anybody know how to tell if the pipes are PB pipes? Im kinda worried about a house Im looking at, They match the descrpition but I cant find anything on them that says PB on it. They are quest pipes, which I know had a class action suit out on them. anybody know what to look for?
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The "PB" markings can be very hard to find/read. But if the pipes are gray to gray white - flexible and have molded fittings with copper to brassy crimps - it's most likely Polybutylene and I would tend to stay away from that home. Of course there are millions of homes that have not had problems - but then there are another million or so that did and will. It's a crap shoot.


Ron
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Ahh yes PB..
It was a major break thru in the day, but it does blow out..
and its an easy fix..but it does break down, as it was designed to, just faster than they calulated:-)
But I worked for a "MAJOR" REIT, and every community that had it was ripped out every bit and they replaced it all with PVC, in every building, every inch , at every property nation wide..:-)
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.spencerclass.com/pipe2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.spencerclass.com/mainpage.htm&usg=___OyJ2FCM37XHvCjqGhEvfgveUDU=&h= 488&w=1046&sz=36&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=2FCji3RE lk6Y0M:&tbnh=70&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpolybutylene%2Bpipe%26um%3D1%26hl%3De n%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:-)fficial%26sa%3DN
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Yep. I have done hundreds of repairs and three whole townhouse replacements. Problem is when the customer asks how much to repair a leak - the answer was normally - anyway from $100 to 3 to $4 thousand. You can be fixing one leak and then the line snaps further down. You go to fix that one - another snap - and so forth and so forth. Great stuff when it works - nasty when it doesn't.


Ron
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Draw a glass of water and taste it. It's so nasty it's hard to get past your nose. Smells and tastes of chemicals.
They still use polybutylene in chinese faucets. And people still buy them, believe it or not. They come with a sticker on them that says "Let tap water run for 3 seconds before drinking water."
Yes, I'm full aware it sounds incredible. :-)
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the house was built in 1994, what are the odds it will have the pipes?
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Quest pipe = Polybutylene and from what I recall, it was used up until 1995 sometime - so I would say yes it has it.

If you really like the house - consider several things: get a few estimates to re-plumb it. Do a search and see what the claims dates are if still available (think it has to have the copper connectors to qualify). Buy it anyway and maybe you will be one of the ones without ever having a problem.

Good luck with it.


Ron
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