Innisfils RePipe Specialists
Why Re-Pipe?
We recently were informed and have confirmed through several sources some shocking information regarding the insurance industry and your home insurance.
If you have a leak/flood and make an insurance claim, that claim goes into a data bank shared by all insurance companies. When you go to sell your home the buyer will be required to get insurance.
Now here is the KICKER, the insurance industry will research the property and find that there was a water damage claim made and to what extent. They will depending on the claim deem the home uninsurable, due to possible mold. If it is uninsurable it will be near impossible to sell.
From our stand point and experience leaks on copper tend to create minimal damage unless left unattended, typically the homeowner will not make a claim as the damage will be under the deductible. BUT leaks on CPVC and POLY tend to be a completely different story. There tends to be large amounts of damage and the homeowner will be forced to make a claim to cover all the costs involved.
We encourage our customers to research and be active on preventing these types of issues.
We at M.A.C. Stewart Plumbing are the experts in repiping hot and cold water lines, having repiped thousands of homes and businesses.
What if I have Copper?
A. Most pinhole leaks are caused due to corrosion. There is a chemical reaction from the water and the copper pipe. The water pressure will find a weak spot usually close to a soldered fitting. The reason for this is when you heat a metal you weaken it and the integrity of the pipe is compromised also they used an acid based flux and unfortunately inferior workmanship when they applied too much heat and did not wipe off excess flux. In 1970 outlawed fittings under the slab for this reason. Another reason for leaks is lightning. We live in the lighting capital of the world. We defiantly get busier with leaks during lightning storms. If lighting does hit the water lines it usually creates a series of weak spots. Also the electrical ground is typically grounded to copper usually at a spigot. This causes electrolysis where we have found most first leaks occur close to the ground.
When we repipe we eliminate all of the above. The process for a typical home is: We either take the water from PVC outside the home or from the water meter if copper is run from the meter to the home. We then reroute the water lines overhead and down the walls using our expertise to do the cleanest job possible with as little inconvenience to the homeowner as possible. A typical home will be repiped in one day with drywall repair done on the second day. Larger homes take longer but the homeowner is never left without water.
We like to remind people that they are buying a labor-intensive job, which is not like buying a TV where one is equal to the other. We do not sub contract our work like some companies. Our repipe crews repipe everyday and are trusted long time employees, not someone in between companies.
All of our work is referral. Our phone rings because of the work we do and the service we provide.
A homeowner faced with repiping should go with referral.
Repipe Warranties:
25 year manufacturers on Zurn Pex Pipe
10 year labor warranty
Warranties are transferable.
We do recommend replacing water heaters that are 10 years or older. When repiping we can provide water heaters at cost with a considerable savings to the customer.
What if I have Polybutlene Pipe (poly)?
A. We at M.A.C. Stewart Plumbing would like to help educate our customers and possible future customers on Polybutylene Pipe (poly)
Poly is a gray pipe with crimp fittings which are usually copper or brass, originally plastic fittings were used. It was these plastic fittings which lead to poly being taken off the market in 1995. There were several class action law suits due to these plastic fittings failing and splitting hence flooding. How ever back in the 90's we were not seeing any problems with the pipe itself. However several years ago we started to see problems with the pipe itself splitting and flooding. The high chorine content in our water in Innisfil area is drying the product out and forcing it to split. Poly was designed as a flexible pipe, rather than using fittings for every change of direction or offset the pipe would be bend, it is typically were we see the failure occur as the pipe is strained at this point creating a weak spot. The alarming thing here is upon splitting it floods quickly as full pressure pumps water thru your home or business unlike a pin hole leak on copper which does minimum damage in comparison.
I would like to add we currently see several of these floods weekly. Most insurance companies will not insure Polybutylene Pipe due to the amount of damage which occurs from a failure. Currently this issue arises when a home owner is selling, buying or changing insurance companies. I am frequently told by a frustrated home owner selling his home who has to deal with repiping the house before it can be sold that they have never had a problem with the Poly and my reply is simply but when you do you will not all about it as your home will be destroyed and I personally see this a couple of tomes a week on an average.
We at M.A.C. Stewart Plumbing encourage our customers to use preventive maintaince and replace/repipe your home or business if you have Polybutylene Pipe to avoid a plumbing disaster.
Please feel free to browse through our testimonials. We can provide endless amounts of referrals if required.
We would like to thank you for visiting our website and if we can ever be of assistance with your plumbing problems please feel free to contact us.
What if I have CPVC Pipe?
A. We are very alarmed about CPVC Pipe. This product becomes very Brittle at about 8/10 years old. The chlorine in our city water is drying it out from the inside out. We also see a lot of failures on the hot side as it does not do well with heat. The problem is when it goes it simply breaks and floods at full pressure. In my opinion it is the worst product on the market. We see failures on a daily basis. We have a strict policy when we have to work on any home or building with CPVC. A valuable lesson.
We strongly recommend repiping your home if it is 10 years or older and you have CPVC.