Commercial Plumbing Services in South Florida

One of our specialties is helping our customers re-pipe their homes if they have polybutylene pipes.  Often we’ll get a service request to fix a leak and we discover that the leaking pipe is polybutylene.  Spot repairs can be made depending on the condition of the pipe and circumstances, but the bigger problem is whether your homeowner’s insurance policy will cover any damage to your home if your polybutylene pipe bursts.  As many homeowners renew insurance policies annually their new policy may not include coverage for water damage caused by bursting polybutylene pipes. Polybutylene pipe, a type of synthetic plastic resin, reacts with chemicals like chlorine, which many municipal water purveyors commonly add to potable water systems for the purpose of disinfection. The chemical reaction can cause tiny cracks in the polybutylene making it brittle over time.  The polybutylene pipe failures we typically see are at joints where the pipe turns in different directions to bring water to the many plumbing fixtures throughout your house.

Polybutylene pipe manufacturing ceased after 1995 due to leaks and lawsuits and today it’s no longer an approved product for water distribution in Florida’s Building Code.

Conner Plumbing recommends replacing your polybutylene piping with new copper or Uponor AquaPEX (PEX-a) pipe.

Uponor AquaPEX is polyethylene (PE) that is crosslinked (X), a highly flexible, durable, non-toxic pipe that meets the International Plumbing Code (IPC) requirements, holds the highest chlorine resistance rating per ASTM F2023, and achieved the Water Quality Association (WQA) Gold Seal certification for the greatest durability in freeze/thaw cycles. It’s ideal for safe drinking water and intended for tap water systems with a continuous operating temperature of maximum 158 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius). PEX-a pipe is superior to PEX-b pipe in several ways: kink reparability, tightest bend radius, superior resistance to stress-crack corrosion, no micro-cracking during expansion. Uponor PEX plumbing systems, branded Uponor AquaPEX®, have been in service since 1993. Today, more than 17 billion feet of PEX is installed worldwide for heating, cooling, plumbing and fire safety systems. Uponor AquaPEX piping and ProPEX fittings are covered by a 25-year transferable limited warranty.