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Working on a small cottage by the Delaware Bay. Last year I had to repair the plumbing in the two bathrooms because the solder joints pulled apart. This year some pipes fell out under the house because the joints pulled apart. As I was making measurements for repair, a joint on the main line in came apart. Joints are a dull powdery grey in color. Mostly original plumbing done in the 60's. Should the house be re-plumbed? Will I be chasing leaks on a regular basis?

Thanks.

Steve M
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    High tin solder and cold temperatures getting you into allotrope trouble? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_pest They *should* have known about that in the 60's, but maybe somebody bought a discount brand of solder, complete with bad quality control. – Wayfaring Stranger May 26 '15 at 13:17
  • This happened to me when i bought a cottage, I figured the previous owner knew he wasn't coming back and he did not drain the pipes in the fall. The ones at the bottom of the cottage blew apart in several places as soon as there was pressure. I replaced it with PEX. – PatFromCanada May 26 '15 at 18:01

2 Answers2

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Soldered copper pipes should never come apart,much less fall out.

I would seek the advice of a licensed plumber. Small scale repairs to exposed connections are a medium level skill for DIY. Whole house replacement of supply lines are an advanced level skill.

HerrBag
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I agree with @HerrBag that the joints should not come apart - but if you are up for some new skills, replumbing the whole house with PEX is well in the DIY realm (IMHO), and what I'd suggest, rather than trying to rework/replace copper with copper. Hmm - cottage - did the lines freeze, perhaps?

I might also do a water test to see if the water is especially acidic or something (though that's more often seen as the pipes becoming perforated with many tiny corrosion holes.) Could be it was just a lousy plumbing job to begin with.

Ecnerwal
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  • Yeah, Sell the copper. Not needed. Spend the money on something important... like beer. – Edwin May 27 '15 at 02:30