Copper to Rubber Piping

[RSVRMAN]

I'm currently looking to buy a foreclosed home. It has been repaired by the bank as it had freeze damage. I had a few questions regarding the piping. I noticed a few of the lines that had been froze had been cut out in sections of 3 feet and replaced by red rubber tubing. It looks like it was professionally done well and done in a clean fashion. The areas that were replaced will soon be covered up again by drywall. My question would be if this is bad or will it last as long if you were to solder in copper line replacements. The home does had a water softner in it, although to my knowledge the area has some really really hard water. Will this last or will I be looking to repair it again in 10 years. Home is approx 15 years old. Just looking for some advice.
Thanks.

 

[havasu]

I personally have never heard of this. It seems to be a "Band Aid" approach, but living in So. Cal, I would wait for a few replies from our cold weather plumbing experts.

 

[RSVRMAN]

I will keep the home warm so it wont freeze again, but I'm unsure as to rubber lasting as long as rubber. Home is still being inspected by the city. I'm unsure if this would meet their requirements as well.

 

[havasu]

If this tubing is PEX, like the picture below, and the connections are well done, it does have a pretty good track record, provided it is allowed within your city limits.

PEX is ideally suited for potable water plumbing applications. It is flexible, making it easy to install and service. PEX is able to withstand the high and low temperatures found in plumbing and heating applications, and is highly resistant to chemicals found in the plumbing environment.
Flexible systems are quieter than rigid piping. The smooth interior will not corrode which can affect other materials long term pipe flow characteristics. PEX is also very freeze- break resistant. PEX systems have fewer joints and are easier to install providing a lower cost installation over traditional plumbing materials.

 

[Chris]

If it is like garden hose rubber I would personally switch it back out to copper.

 

[havasu]

I'm wondering how a house built completely in PEX would do in the cold weather climates? Would you still have to leave a dripping faucet or drain down your water system?

 

[SlowDrip]

RSVRMAN: Good advice already in this thread. Pex will be fine, but rubber is bad. I have never seen a place where rubber piping meets code. Go tap on the pipe, if it is plastic you are fine. Better yet read the side of it, it should say pex right on it.

havasu: Pex runs fine in cold weather, but it can still freeze like copper. The pipe itself will expand better than copper but the joints are more susceptible to freeze damage, so it balances out. Treat it like you would a copper system.

 

[havasu]

Thanks SlowDrip!

 

[SlowDrip]

I am sitting in a frozen house full of pex piping right now, since my furnace appears to be broken. If only I knew furnaces instead of piping

 

[Chris]

I am sitting in a frozen house full of pex piping right now, since my furnace appears to be broken. If only I knew furnaces instead of piping

Firewood and a match.

 

[RSVRMAN]

Thanks a lot for the help. I got to feel the plumbing and it doesn't say PEX, but it feels very much like plastic. They replaced the hot with red and the blue with cold. It appears I should have no problems with the leaks then.

 

[havasu]

Is there a way you could take a pic of the tubing and a few of the connections for us?

 

[SlowDrip]

Sounds like it is pex since red/blue colour coding is common (I just use white for everything because I am a lazy bastard). A picture of the fittings as havasu has requested would allow us to confirm.

 

[havasu]

You can't be that lazy since you took the time to add an additional letter (u) to the word "color"!

 

[Mr_David]

You can't be that lazy since you took the time to add an additional letter (u) to the word "color"!

The extra letter is because he was dragging his finger across the key board and he was to lazy to spell check.

 

[havasu]

Na, he was trying to impress us with his quasi French-Canadian talk!

 

[SlowDrip]

Nah, i was trying to impress you with my use of proper English. I also say things like "light" and "through" which tends to make most of you yanks confused. ;p