Don’t Unknowingly Purchase a Home with Defective Plumbing!
Warning! A significant percentage of homes built between 1978 – 1995 have a defective water supply piping system made of polybutylene plastic. This material is no longer approved for use and has a much higher than normal failure rate. In other words, homes plumbed with polybutylene are likely to have a future flood event! Ask any veteran plumber about polybutylene water supply piping and they will advise you to re-pipe the entire house. This can be done, but it’s a costly and messy job.
Solution: don’t buy a house that has polybutylene water supply piping. Or at least make sure you know before hand. Unfortunately, even seasoned home inspectors often can’t tell what the water supply piping is! Per industry standards of practice, inspectors are only required to report on the visible water supply piping observed. It’s very common for all the polybutylene piping to be hidden inside of the wall cavities (see picture below). Luckily, the owner of our company developed a patented method for verifying whether or not plastic water piping is present. This unique and patented service is included at no extra charge on all inspections we perform (and is available as a stand-alone service). We will come out and test the pipes without making any holes or inflicting any damage on the home.
About Polybutylene Piping. In the mid 1980’s there was a new building material called polybutylene water supply piping, sold under the trade name “Quest”. Some builders used this new piping instead of industry standard copper, as it was much faster and easier to install. It was also cheaper to purchase when compared to copper. This plumbing method became extremely popular with builders in the 1980’s through mid 1990’s. As time passed there were many failures occurring that lead to pressurized leaks and flooding of homes. While the piping itself didn’t burst, the fittings and connections often failed. The product was never recalled by Shell but a huge class action lawsuit was filed against the company. The company eventually settled the class action suit and paid out over 1 billion dollars to homeowners. Homeowners were supposed to use the money to re-pipe their houses. Some did re-pipe, but many did not. There are literally thousands of homes in San Diego that still have this defective water supply piping system in service.
This image shows how copper sink stub-outs transition to polybutylene pipe behind the wall. When drywall is installed the house will appear to have copper plumbing!
During our home inspections we identify whether or not a home has polybutylene piping, which greatly affects the value of a home. Today it’s common practice to replace any polybutylene piping in a home. Replacement costs can run from approximately $10,000 and up and can quickly make a potential buyer walk from the sale.
Our patented technology allows us to determine whether or not polybutylene piping exists behind the walls without having to cut open the walls or perform any invasive inspections. Our guarantee assures that you know whether or not a home has polybutylene piping.
