Polybutylene & galvanized pipe: when to repipe

Polybutylene: the gray pipe in 1978–1995 homes

Polybutylene is a flexible plastic water pipe, usually gray (sometimes blue or black), that was installed in a huge number of Florida homes from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s. It was cheap and easy to install. The problem: it breaks down from the inside over time and can split or burst without warning, often at the fittings.

How to check: look where water lines come out of the wall under sinks, behind toilets and at the water heater. If you see flexible gray pipe, often stamped “PB2110,” it’s likely polybutylene.

Galvanized steel: the rusty pipe in older homes

Homes built before the 1960s, like many in Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights and older St. Pete neighborhoods, were often plumbed with galvanized steel. It rusts from the inside out. The rust narrows the pipe until you get weak pressure, rusty or brown water, and eventually leaks.

How to check: galvanized pipe is dull gray metal with threaded fittings. A magnet will stick to it (it won’t stick to copper).

Signs it’s time to repipe

• More than one leak in the last few years
• Low water pressure throughout the house
• Brown or rusty water, especially first thing in the morning
• Your insurance company or home inspector flagged your pipe type
• You’re remodeling and the walls are already open

What a whole-home repipe involves

1. Walkthrough and free quote. We look at your current piping and give you a firm written price.
2. Permit. We pull the permit and schedule inspections.
3. New pipe. We run new PEX or copper lines to every fixture through small, planned openings, with new shutoff valves.
4. Test and inspect. The whole system is pressure tested and inspected before walls are closed.
5. Clean up. We protect your floors and belongings during the job and leave the work area clean.

You’ll have water again at the end of most work days, and the job is quoted as a firm price before we start. Financing is available through Acorn Finance and Klarna.