PEX Rodents Problem, Please Read!

[Cory Chalmers]

I have read many discussions regarding Pex and just wante to let you know our problem. Please keep in mind, my house is only 2 years old and is 4,500 sq. ft. located in Southern California. Friday night, we found a lot of water leaking from our 2nd floor to our first, soaking our ceiling, walls, a door frame and carpet. We called out a plumber and after cutting a couple holes he discovered a leak in our Pex line caused by mice. It was repaired. Saturday, a second line in a garage wall began leaking. This time I opened up the wall and discovered 3 seperate locations where the mice were chewing threw our lines like it is candy or something. Now, I am faced with the very real likelyhood of more lines going any day, because I know they have been chewing on them anywhere they have access to them. I urge all the plumbers on here to consider this when they are putting Pex lines in homes. To repipe a house of this size is something I can't afford. What are your oppinions on going after the builder for this? I just don't know what to do, but I know a 2 year old house should not have to be going through this. I am at a loss while waiting for the next leak. Yes, I have put poison in every crawl space, attic, garage cupboards, etc. Hopefully, I don't kill my pets in the process. Any advice would be very helpfull. You can email me directly if you don't want to post here. Corychalmers@charter.net. Thank you!

 

[Gary Slusser]

Man that's a sad situation. You need to find and close the access to the house that the mice have found. Are you leaving the garage door open? Are there any open food sources, like a pet's food dish etc. for them; if so close them? And I must ask why you haven't found this mouse problem and worked on keeping them out before now? Certainly there must have been signs/evidence of their presence. And possibly the poison is causing them to look everywhere they can smell water, although I don't know they can smell water in a PEX line. More likely they are chewing their way along the runs of the plumbing and finding they can chew the PEX to get through the hole they are making.

Going after the contractor or plumber isn't right IMO. I do not believe they have any liability for this, but I don't so much as play an attorney on TV and I didn't sleep in any motels in years... and juries have a real problem in being realistic today; so speak to an attorney. I know of an attorney's house I was called out to a few years ago that had L copper water lines with pin hole leaks in less than 2.5 years. And he had more leaks than you do currently and they happened one after the other for months.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

 

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[hj]

mice

Mice, and rats, are ravenous. But they are also rodents, so they have to chew things to keep their teeth from growing so long that they prevent them from opening their mouths. Areas that had lead pipes, a long time ago, had the same problem with mice and rats. If they can chew it they will. I had a customer with an underground plastic gas pipe and the rodents chewed through it.

 

[Cory Chalmers]

RE: Pex (from original Thread)

Gary,
About sim months ago we found saw a mouse in our garage and set some traps out. We caught abour 3 mice and have had more traps out since, but have caught nothing. We regularly switch the bait. We have not seen any signs of droppings or anything like that, so I have no idea where they are coming from. The Building Inspectors fro our City just left. They took several photos of our pipes and are probably going to ban Pex from future installations. They say my house is not the first and definitely won't be the last to have this problem. They also stated that nothing else around the pipes were chewed on. The pipes are in wide open areas, so they are definitly not chewing throught them for access into tight corners. I have had 2 different plumbers and the 2 city inspectors look at the situation and they all said the same thing independently, the mice seem to like the taste of the pipe. There were to many chew marks, along several inches of all the pipes, so it is not like they are chewing in one area until they hit water. Anyway, just a little information for you plumbers out there to consider before you install the Pex pipe. Thanks.

 

[Bob NH]

What Brand PEX Do Mice Like?

What is the brand and part number of the PEX of pipe? It would help people to make a choice to avoid it.

 

[Bob NH]

What Brand PEX?

What is the brand and part number of the PEX of pipe? It would help people to make a choice to avoid it.

My internet search indicates that PEX is susceptible to rodents, and that there are rodent-resistant compounds.

They talk about rodent-proofing, but no wood frame house can ever be considered rodent-proof. Rodents chew wood.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

mice infestation

I dont like pex.... for other reasons....

but you honestly cant blame the pipe or the builder for
your mice problem.... they hear the water passing
through the pipe and want to get to it....


call an exterminater ASAP you dont want those little bastards
chewing through a large BUNDLE run of pex pipes

that could really be expensive to fix.

It looks like you have already put out the poison........

that will be an on-going battle for the rest of your life......
to re-stock the attic, crawl space...ect every few months...
just to be safe...



a good one you can get at the farm co-ops is called HAVOC...

I had a mouse nest in my house this winter.....

I laid a lot of HAVOC around and they are now dead as he//...


https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2854

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I believe that pex pipe is cheese flavored. Whelp.....the manufactures will blame the mice before they will admit to the vulnerability of the product. Just like the family of plastic piping.........riddled with lawsuits, property damage, insurance premiums shooting through the roof.

I can't wait for this piping to come to my area. I am gonna feel like a star quarterback collecting on a signing bonus to play in a 10 year contract. The good thing is......pex will be around alot longer than 10 years........wooohoooooooo!

(shines up and oils crimper for the next big win)

 

[Rick Suddes]

protecting plastic waterlines from Rats

Rodents and other animals mark territory (your car, house, etc.) with their scent. Animals are attracted by this scent. Rataway fragrance gets rid of the scent. No lingering scent, no more attraction.

Rataway fragrance protects car engines, wiring, boats, motorhomes, machinery, heavy equipment, etc. when sprayed to protect the surfaces

Rataway fragrance is not a pepper spray.

If you are looking for an effective, natural control for odors, Rataway fragrance is it.

Again... Rataway fragrance can be used around children, pets, and service personnel.


What is Rataway Fragrance?
Rataway fragrance is a spray that is very offensive to wild animals such as rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits, racoons, dogs, cats, horses, skunks, and monkeys. Rataway fragrance is not offensive to humans.

Spray Waterproof Rataway on plastic water lines to protect from rats, rodents, squirrels, mice, coyotes, raccoons, rabbits, etc...

 

[Gary Slusser]

The teeth of all rodents grow constantly and if they don't chew things to wear them off, the teeth will eventually grow to a length that will prevent them from eating and eventual starvation unless the teeth grow into the brain and kill them faster than starvation does. So they chew anything.

Also at least mice and rats have little to no bladder control so they are constantly urinating wherever they go, and that leaves a chemical trail for the rest of them to follow like our highways and roads.

Here about a month ago I was notified that PEX has finally been approved in all of California. So I doubt it won't be approved everywhere the inspectors and plumber unions and others have done their damnedest to prevent it's use for all the reasons they could dream up over the last decade or two.

 

[Redwood]

I believe that pex pipe is cheese flavored.

Ya got that right!

The thing is you have a vermin problem!
PEX isn't the only building material that is vulnerable.
I would engage the services of a professional exterminator to get this under control!

 

[Wraujr]

Poison Driving them to Water Source

It is my understanding that many rat poisons cause the rat/mouse to get dehydrated and seek out water. The idea is that they leave house in search of water and die outside as opposed to inside wall. The possible irony here is that they are chewing thru PEX to get access to water because you are poisoning them... Not sure of this, just something I heard a while back when I was trying to get rid of mice (I use glue traps, although they are far from perfect).

 

[Kingsotall]

Spray Waterproof Rataway on plastic water lines to protect from rats, rodents, squirrels, mice, coyotes, raccoons, rabbits, etc...

Now if those darn walls and insulation weren't in the way! doh!

 

[dimprov]

Is Fostapex more resistant to rodent attack? What about other sheathed forms of pex?

David

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Choosy mice, choose PEX.

 

[Kingsotall]

Chewsy mice chew through chewy PEX.

 

[99k]

My brother removes vermin from homes for a living and he's told me that animals also love chewing into Romex wiring

 

[dimprov]

Seriously, fostapex has an aluminum sheathing around the PEX core. I'm not saying a rodent is incapable of chewing through it, but would it want to? When you were a kid, did you ever try chewing on aluminum foil? You stopped pretty quickly, didn't you? You get some kind of horrible electrochemical reaction going on that seemingly electrifies the nerves in your teeth. Honestly, I don't know what it was, but it was disgusting and very painful. What I don't remember is whether it involved contact between the aluminum foil and a dental filling (making a battery of sorts), or whether it happens with regular healthy teeth too. Now that I'm older, I don't feel like repeating the experiment. If it requires dental fillings, then it might blow my theory about deterring rodents.

Anyway, all the photos I found of rodents chewing through PEX were cases of rodents chewing through un-sheathed PEX. This may be because the unsheathed PEX is more common, or is could be because the unsheathed PEX is a lot more vulnerable, or both. I haven't yet seen a photo of a rodent chewing through fostapex.

Any insight here on whether fostapex would deter rodents? I'd like to use PEX for a repipe on a remodel, but rodents are like insects. They multiply so fast that you can't be 100% certain of keeping them out. Even in a perfectly clean home, they might just be looking for shelter.

David

 

[jchaters]

Get rid of the problem

I have a cottage and I had a mouse problem every winter and also sometimes in the summer. A friend recomended an electronic device (sonic I believe) which I purchased for about $20 and put it in. I have not seen a trace of mice for 2 years. I leave one breaker on at all times to keep it powered. My neighbour bought a similar device with the same results. might be worth a try.

 

[NHmaster]

my wife brings home the organic mice eradicator. It's called a cat.