Do You Have a Leak?

1. Do you can hear the sound of water running  when nothing is being used?
2. Does your water meter reading change when you aren't using any water. An indicator on your meter will be spinning slowly if there is a leak.
3. Your water bill increases either slowly or dramatically over a period time.
   
4. Your walls or floors are wet, damp, or discolored when nothing has been spilled.
5. You can smell stale odors coming from floors or walls near drains or sewers and sometimes in closets or hallways.
6. You find unusually warm spots on your floor.

What to do BEFORE calling your Plumber

1. Test each toilet by removing the tank lid and dropping a dye tablet in. If there is a leak from the components of the tank, the dye will show up in the bowl.
2. Carefully inspect each faucet for slow drips. Replacing the seats or washers could stop the leak.
3. Check your outside hose connections.  Make sure your hosebibbs are completely shut off and not leaking.  Replace if necessary.
4. Check the water heater relief valve to see if it is relieving pressure or has failed. If that is the issue, close the supply valve to the water heater, turn the power off to the water heater and call us IMMEDIATELY!
5. If none of the above are the issue, carefully close  each angle stop (valve) at each fixture and check the meter. If the leak indicator on the meter is still spinning, then you definitely have either a slab leak or a leak in the supply line from the meter to the house.  If that is the case, call us so we can find and repair the leak quickly.

The type of repair made depends on the type of existing piping, the condition of the existing piping, and the location of the leak.  You may need a complete water system repipe.

Why is PEX Better Than Rigid Systems?

Ask anyone who has installed an Uponor PEX plumbing system. Once you experience the faster installs, the reduced liability and the stable material costs, you’ll be a believer.

Because of its flexibility, Uponor PEX can bend with each change in direction, which means fewer connections, faster installs and reduced potential leak-point liability. The flexibility of PEX also enables it to expand up to three times the tubing’s diameter, making it more freeze-damage resistant.

With an Uponor PEX plumbing system that features ProPEX^® expansion fittings, dry fitting is never a concern. That’s because you can’t dry fit an expansion fitting. The PEX tubing and ProPEX expansion ring must first be expanded before the larger-diameter fitting is inserted. As the PEX shrinks back around the fitting, it creates a strong, durable connection that holds tight with 1,000 pounds of radial force.

PEX is also highly corrosion resistant, so it doesn’t have the issue of pinhole leaks or corrosion build up like copper. And PEX is also safer than copper. A study done by Rochester Medical Center published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported a connection between copper and Alzheimer’s disease.

Learn more at www.uponor-usa.com

Plumbing systems normally don’t fail overnight. Failure is often a long, gradual process of corrosion and scale forming inside and around metallic pipes that run throughout and beneath the home. But, while corrosion and resulting leaks can strike at any time, problems tend to be more noticeable during the warm weather seasons when water consumption is at its peak.

Activities such as watering the lawn or garden, washing the family car, or filling the kids’ swimming pool, require extended periods of water usage. And it is during these times you are most likely to notice if water flow is not what it should be. Chances are, if you’re experiencing a decrease in water flow, you have corrosion or scale buildup.

Copper and other metals naturally scale and corrode with age, decreasing the diameter of the pipe and restricting water flow until only a trickle of water is able to pass through. Since there are limited ways to effectively remove buildup or reverse the scaling process with metallic piping systems, homeowners with scaled pipes are eventually forced to repipe the entire system.

Advantages of PEX Plumbing

1. Flexible PEX tube is manufactured by extrusion, and shipped and stored on spools, where rigid plastic or metal piping must be cut to some practical length for shipping and storage. This leads to several advantages, including lower shipping and handling costs due to decreased weight and improved storage options.
   PEX plumbing installations require fewer fittings than rigid piping. The flexible tubing can turn 90 degree corners without the need for elbow fittings, and PEX tubing unrolled from spools can be installed in long runs without the need for coupling fittings.
   Attaching PEX tube to fittings does not require soldering, and so eliminates the health hazards involved with lead-based solder and acid fluxes; PEX is also safer to install since a torch is not needed to make connections..
   PEX resists the scale build-up common with copper pipe, and does not pit or corrode when exposed to acidic water.
   PEX is much more resistant to freeze-breakage than copper or rigid plastic pipe.
   PEX tubing does not transfer heat as readily as copper, and so conserves energy.
   Water flows more quietly through PEX tube, and the characteristic "water hammer" noise of copper pipe systems is virtually eliminated.
   PEXplumbing installations cost less because:
2. PEXis less expensive than copper pipe.
3. Less time is spent running pipe and installing fittings than with rigid pipe systems.
4. Installing fewer fittings reduces the chances for expensive callbacks.



WHOLE HOUSE REPIPE

We recently completed a whole house repipe in the Ft Walton Beach area.  This home was built in the early 1970's and was plumbed with the Polybutylene piping and fittings.

The owner of the home was unaware of the type of piping until he discovered a leak behind the master bathroom vanity cabinet.

Here are a couple of pictures associated with that repipe.  We used PEX piping to repipe the house.

This is where the polybutylene piping had started leaking.  We had to completely remove the master vanity to access the leak.

We used the color coded piping to aid in the installation - didnt want to be confused.  We used copper stubouts to enable the installation of angle stops.

We also discovered another leak on the outside wall while removing the siding to allow access to the master bathroom toilet and tub/shower unit.  The owner was unaware of this leak.

We installed a new 3/4" PEX main supply line from the meter to the new PEX piping system inside the home.  This also shows the connections to the master bathtub/shower unit.