Calling all plumbers

[breeves2245]

Here's the deal. I've owned a duplex rental property since 1997. Built in 1994. Over the years I've repaired three or four water leaks. A couple have been between the outside city meter and one of the houses. So not too bad just to just dig up some dirt and fix. Two have been dead center in one of the living rooms about three feet apart. I had to hire a company each time to locate the leak ($350). Then rent a jack hammer to drill through the foundation (build on a slab foundation) to expose the bad copper pipe. Then hire the plumber to come replace about a foot of so of the pipe.

Last leak was about three or four years ago. Pipes are not sleeved, just bare in the crush base under the foundation.

Question - got a renter moving out soon in the side that had the living room leaks. I fear having another in a spot that is not easy to access as the last two. Plus it creates a big mess as you can imagine to fix and disrupts the tenant's life for a couple of days.

What are my alternatives to prevent future leaks? Want to take advantage of the unit being empty to do something. Does it make any sense to run lines from the water heater through the attic in an insulated channel? Seems drastic, but doing nothing makes me anxious about getting a text from a future tenant wondering why their water bill is $200 this month.

Thanks for any advice.

[Garfish]

What did the leak come from ? Was the pipe ruptured, pin hole leaks, abrasion from the bed stone ?

[Tim Kelly]

I'd be tempted to dig up the floor and replace the water pipe to the city meter with some heavy plastic pipe of whatever sort is allowed in your area. Copper pipe in concrete is an accident waiting to happen as the copper doesn't like the concrete and corrodes. The internal pipes should be fine and at no more risk than in anyone else's house, but the incoming main sounds very vulnerable.

[breeves2245]

Pin hole leaks in the copper pipe. When I dug the hole through my tile floor to access the pipe it had several discolored blackish spots around the leak. From what I've read, it's only a matter of time before the next one. Digging up a tiled floor through the foundation slab to access all the fixtures doesn't sound like a viable fix.

I'm thinking pex through the attic with maybe some batt insulation stapled down by visqueen or something similar down to the fixtures is about the only solution. Keeping the pex close to the ceiling sheetrock for warmth. But I'm sure open to other suggestions.

[CatFan]

I don’t understand why copper pipe is so widely used. CPVC and Pex are both easier to work with, cheaper and last longer. Unless the water is about perfect, copper is going to leak eventually.

[Erndog]

Repipe all of the units that way you have any more slab leaks.

[DaveBrabec]

My 2 cents. Soft copper in slabs get electrolysis. Easier to abandon lines and run overhead. No jackhammers or replacing cement and flooring. I worked for a major builder and if we had a under slab leak in a unit under 10 years old they would send 2 of us and we could get it done in 3 days . One guy to cut sheetrock where needed and next guy start running pipe. Then close up and patch walls and come back next day and paint.

[Darksiede]

I don’t understand why copper pipe is so widely used. CPVC and Pex are both easier to work with, cheaper and last longer. Unless the water is about perfect, copper is going to leak eventually.

Archaic building codes is most commonly the reason why... Many cities are just slow to update and allow more modern solutions. Many plumbers also refuse to adopt new tech even once the codes are changed..

[Rip Bass]

I ran into an under slab leak recently. Except for the water main from the meter,all water pipes were ran down from the ceiling. So,the water main developed a big leak.I found the main where it entered the slab and where it exited in the attic,cut both ends loose and ran 1/2” pex inside the old 3/4” copper,then tied it in on both ends. Problem solved and no busted concrete. This was city water so still plenty of volume and pressure on 1/2” pipe.

[grandbassslayer]

Arkansas went to fully coated pre-sleeved copper at some point, I know for sure in early 2000s. I'd repipe overhead keeping it tight to joists and get insulation blown in when done. Makes sure its pex-a, not pex-b.

[Gambler Bob]

Running water lines in the attic is a terrible idea in this area (Chicago, Illinois) they will freeze, even if they are insulated.

I really can't say how this would work in your area but your climate is certainly less cold than this area. Replacing all the waters pipe in one unit or both units sounds like it would be fairly expensive if you can't do all the work yourself.

It sounds like you have had two leaks in this unit in 23 years. What is the total to fix a leak each time? I think I would leave the piping the way it is for the time being.

Also, will you have water lines that come down from the attic that will be in exterior walls? Running water lines in exterior walls is no good in this area, they will freeze when it gets real cold.