Do I need to replace my pipes?

[Scott Ahrens]

Hey guys,
I'm remodeling a bathroom in my basement, and recently had a plumber come over to give me a bid on some work I need done. He took one look at my pipes and said everything needed to come out! Needless to say I'm alarmed, but also suspicious as I had some other plumbers come through and nobody gave them a second look. But then hey, maybe they weren't paying a attention because they were too busy staring at the 45 year old gate valve cemented into my foundation (that's another post altogether).

Would anyone mind taking a look at my pics (attached) and telling me if this looks like a water nightmare in the making? Or is this just some oxidation due to condensation or something?
Thanks, Scott

 

[Dj2]

Do you know roughly how old are these pipes?

If they are not leaking and don't have pin holes...keep them.

Another option is to replace the affected sections only, but if there are many infected areas, might as well replace them all.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[OnlyinCali]

your pics show nothing other than a little corrosion, likely caused by left over acid/flux. Wipe it off with a wet rag.

 

[Michael Young]

The last picture, particularly, looks like a pinhole. Grab the pipe with your hand and try to crush the pipe as hard as you can. If the pipe crushes in at all, then yeah, those pipes are GONE. (turn the water off first, obviously). If the pipe is in good condition, you won't be able to crush it in by hand. If you're a powerlifter who dead-lifts 600-lbs., then scratch that. If you're a normal dude, you won't be able to crush the pipe by hand.

 

[hj]

Flux in the MIDDLE of a pipe run. That would have to be major overapplication.

 

[Reach4]

Is that a drop of water? If leak, then worry.

I would try cleaning the area with some dish soap and water. See what you see. Maybe use some car wax to make it pretty if you like, but not if you are going to solder.

 

[OnlyinCali]

Flux in the MIDDLE of a pipe run. That would have to be major overapplication.

Haha. Maybe I'm wrong about the above pics but our house has those damn flux marks everywhere. Like middle of pipe runs, etc. I think the guy who installed our pipes 20 years ago had flux-covered hands as there are similar marks everywhere. Flux-fingerprints everywhere.


Sort of based on OP's thread but mostly out of personal curiosity.... Is there a general rule of how long standard, thin wall copper supply lines SHOULD last? IE: You just bought a house that has copper pipes that LOOK decent from the outside but are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 80, 100 years old. At which number do you think, "Its time regardless of leaks or not"? Or how long would you expect a whole home repipe/brand new house with copper to last?

 

[FullySprinklered]

For houses in this area built in the late seventies, early eighties, pinhole leaks are in epidemic mode. Your pipes have that look.

 

[Jadnashua]

There are minerals in most water supplies. If you get a pinhole leak, those minerals will end up deposited on the outside of the pipe. Depending on how far those areas are from a fitting, if they did not ream the pipe end before installing the fitting, cavitation can cause pinholes on the insides of the pipe without any other supporting issues. There could have been some defects in the pipes when installed that caused that. Plus, the water quality can be corrosive over time. You might want to get a water quality report from your supplier (they are required to perform them periodically).

 

[Reach4]

It's the water. pH, corrosivity numbers would be useful.

 

[Kreemoweet]

Those pipes look pretty normal to me. Pipes get no respect, anywhere they go. In the supplier's storage yard, in the tradesman's truck,
on the jobsite, and in the walls. They get soiled with pigeon crap. They get peed on. Bugs crawl in and nest in them. They get all
kinds of corrosive stuff dripped on them in homes (pickle juice anyone?). Flux indeed frequently gets all over them. Green spots on them do not necessarily mean anything. On the other hand, sometimes they get holes in them and leak.

 

[Joshua5438]

My pipes look just like yours. I purchased the house in 2015 but it was originally built in 1980. Since I moved in I have fixed 6 pin hole leaks and most have been in straight runs of pipe. I am now in the process of planning out my plans to replace it all with PEX. Hope yours is just flux like most have said....

 

[Reach4]

My pipes look just like yours. I purchased the house in 2015 but it was originally built in 1980. Since I moved in I have fixed 6 pin hole leaks and most have been in straight runs of pipe.

Do you have pH and corrosivity numbers?

 

[Joshua5438]

I had everything checked before we purchased the house but no idea where that info is at. If I come across it I will post it up. We had everything tested as we are on a well.

 

[BillTheEngineer]

Most home inspection aren't worth what they cost you. Your better off educating yourself a little to identify what may be an issue and then hiring a plumber, electrician, builder, etc to identify if it is really an issue and what it would take to correct it.

Before touching the pipe, check your bank account and make sure you have the fund to address issues. The take rag and try to wipe the green spots off the pipes. If no pin hole leaks appear you're fine. If they do appear, looks closely, some can be hard to see, then you have repair to make.

Just plan on doing your check when you can get some one in fit it. Don't go checking on 9:00 pm on a Sunday. Some pinholes can just drip or seep others can spray.

 

[Scott Ahrens]

Thanks for all the great responses. The pics I showed are primarily from one horizontal pipe. I opened up my bathroom ceiling from the south end of the house, and if I poke my head up into the ceiling I can see the pipe run down the joist cavity towards the kitchen on the north end. Those spots are all along the pipe, so definitely not flux. I am in Colorado, where I'm told green pipe disease is prevalent, but that's usually on the hot water supply? This is a cold water pipe. The house was built in '71 FWIW.

I'll take a rag to it and see how it looks. What I don't understand is how normal oxidation could occur in little spots like that, ya know?

I think whoever I bring in here is probably going to end up cutting it out, so we'll get a chance to look inside there and see what's happening.

 

[Reach4]

I am in Colorado, where I'm told green pipe disease is prevalent

I googled "green pipe disease". It did not find the term, although soon it will probably find this thread.

 

[Scott Ahrens]

I googled "green pipe disease". It did not find the term, although soon it will probably find this thread.

Hahaha fair enough.

 

[Joshua5438]

All of my leaks have been on the cold side also. The hot has never been patched. When I tried to cut a section out the very first time I had a pin hole it was nearly impossible due to the pipe collapsing from being so thin. Had to cut out about two feet from the hole before I had thick enough pipe walls not to crumble from the cutter.

 

[Reach4]

All of my leaks have been on the cold side also.

You actually saw water from your leaks, right?