Bob Sisson
09-08-2012, 09:21 AM
We recently inspected a MONDO house...11,000 sq ft when all was said and done...with 2 separate CRAWL spaces... one was interesting to get into...that a story in its self... everyone said "Not a chance you can get in there" disclaim it, use you camera,etc...
I went in (see below) and found a 3/4" Poly pipe running the length of the crawlspace UNSUPPORTED going to a shark-bite to transition to a 3/4" copper pipe.
There was corrosion on the bottom of the connection and it appeared to have been leaking, albeit slowly, but leaking. I called the homeowner down and said that that fitting needed to be fixed and the pipe supported ASAP...he reluctantly agreed and went off to call his plumber...he came back shortly and asked did it really have to be today (Friday) because he wanted to leave for vacation as soon as we were done and could it wait until Monday...I said NO!, today
The plumber showed up about 3 hours later...agreed with me the fitting was a hazard, turned off what he thought was the master valve (the house had TWO Feeds, city -AND- WELL) and went to argue with the fitting, as he put he wrench on it IT BLEW!
I was in a different section of the house but still heard the "SHUT IT OFF, SHUT IT OFF TURN THEM ALL OFF..." and came running to help
We got the water flow stopped quickly and then went back to figure out what was feeding what...that's another story... no cross connections between city and well, but we found more valves, some polybutelene (the bad stuff & fittings) and even more weirdness I had gotten to yet...
The Homeowner was ECSTATIC that I had pushed him to call the plumber. A few more pump cycles (pressure up/down) and the fitting could have blown on its own with no one home...They would have lost immeasurable amounts of priceless antiques, and probably lost being able to sell the house for a LONG time...
For the time being I am the Hero....
My comment for the day...when you see something like that that can have really bad consequences if you don't say something to the SELLER/OCCUPANT/OWNER, Speak up! Make sure they hear you, and maybe even give it to them in writing so when it DOES blow, you A## is covered...
Pictures below...The fitting didn't look -THAT- bad, corrosion on the bottom that indicated a leak, but that 30' of pipe just hanging just there bothered me...
When the plumber removed the fitting he said the inner sleeve was completely gone, it had been a time bomb waiting to happen, and everyone was lucky I had pushed...
PS... one of our friends recently had a 1/4" compression fitting give under their kitchen sink unnoticed... cost them most of their kitchen, most everything in the basement, and 2-3 months of heavy duty reconstruction which the insurance company will be footing the hotel bill for...
PPS...The access you see with my head sticking out was 6' off the floor, tight to the ceiling, in the SECOND basement...over an antique sofa, it is slightly smaller that the entrance I used to get in...
I went in (see below) and found a 3/4" Poly pipe running the length of the crawlspace UNSUPPORTED going to a shark-bite to transition to a 3/4" copper pipe.
There was corrosion on the bottom of the connection and it appeared to have been leaking, albeit slowly, but leaking. I called the homeowner down and said that that fitting needed to be fixed and the pipe supported ASAP...he reluctantly agreed and went off to call his plumber...he came back shortly and asked did it really have to be today (Friday) because he wanted to leave for vacation as soon as we were done and could it wait until Monday...I said NO!, today
The plumber showed up about 3 hours later...agreed with me the fitting was a hazard, turned off what he thought was the master valve (the house had TWO Feeds, city -AND- WELL) and went to argue with the fitting, as he put he wrench on it IT BLEW!
I was in a different section of the house but still heard the "SHUT IT OFF, SHUT IT OFF TURN THEM ALL OFF..." and came running to help
We got the water flow stopped quickly and then went back to figure out what was feeding what...that's another story... no cross connections between city and well, but we found more valves, some polybutelene (the bad stuff & fittings) and even more weirdness I had gotten to yet...
The Homeowner was ECSTATIC that I had pushed him to call the plumber. A few more pump cycles (pressure up/down) and the fitting could have blown on its own with no one home...They would have lost immeasurable amounts of priceless antiques, and probably lost being able to sell the house for a LONG time...
For the time being I am the Hero....
My comment for the day...when you see something like that that can have really bad consequences if you don't say something to the SELLER/OCCUPANT/OWNER, Speak up! Make sure they hear you, and maybe even give it to them in writing so when it DOES blow, you A## is covered...
Pictures below...The fitting didn't look -THAT- bad, corrosion on the bottom that indicated a leak, but that 30' of pipe just hanging just there bothered me...
When the plumber removed the fitting he said the inner sleeve was completely gone, it had been a time bomb waiting to happen, and everyone was lucky I had pushed...
PS... one of our friends recently had a 1/4" compression fitting give under their kitchen sink unnoticed... cost them most of their kitchen, most everything in the basement, and 2-3 months of heavy duty reconstruction which the insurance company will be footing the hotel bill for...
PPS...The access you see with my head sticking out was 6' off the floor, tight to the ceiling, in the SECOND basement...over an antique sofa, it is slightly smaller that the entrance I used to get in...