OT: Polybutylene pipe

[ICXRa]

I am going way of topic here but was curious to see if anybody here in the DC forum has experience with the claim process for the several class action lawsuits against this product. Our service line failed and had to be replaced in Jan of 2003 and upon getting home from dinner and drinks last night our sheet rock downstairs, ceiling and walls were soaked from a section that just failed, not a crimped insert fitting. The plumber just left and now that we have a "qualified leak" we are starting to fill out the claim forms which is said to take 120 to 150 days to complete before start of work or having your claim rejected. Anyway if you have been through this please let me know how it went!

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: ICXRa
I am going way of topic here but was curious to see if anybody here in the DC forum has experience with the claim process for the several class action lawsuits against this product. Our service line failed and had to be replaced in Jan of 2003 and upon getting home from dinner and drinks last night our sheet rock downstairs, ceiling and walls were soaked from a section that just failed, not a crimped insert fitting. The plumber just left and now that we have a "qualified leak" we are starting to fill out the claim forms which is said to take 120 to 150 days to complete before start of work or having your claim rejected. Anyway if you have been through this please let me know how it went!

Back when I was married in Georgia and got my first house in 1994 just outside Atlanta the service line was Blue Pipe and had it replaced. We only paid the Plumbers a small out of pocket fee like maybe $50 and they got the rest directly from the Claims Dept.

 

[ICXRa]

Yep that's what we had in the lawn too. Unfortunately the claim deadline passed before we had to replace it. The previous homeowners had repaired it twice and apparently were not aware of the class action against shell, DuPont and the other involved companies. Hopefully our claim will go as smoothly as yours seems to have. I am afraid to leave the house without shutting the water off now! I would encourage everyone here that is not sure what kind of plumbing they have to find out. Ours is stubbed out all over the house in copper and never shows what it really is except for under the crawl space where the service from the icemaker line stubs out to feed the exterior hose service. From what I have been reading it's not if it's going to break it?s a matter of when. Our house is just now 14 years old which seems to be the magic number for houses plumbed with PB and metal inserts, again judging from what I have read.

Thanks for the input!!!!

 

[Wolfsraider]

Ouch, I hope you all get reimbursed for the repairs

Mike

 

[ICXRa]

Unfortunatley we just completed remodeling this house but I'll sleep better if this crap is replaced with copper. Having to paint everything over sucks but at least it looks like our hardwoods didn't get enough water to suffer significant damage. If we get through this without another leak I think we can consider ourselves lucky. We have our fingers crossed that they will pay for the replumb and required sheetrock replacement! Just waiting for the pictures to come back and then we are ready to send in our claim.

 

[ICXRa]

Well I realize this wasn't a hot thread but I just had to share this news! I got a letter from the CPRC stating that our house qualified for a complete replumb at no cost. From what I have read this is typically between 8 and 10k for a house our size. After reading through the forums it also states that they repair and repaint all the sheet rock and even replace tiles etc. I really didn't expect them to repaint but hey that's all the better. Now to decide the replumb material, CPVC or type M copper.......ah yeah enough plastic for me for a lifetime, bring on the copper. Anyway we couldn't be happier to receive this news!!!!

 

[danzigrules]

glad to hear you got good news outta the deal

 

[MedicBob]

Glad it worked out for you. Copper all they way too

 

[Wolfsraider]

Nice to hear

:beer:

mike

 

[Freewolf]

Great news Todd
Very happy to hear it.

 

[Sukhoi]

Copper. If they're replumbing the whole thing you might as well run some big feeds to each floor (1" or 1+1/4") so you lose less water pressure when multiple feeds are in use at one time.

 

[panhead49]

when they re-did my modular home some years ago ,they didnt give us a choice.....it was replaced with the latest (cheapest) plastic pipe...along the same lines as you ..they did pay us for all the damage any leak caused ....paint..materials..time.....

i assume your home is a regular stick frame house?...i thought they just stuck that plastic shi$ in modular and moble homes.......good luck...

 

[ICXRa]

There are a few odd things about the claim process but they do list a preference of material for your selection. If I get a choice it will be copper and it seems I will but at this point I just want this pb out of service. I think that pb caught on first in the mobile home market and since it didn't suffer from the freeze failures associated with copper it really appeared to be superior so some builders used it early on before the problems with the material were discovered. This is why I am leary of CPVC and PEX at this time as they haven't had sufficient time to prove themselves in the field. Our house is stick frame, nothing fancy but it was our next step up the food chain after living in a starter home for 15 years and should be all we ever need.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes!

 

[dmcowen674]

That's great News.

Also glad to see a Company was held accountable and they continue to make good on the bad pipe situation.

 

[ICXRa]

Well the replumb is two days in and our house looks horrible. I've spent the better part of three years remodeling this house and watching them cut big holes everywhere in the walls is hard to take. They run riser pipes from the crawl space to thru both floors and into the attic so they can drop feed the upstairs fixtures thru the walls. They reassure me I'll never know they were there but I find it difficult to belive since I have patched a lot of drywall in my days but we shall see. Soft copper also doesn't make for the neatest job and I am a neat freak so I am having to deal with this. I know it shouldn't bother me but what can I say!

 

[ICXRa]

Sorry for boring everyone with the details! On a good note all my home fleet has crunched away during the construction!

 

[JTWill]

Do not forget to ground bond your copper to the main panel. You do not want it accidently crossing a live line. Any electrical book can show you how.

 

[ICXRa]

Thanks for the heads up as I wasn't aware. My electrician was like "yes exactly" but the plumbers weren't aware of this. I'll bond it myself as it is only about ten feet away.