Thread: Don't be affraind to call for repair NOW !

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...

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Interesting story, but why do they have a head mounted on the wall?

Did you report the large hairy critter in the crawlspace?


Good story Bob

I bet the union blew apart when fiddled with or wrenched, not just random coincidence.

Originally Posted by Bob Sisson

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)
...

Back Flow Preventer ????

Well and Municipal H2O Supplies can not be Cross Connected.....

Like Dom said.
We have had this discussion about Shark Bites before. I don't trust them.
I'm glad this worked out well, but 9 times out of 10 the plumber would have told you that you are an idiot. I think the kudos from the plumber was because he screwed things up messing with the fitting. CYA.
Looks like polybutyene to the shark bite, that can't be good.

That's not a Shark Bite connector. At least not the same as on the market today. Looks like a Qest or Apollo compression fitting commonly used for pb pipes.

Shark Bites aren't the same as compression fittings.

To the people who were worried about backflow...

After much confusion, we found that there were two totally seperate water systems. They crossed PATHS several times, but were never cross-connected. The Well system fed the Pool and the hose faucets, the domestic fed everything else. Several of the valves were very well hidden.

I want to know how a "normal" sized plumber was/is going to get into the crawl to do any repairs... The emergency plumber could reach one end of the pipe from the opening (barely) the other end is 30 feet inside the crawl and I barely (as you can see) fit...

Originally Posted by Ken Rowe

That's not a Shark Bite connector. At least not the same as on the market today. Looks like a Qest or Apollo compression fitting commonly used for pb pipes.

Shark Bites aren't the same as compression fittings.

................correct. But I also don't believe it's a Quest or Apollo - just an everyday compression fitting & never intended for Pb pipe. Sharkbites will work on Pb, but the last time I checked with the manufacturer ( about 6 months ago) they were not rating them for that use..........Greg.

Originally Posted by Gregory Booth

But I also don't believe it's a Quest or Apollo - just an everyday compression fitting & never intended for Pb pipe.

I agree, looks like an everyday compression fitting too.

What is pictured is a standard compression coupling. Not intended for use on PB pipe. Notice I said not intended for use on PB pipe? Reason is a compression fitting compresses a copper ring onto the pipe, PB pipe is to soft and the compression fitting can and will blow off. They do make special fittings for PB pipe that has an insert fitting that stiffens the pipe to allow the compression ring to bite down into the pipe, also the compression ring is a plastic ring instead of brass.

Myself with PB pipe, I prefer the barbed transtion fittings that get inserted into the PB pipe and a crimp ring crimped onto the end.

Bob - My hat's off to you for squeezing in there. Looks like I'll be the first to admit that I wouldn't have attempted entry.

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

I would still be afraid to tell someone who is not my client that they must do something on my orders.

Agree that you "done good" getting in there. Not sure I would have either, although, I have gone into some areas that I sure didn't want to. I love it when I get a payoff (like you did) for doing the extra.

And I agree with comments that the plumber probably caused the break, but it still needed to be repaired more sooner than later, and repairing it immediately was assurance that it was fixed.

I told the seller that I would be just as happy if the plumber said "Paranoid home inspector, its fine" then it would be HIS responsibility... He agreeded that the risk outwayed the possible charge for a plumber to say "Paranoid..."

Since I was the last one in there...he would have been yelling at me when it broke and ruined his stuff...even if I didn't touch it... I "should have told him...." so I did...

Yeah, they got that ONE replaced, but ... ... 'how many more are in that house?