I found out the other day that I have a slab leak. I had a guy from a leak detector company come out and map out my system and find the leak. I have two areas serviced by the system, two bathrooms back to back and then the kitchen farther back in the house. The leak detector guy says the leak is just before the hot water pipe comes up out of the slab in the wall between the two bathrooms. He cut a hole in the wall and showed me the manifold where this pipe comes in, feeds the bathroom plumbing and also splits off to the kitchen. By the way, this guys was great and gave me a lot of tips on how I could diy this job.

It appears I can do a reroute from my hot water heater to the manifold in the wall. This would eliminate the leaking pipe area and only require about 25+ feet of pipe. The leak guy suggested I do the reroute with 3/4" pipe instead of the 1/2" stuff the house was built with.

My first question is, should I buy 10' lengths of pipe to run up into and across my attic or should I go with the coil stuff? Do they even make 3/4" in the coil (haven't seen it on the Homedepot site yet)?

Since we plan on being in the house for some time and are thinking of doing a bathroom remodel in the future the 3/4" idea sounds good but is it worth it?

That's all for now, thanks!

 

>>> The leak guy suggested I do the reroute with 3/4" pipe instead of the 1/2" stuff the house was built with.>>My first question is, should I buy 10' lengths of pipe to run up into and across my attic or should I go with the coil stuff? Do they even make 3/4" in the coil (haven't seen it on the Homedepot site yet)?>>Since we plan on being in the house for some time and are thinking of doing a bathroom remodel in the future the 3/4" idea sounds good but is it worth it?

 

I would run the newer pex pipe. This is what we run in attics for a slab repipe. It flexes more in cold.

Also for slabs I recommend pipe lineing. They coat the inside of the copper with a plastic material. Works good.

Mike NJ

 

I guess I'm not familiar with pex but wasn't there a lot of issues with plastic pipe in days gone by? I don't want to trade one leak for another...

 

Yes the old flogaurd gold was bad and the grey poly butalane,

New pex with crimp ring no issues. been using 10 yrs with repipes in attics. Pull insolation over and is better at freezing temps. Expands better.

PEX Information

 

I would use Uponor crosslinked pex it has a great warranty and easy to use you can buy it in rolls up to 500ft or in stick form.

Uponor - Plumbing Systems

 

So when I look at the info on the pex pipes, it looks like I would need to buy a few tools. Would the only tools I need be a cutting tool and a crimping tool? Is the "Vanguard" pex pipe they sell at Lowes the right stuff or do I need to go to a plumbing supply store to get the best material?

Edit; I will need to join the pex tubing to my copper line at the manifold that is past the leak. Are there any issues with connecting a pex line to the existing copper lines?

By the way, I live in southern California so freezing isn't much of an issue in our attic but high heat would be.

 

If you decide to go with Pex go to this link and they should have what you want.

http://www.pexsupply.com/PEX-Copper-...dapters-342000