Re-piped, re-plumbed houses?

[gitnerdun]

Thanks for the kind words Frank.

Redundancy on the shut offs is good. It can be a long way from maniblock to the fixture needing repair or to be shut off quickly.

[gettinoutofjersey]

I will still go with concrete in contact with the copper as the cause. Look what happens when aluminum is placed up against steel and a little water especially salt water is applied. However whatever your belief. As to the cause if you are doing any remodeling that would be the time. If you end up with a pin hole under the floor they can locate and repair but it will cost you. Better off putting that money into the real fix and repipe.

[gitnerdun]

You are right Jersey, concrete touching copper is a no-no and will cause corrosion and eventually leaks. That is a easy one see and explain. Most of the leaks I see are copper pipes (not fittings) in the dirt below the slab, not so easy to explain. These are the subject of much speculation, as I'm sure you have read in the previous posts.

[macyny]

Wow, thanks for all the information. We have looked at more houses than I care to admit, all in some state of neglect. Seems the newer homes 90's have the most piping issues. We've seen older homes that still have the original plumbing without issues (as far as we know.)

There are so many short sales in every price range. Looked at a few foreclosures.

We are having a tough time figuring what it will cost to repair and replace the visible 'issues' of these homes. Our concern is about the 'invisible issues.' Some have the water turned off and look like they have been vacant for quite a while. Our concern is what we can't see, such as plumbing. We have seen homes with apparent water damage due to leaks, but how does one find out the extent of plumbing problems? Everyone has leaks occasionally...how does one check to see if all the pipes are bad? Do inspectors look for that?

We have seen quite a few 'flips' where cosmetic upgrades have been done, but mostly done poorly. Today we saw an old house where granite was plopped on top of old, poorly painted cabinets. The kitchen sink was cracked and rusting yet was surrounded by new granite. We saw an updated bathroom with the same thing. Old pink sink sitting on new granite. The shower stall had some sort of stick on tiles which they cut around the old pink soap dish. Looked so silly as if someone wouldn't notice. Gives concern about the real state of affairs in a house like that.

We have been looking in the $250-350,000 range and are concerned about what we see and do not see.

One other question, wouldn't plastic piping leach chemicals when running hot water? Why are the pipes replaced with plastic and not copper? What would it cost to replace the plumbing in a 2,000 sq ft house with a pool?

Sorry for all the questions.

[gitnerdun]

Unfortunately there are a lot of flippers who only do what you can see somewhat right and cover up what they don't want you to see.

You should hire real contractors for each type of inspection, and you will have to pay some more for it. The extent of these inspections is more up to you and what you are willing to spend on it. A little crawl in the attic or under the house goes a long way. A camera down the drain pipes will show problems too. Opening access panels is good too. Not a lot of inspectors go this far.

As far as plastic leaching into the water, I haven't heard of that. I think if it was a concern someone would have sued someone else over this a long time ago. There are a lot of chemical out there which can break down some plastic pipes and shorten the lifespan. CPVC is the pipe I'm most aware of with this problem.
http://www.charlottepipe.com/Documen..._Chem_Comp.pdf

A lot of common products on the list.

Good luck with the home shopping

[macyny]

We saw 6 homes today in Nokomis and Osprey. Five were repiped in the last few years. We are not thrilled with the quality of construction in Florida homes compared with those in the North East.

[gitnerdun]

Are you looking at developer built homes? The type that all look alike and are slapped together fast. They hired cheap labor and made the neighborhoods look nice on the outside. Rivendell comes to mind. places like that.

Maybe you should look at a home that was custom built. Shoddy work in large developments is nationwide, don't be so quick to say Fl is the only place, you won't find many friends like that.

[gettinoutofjersey]

Originally Posted by gitnerdun

Shoddy work in large developments is nationwide, don't be so quick to say Fl is the only place, you won't find many friends like that.

you got that right. they built some real crap in nj. they put the lipstick on the pig and marketed it to the high end. the people moving in had no clue about building. many right out of the city during the boom.