Water Supply Lines - Home, RV and Other Places

[Hastey]

You should really replace your supply lines every 5 years as suggested and spend the extra money and buy good braided lines.

I am the Master of the Masonic Lodge in Henryetta, OK and this morning my Sr. Warden calls me in a panic. A water line busted upstairs and flooded the building, collapsed the ceiling in the kitchen and dinning room, ruined approx 80% of the carpet and wood floors, and who knows what else. The insurance adjuster will be there tomorrow and we are going to start cleaning at 0700 in the morning.

It was one of them nylon Wal-Mart supply lines on a commode. The city has had the water on and off for the last week fixing lines.

Bottom Line is that little hose just cost us thousands of dollars. Check your homes and if you don't already add them to your maintenance list. After today I've got a whole new look on things and I believe that I am going to start shutting the water off at the house when I leave for trips.

 

[beardedone]

Sorry to hear the bad news. When we leave the house for one night or 30, the water is always turned off. I have "home run" pex plumbing in my house and I installed a shut off valve on each line when we re-plumbed the house.

 

[jbeletti]

Thanks for sharing Rex. We are building a new home now. Our plumber use braided lines at each fixture - so that is good. I also had them plumb the incoming street supply line to the garage where they will install a shut-off valve that I supplied to them. I can manually actuate the valve, actuate it by the push of a button or by remote control (phone, internet, home automation).

I plan to put water sensors in many places in the home. Wireless (Z-wave) devices. Did not think to put them behind the toilets - but I will now! I can hide the little transmitters behind the toilet water tanks. Will put them under the sinks and behind the refer and the wash machine.

Thanks again for the reminder.

Jim

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

WOW Jim, did not know that you were that "high tech" kind of a guy, or is the Nancy. Got a new name for ya, "Techie Beletti" or just plain "Techie".

By the way, not only do we turn off the water valves but we unplug the water pump AND the water softner.

 

[hoefler]

Since you are turning off the water, you should also turn off the water heater. If it should run dry, an electric will most likely burn out the elements or worse case scenario, short out and cause a fire. Now a gas water heater is different, it will burn its self down with out water to the thermostat.

 

[kakampers]

WOW Jim, did not know that you were that "high tech" kind of a guy,

Oh, you have NO idea...LOL!!!

 

[jmgratz]

Thanks for sharing Rex. We are building a new home now. Our plumber use braided lines at each fixture - so that is good. I also had them plumb the incoming street supply line to the garage where they will install a shut-off valve that I supplied to them. I can manually actuate the valve, actuate it by the push of a button or by remote control (phone, internet, home automation).

I plan to put water sensors in many places in the home. Wireless (Z-wave) devices. Did not think to put them behind the toilets - but I will now! I can hide the little transmitters behind the toilet water tanks. Will put them under the sinks and behind the refer and the wash machine.

Thanks again for the reminder.

Jim

You amaze us. Next thing you will say is you can go on an RV trip by remote control while sitting in the easy chair in the living room via the cell phone or internet.

 

[Sandpirate69]

You amaze us. Next thing you will say is you can go on an RV trip by remote control while sitting in the easy chair in the living room via the cell phone or internet.

It gets better, you can transport your rig & truck via molecular transport like the old Star Treck or the movie Thor.

Ivan

 

[Sandpirate69]

Thanks for sharing Rex. We are building a new home now. Our plumber use braided lines at each fixture - so that is good. I also had them plumb the incoming street supply line to the garage where they will install a shut-off valve that I supplied to them. I can manually actuate the valve, actuate it by the push of a button or by remote control (phone, internet, home automation).

I plan to put water sensors in many places in the home. Wireless (Z-wave) devices. Did not think to put them behind the toilets - but I will now! I can hide the little transmitters behind the toilet water tanks. Will put them under the sinks and behind the refer and the wash machine.

Thanks again for the reminder.

Jim

Jim,
You guys don't use copper where you live? My experience with that type of line for any use in a home, has been useless. When I purchased my home in 1989 my house was plumbed with that line after 5 years sevral home owners started having problems with the lines busting where they either t-off or at an elbow. A year later I had a line bust in my hallway bathroom & I had to replace all the sheet rock. After that, I had my dad, who's a plumber, run copper lines via the attic to the entire house. Therefore trouble free. Just a question, I building codes are different in every county & every state.

 

[JohnDar]

I would be extremely careful with using braided plastic lines in household plumbing. Especially in areas hidden in walls that are not readily accessible. The jerk-off's that did the plumbing on our house in 1994 used braided hose (aka. shower head hose) to connect the garden spa tub in the master bath to the copper lines, and no valves. The only way to access them was to knock out the expensive ceramic tiles on the face of the surround. We found that out after the lines deteriorated and resulted in $3500 worth of living room ceiling repairs after it leaked. They also did not install shut-off valves for the second floor (was acceptable code at the time), so I had to shut the entire water supply off until it could be fixed. Fortunately, my insurance deductible was only $500 at the time. Unfortunately, the plumbing subcontractor was out of business when it happened, so no gun-play was possible.

 

[TeJay]

A few years ago we had the State Farm rep out to look at some hail damage on the roof. After he finished with the roof he wanted to inspect the washing machine water hoses. We had just replaced them with steel braided lines so we passed. I asked him why he was doing it. He said that they inspect and replaced for free washing machine lines any time they were in a home to protect them from having a flood damage claim down the road. I thought that was very smart of them. Preventive maintenance is always a good idea.

TeJay

 

[Willym]

This is a good reminder. The hoses to your dishwasher and washing machine are particularly prone to failing because they often see a spike in pressure due to water hammer when the machines' solenoid valves close, and they often see more flexing from machine vibration. I like the idea of the whole house shut off. Jim, do you have any details of the valve that you plan to use?

 

[Hastey]

FYI - The insurance company would not pay! Check your policies. Most insurance companies have changed and water pipe bursting is now Flood Damage and if you dont have flood insurance you get no pay. So we have paid on the policy for the last 20 or so years and could have just banked the money and would have been better off by having it in our building fund. We are just getting started building a new lodge building and will defiantly revamp the policy for it.

In your homes copper is unheard of in new construction anymore. PEX is the way of the future. My cousin who I grew up with and is more like a brother is a former plumbing contractor and now owns his own plumbing supply house. He hardly ever sells copper. PEX will swell 12 times it original size, combined with brass fittings you are almost freeze proof. I say almost because I never think of anything to be that certain. It is great to work with, no glue just fittings and a pair of crimpers.

 

[caissiel]

My house is 37 years old, did my own plumbing and it's all HD cooper type K. Never had a leak yet.
The house is designed so the water lines are no more then 10 ft from the hot water tank.
I also designed many homes, and now I look at the homes that are being build, and I would not want to be the owner of any one of them.
I hear so much maintenance requirements that just makes me like my old house more.
When I build it I never followed the modern specs but addared to the tried and true methods, so much that I don't think I could have had a permit issued for my house if I was to build it now, and its been great for 37 years.

 

[Hastey]

My house is 37 years old, did my own plumbing and it's all HD cooper type K. Never had a leak yet.
The house is designed so the water lines are no more then 10 ft from the hot water tank.
I also designed many homes, and now I look at the homes that are being build, and I would not want to be the owner of any one of them.
I hear so much maintenance requirements that just makes me like my old house more.
When I build it I never followed the modern specs but addared to the tried and true methods, so much that I don't think I could have had a permit issued for my house if I was to build it now, and its been great for 37 years.

K grade copper is the stuff. That is what we put in the parents new house when we built it several years ago. No joints in the slab and never have a problem. The plumber cousin that I was talking about earlier lived in the "old" farm house until he built his new one. He had went under and replaced everything with K grade. That old drafty house the lines would freeze often and never bust, just torch them and go on. Steve said that they cant bust they're too heavy. Too bad you can't afford it anymore.

 

[jbeletti]

...I like the idea of the whole house shut off. Jim, do you have any details of the valve that you plan to use?

Bill,

Here's the one I am using:

Fortrezz FRTWV-01-3/4 - $382 (link). Expensive for a water valve but it's what I wanted in order to be able to control it with the push of a button or remotely or as an action based on a trigger (like a water leak or freezing temps in places where it shouldn't be).

 

[Hastey]

This is a good reminder. The hoses to your dishwasher and washing machine are particularly prone to failing because they often see a spike in pressure due to water hammer when the machines' solenoid valves close, and they often see more flexing from machine vibration. I like the idea of the whole house shut off. Jim, do you have any details of the valve that you plan to use?

The rep from TRC Disaster Recovery told me today while we were getting a estimate that the H.W. Line on washing machines make up a large part of their business.

 

[jbeletti]

Jim,
You guys don't use copper where you live? My experience with that type of line for any use in a home, has been useless. When I purchased my home in 1989 my house was plumbed with that line after 5 years sevral home owners started having problems with the lines busting where they either t-off or at an elbow. A year later I had a line bust in my hallway bathroom & I had to replace all the sheet rock. After that, I had my dad, who's a plumber, run copper lines via the attic to the entire house. Therefore trouble free. Just a question, I building codes are different in every county & every state.

Ivan - yes, copper lines. Steel braided lines from the copper to the appliances.

 

[Willym]

Jim,

Thanks for info and link. Looks like reasonably priced insurance,