Galvanized Pipe Issues

[Peter Burnside]

So this coupling failed and caused a lot of water damage.  House is about 65 years old.  Is the galvanized pipe the problem?  The plumber cleaned it, taped, and doped and cranked a new coupling on it, but I wonder how long it will last.  What should I look at/look for when assessing the condition of the pipes?

[Austin Bull]

As a plumber in AZ, I agree with the prior two comments. You should be putting money aside to eventually replace that piping entirely in the house. In Arizona I have seen galvanized piping in a lot of older houses, and eventually the pipe deteriorates because of our "hard" water here and they crack and leak over time.

Look into a "whole house re-pipe". It'll probably be anywhere from 8k-15k depending on where you live and the size of the house. What the plumber would do is he will bypass all the piping in the walls/ground. And he'll tie into the main water service with Pex-A piping(this pliable plastic piping). They'll run it up over head in the attic and drop it down the walls to the different plumbing fixtures. And most medium/bigger plumbing companies can finance the project. My old company even did 12 mo payments with no interest if you paid in that 12 months. So there's options. Just proactively get some quotes to get an idea. Plumbers like these jobs because they're "big jobs" and they make good money on them, so they'll be glad to give you estimates.

Just a thought: keep an eye out for moisture in the drywall. Once I saw a house where the pipe cracked/leaked in a wall by the kitchen, but it was behind a book case. The homeowner didn't notice for a while until it was too late, so it ruined the drywall in the area, the cabinets and the flooring in the kitchen.

[Cory J Thornton]

@Peter Burnside - I am not a plumber, but I have fought some galvanized pipes before. If I am renovating a property, I generally like to gut out the galvanized water lines and drains and update them with modern materials. If it is a occupied rental, and nothing is leaking, then I usually wait until something starts to leak and then replace everything that is easily accessible when I make the repairs. The old pipe rusts/corrodes over decades which can cause all kinds of issues. My primary home has a few galvanized lines that I look at and know they are ticking time bombs. There is rust starting to show along the seams and at the fittings. One of the reasons I usually upgrade everything in a given area when I make a repair, is because it is hard to get old pipes to stop leaking once a repair is made. You can chase leaks from one fitting to the next until you've rebuilt it anyways. 

All that to say, in my experience, I probably wouldn't worry a ton about the work the plumber just did. I would want to get a look at the other pipes/fitting in the area to be sure that a repair in one place didn't agitate and old pipe and cause a new leak somewhere else. Your plumber may have already put eyes on everything to make sure nothing else was leaking.  

Plumbing issues rank pretty high on the list of calls you never want to get as a landlord. I hope this one resolves well for you. 

Best of luck on your learning and investing journey. 

[Richard F.]

Aloha,

Based on age alone, you should be budgeting to replace the entire supply system in the very near future, as you are already past the systems designed life. Iron pipes corrode from the inside out, so you often are not aware of problems until they do leak, or even burst. It is common for the threads at connections to deteriorate and become weak, causing leaks, especially where transitioning to different type of material. However it appears the coupling in your pic is an old compression fitting, and they sometimes just let loose...I always use threaded connections.

[Austin Bull]

As a plumber in AZ, I agree with the prior two comments. You should be putting money aside to eventually replace that piping entirely in the house. In Arizona I have seen galvanized piping in a lot of older houses, and eventually the pipe deteriorates because of our "hard" water here and they crack and leak over time.

Look into a "whole house re-pipe". It'll probably be anywhere from 8k-15k depending on where you live and the size of the house. What the plumber would do is he will bypass all the piping in the walls/ground. And he'll tie into the main water service with Pex-A piping(this pliable plastic piping). They'll run it up over head in the attic and drop it down the walls to the different plumbing fixtures. And most medium/bigger plumbing companies can finance the project. My old company even did 12 mo payments with no interest if you paid in that 12 months. So there's options. Just proactively get some quotes to get an idea. Plumbers like these jobs because they're "big jobs" and they make good money on them, so they'll be glad to give you estimates.

Just a thought: keep an eye out for moisture in the drywall. Once I saw a house where the pipe cracked/leaked in a wall by the kitchen, but it was behind a book case. The homeowner didn't notice for a while until it was too late, so it ruined the drywall in the area, the cabinets and the flooring in the kitchen.

[Henry T.]

Most likely the pipe will out last you. But there can be exceptions causing the pipe to corrode more quickly. I replace all galvi with copper L whenever the opportunity is there (like vacancy, remodel, or gut). The Galvi line coming into my residence is over 100 years old, still going strong. Dohhhh, there it goes now! Sorry, gotta run!