suggest that you research paints.

Split tubing/cladding of some sort could go around the insulation. You could split some ENT (Carlon Flex-Plus Blue™ Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing). Baby blue is a common color. It is corrugated, so you might not like that appearance. Nickname is "smurf tubing". Common sizes are smaller, but it is available up to 2 inch ID I think.
ENT_AllSizes.jpg
 
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Moby

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The pipes are CPVC and the horizontal pipe goes to a hose bib. I removed the insulation from that section.
The walls are uninsulated block, so there is no running them inside the wall. I'm not too worried about freezing and would drain the pipes if an unusual cold snap was imminent. I believe preventing heat loss and providing UV protection was the main intention of the insulation.

Maybe I should re-route the pipes underground or install a point-of-use tankless right by the shower. It seems crazy that there is not insulation designed to not look hideous, but apparently that is the case.
 
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