Copper Piping Theft

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Imagine arriving home after a wonderful family vacation to find your home flooded with water, your ceilings torn apart, and your copper plumbing pipes torn out and missing.  What a mess!  Unfortunately, the rising price of scrap copper prices has led to a rise in the theft of all types of copper, including copper plumbing pipes throughout the Atlanta area.

Atlanta plumbers have been busy repairing the damage caused by thefts of copper piping.  These criminals often cause thousands of dollars in damage to get $50 or $100 worth of scrap copper pipe.  They leave behind damaged walls, ceilings, and floors.

The thieves used to target new construction, but these days they look for homes that are vacant and for sale, foreclosures, empty rental properties, and homes where the homeowners are away on vacation.  You can protect your home with an alarm system and by using timers to give the appearance that the home is occupied.

If you are the victim of this type of crime, call the police and contact your homeowner’s insurance carrier.  Be very careful about entering the home until you are certain it is safe.  Some copper thieves attempt to steal electrical wiring and can leave live wiring exposed.

To make your home less attractive to copper thieves, talk to your Atlanta plumbers about replacing the missing piping with PEX piping rather than copper piping. PEX is a type of plastic piping that is an excellent choice for residential indoor hot and cold water supply lines.  PEX is easy to work with, costs much less than copper, and since it’s plastic the copper thieves will leave it alone.  Your Atlanta plumbers will be able to help you decide is PEX is a good choice for your Atlanta plumbing repairs.

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