Many homes built in the 1980’s and early 1990’s have polybutylene plumbing and/or polybutylene water service lines that run from the street to the home. Polybutylene pipe was used because it was less expensive than copper tubing and easier to install. Builders saved thousands of dollars for materials and labor on each house constructed by using polybutylene plumbing instead of copper.
Unfortunately, it turned out that polybutylene pipes and fittings suffered from manufacturing defects that caused them to fail after only a few years of service. They were also affected by the chlorine present in most municipal water systems which cause the pipes and fittings to break down.
In addition, polybutylene pipes can become fragile from excessive heat or cold or if they were overly stressed during installation. In short, polybutylene plumbing systems usually have serious problems with leaks repeatedly developing either due to cracked pipes or from failed fittings.
If you have polybutylene plumbing in your home that is developing leaks, it is often possible in the short term to repair the leak by replacing the failed section of pipe or fittings using modern PEX pipe and fittings with adapters to connect the PEX pipe to the polybutylene pipe.
However, repairing leaky polybutylene pipe is rarely cost effective. Your polybutylene pipes will continue to develop leaks and the best solution is usually to completely replace all of the polybutylene plumbing.
A complete polybutylene pipe replacement is a big job that is best left to an experienced plumber. Be sure to get bids from several reputable plumbers and choose a plumber with experience in replacing polybutylene plumbing.
