Author: January 23, 2019

There are thousands if not millions of buildings in the USA that were built 50 or more years ago. These buildings, no matter if they are houses or apartment buildings where more people live, are constructed in a time when standards were different than today.

Today, water pipes undergo special and strict tests. Authorized workers make sure all pipes installed in people’s homes are safe and durable. This way residents don’t need to fear about the quality of the tap water coming out of their faucets. If you want to know if your home is ready to be repiped, read on and learn some more about this.

Who makes this kind of work at your home?

Repiping is a very complex difficult task. You can find some DIY articles and videos online about it, but we strongly advise not to do it on your own unless you’re a plumbing company CEO. Even then, you can’t do it as a one-man show, you need people who will help with lots of stuff.

The answer to the question was already mentioned above – you need a plumbing company. Not a plumber, nor two guys who know how to change a faucet. No, you need a team of experts that will make a plan, will explain to you what repiping really is in its full meaning and will offer their advice in finding a good contractor that will repair all the damages done during the changing of the pipes.

Where to find a good plumbing company

No matter where you live, there are probably hundreds of plumbers in your area. As we said, look for a plumbing company, not individuals for this job. Look for a plumbing company near you that is insured and have people licensed for doing a thorough job and make the repiping fully successful.

Why you should do the repipe?

Health reasons

RePipe, as the word suggests, is changing the old pipes with new ones. Someone would say this is just a waste of money but if you know what types of pipes are installed years ago, you’d know that this is the least you can do. Of course, you can’t repipe the whole city, but if you live in an old building, you and the neighbors can team up and finance this change.

Millions of miles of water pipes were made of lead back in the day. Lead is a seriously dangerous chemical element for humans. As time passed, the lead pipes began to rust and the lead-contaminated the water. We can repipe the building, but not the city. However, new pipes and a water purifier will do the trick.

Damaged pipes

Pipes that were installed a long time ago even if they are safe for drinking water from them might be old enough to go in the garbage. Galvanized pipes were very popular 50-60 years ago. These pipes did theirs and it’s time for them to be replaced with something modern.

It’s not an obligation for anyone to change them but galvanized pipes over time face corrosion and might start dripping from places. It’s normal, nothing lasts forever and water pipes are just a part of the world’s normal ways. It is actually smarter to change them while a bigger problem didn’t occur. If you ignore this, they may open small holes from which just small droplets will come out, but soon after this water will start flow and the problem will be very serious.

Conclusion

Repiping is something that every person should do once in their lifetime. Today’s water pipes are made from materials that are not corrosive and can last a very long time but even they should be changed after 80-90 years. The reason for this is that water going through them has a lot of chemicals. These chemicals were mixed with the fresh water to make it safer for the end consumers.

However, the chemicals tend to stick on the inside surface of the pipe and over time, it may create a strange taste of the drinkable water going through them. Old galvanized or lead pipes do the same with the difference that these pipes contain chemicals that are harmful. That’s why repiping is so important. If you want to read more about lead pipes, see here.