Copper pipe epoxy relining opinions - does anyone have actual experience?

Pinhole leaks in copper are caused by water currents near changes in direction--like near a 90 fitting. Relining the pipe will not stop those currents, and unless the lining is absolutely smooth, it will actuall increase water disturbance.

Copper was supposed to be a "lifetime" product to replace galvanized. Turns out it isn't. Now they're saying PEX is the new "lifetime" replacment to copper. But several PEX fitting manufacturers have had to issue recalls on their components, and no one knows how long PEX tubing will last. Theoretically, the smooth curves of the PEX tubing eliminate the swirling currents that eat away at copper. But who knows what happens to the interior of those tubes 50 years from now.

If I had to spend the money, I'd replace with copper and skip the relining.

Reply to
Rick-Meister
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Shouldn't be too hard, the U.S. Navy has been using it since at least the mid-'80s on ships at sea and in Navy housing units.

Never used it myself, but it's had some good press for multi-family housing where the cost of down-time is much higher than in single family residential.

Reply to
<josh

trekee had written this in response to

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: Well, I know this thread is quite old, but I read it before I made a decision on epoxy lining, and figured other people might run across it as well. I am grateful for all of the opinions expressed, but was disappointed that the original poster never did get an actual response from someone who had experienced epoxy lining first hand.

In my case, I didn&#39;t want to tear up my home, and being a scientist and an engineer, I was intrigued by the concept of pipe lining. I then got online, and started 2 months of research. After all, I didn?t have an extra 10k lying around to make a wrong decision. I found a lot of technical information at the NSF. UL, and IAPMO websites, but no testimonials.

It wasn?t until I found out that a co-worker had had it done that I was able to get an opinion. She had done her research as well, and had used Curaflo, (She called them Brinks). She had her home epoxy lined 4 years ago. She said that she didn?t have any problems. I still had all three companies in San Diego come out to my home and talk to me, Ace Duraflo, Curaflo, and NuFlow. The NuFlow salesman Andrew came out, and was every bit the high pressure salesman! I told him that I wanted to talk to my wife before making a decision, and he actually told I should sign now to lock in the ?Good Deal? and that I could cancel later if I wanted. What a Joke!

In the end I went with Curaflo, Ace Duraflo didn?t seem to have a lot of experience (I guess they are a brand new franchise) and Josh the Curaflo sales rep spoke my language, he really knew the technical side of the process and actually suggested I sleep on it before making a decision! This went a long way with me.

I am sorry to say that I was all over the technicians while they were doing the job, and they were always polite and answered all of my questions. They also showed me around their trucks and explained how they controlled the air flow and performed the process. I watched them perform a very extensive before and after flow test, and they even cut out two sections of pipe they had coated for me to inspect. The finished product looked almost exactly like Josh?s sales samples, although there was a very slightly thicker coating on the bottom of the pipe (1/16th of an inch) but the 90* in the wall they cut out was perfect. I understand the dynamics of how it worked, but I was still amazed with the end result. It actually looked like a pipe inside a pipe. All in all, I am very happy, and the water flow is the same as it was before in most of the house and MUCH faster at the roman tub and hose connections, it was not reduced anywhere.

So I figure I would post here to answer the original question. I have had the epoxy lining done, and I am very happy with the outcome! We will just have to see if it lasts as long as the lifetime warranty.

-Mike

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Reply to
trekee

| I am sorry to say that I was all over the technicians while they were | doing the job, and they were always polite and answered all of my | questions. They also showed me around their trucks and explained how they | controlled the air flow and performed the process. I watched them perform | a very extensive before and after flow test, and they even cut out two | sections of pipe they had coated for me to inspect. The finished product | looked almost exactly like Joshs sales samples, although there was a very | slightly thicker coating on the bottom of the pipe (1/16th of an inch) but | the 90* in the wall they cut out was perfect. I understand the dynamics | of how it worked, but I was still amazed with the end result. It actually | looked like a pipe inside a pipe. All in all, I am very happy, and the | water flow is the same as it was before in most of the house and MUCH | faster at the roman tub and hose connections, it was not reduced anywhere.

Do they have to remove and re-install all shutoff valves and such?

After the pipe is coated can you still solder it?

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

Reply to
Dan Lanciani

trekee had written this in response to

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:

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Sorry to take so long posting a reply.

Yes they did have to remove all the shutoff valves under my sinks.

No, they have stickers under my sinks and at my water heater telling me not to solder on the epoxy coated pipes. As I understand it, there are some kinds of fittings you can get to attach to the pipe, but since I had already done all the remodeling I'm going to do, I didn't write down what they were called.

Reply to
trekee

I think Sharkbite connectors work with it. Compression fittings.

Jimmie

Reply to
JIMMIE

In article , stoneharpy1978_at_hotmail_dot snipped-for-privacy@foo.com (trekee) writes: | trekee had written this in response to |

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| : | | | > Do they have to remove and re-install all shutoff valves and such? | | > After the pipe is coated can you still solder it? | | > Dan Lanciani | > ddl@danlan.*com | | | ------------------------------------- | | Sorry to take so long posting a reply.

No problem. :)

| Yes they did have to remove all the shutoff valves under my sinks.

Did you have many/any other valves besides the fixture shutoffs? I have a (or two) stop-and-waste valves in the basement for pretty much every fixture plus a number of isolation valves. I was thinking that if you had to cut out and re-install all of those you could just as well replace the sections of pipe between them...

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

Reply to
Dan Lanciani

So to be fair about warranties a copper repipe is guaranteed for 1 year dura flow 10 years.

I have welded galvanized pipe getting pinhole leaks a friend had his house done with the dura flow

5 years ago and is pleased with the result. I am on the fence there is a 5 month waiting list for

E pipe jobs around here lots of folks are getting it in a few years good feedback should be available

Reply to
Lupe Hernandez

DO NOT COAT GALVANIZED PIPES! You cant:(

Since the insides of galvanized pipe are nearly always filled with rust:( To the point it restricts water flow greatly.....

Now repiping copper is a lot of work but because of freezing weather I redid a bunch of split copper lines for a realtive. Quick easy and cheap:) Although I want to buy one of those expander tools for PEX. This will cut the costs of fittings dramatically:)

Reply to
bob haller

I wanted. What a

Hi! I've been looking into all 3 companies as well. How has the Curaflo lin ing worked for you over the last 6 years?

Reply to
campbell.design

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