We arrived home from vacation to a busted pipe on the second floor. Before we could even unpack, we were forced to deal with water damage. This was my office before the flood.
This is my office afterwards.
The first call I made was to the insurance company to file a claim. The second call was to our tried and true plumber. Our plumber diagnosed the problem as a failed water pressure valve that sent too much pressure through the plumbing system causing a bad pipe to fail.
PSA – the plumber told us:
you should replace your water pressure valve at the same interval you replace your water heater.
Our plumber replaced the water pressure valve and repaired the leaky pipe. Unfortunately, all of our pipes were ‘bad’, so to speak, because they were polybutylene. A quick Google search will educate you on the nightmare that polybutylene pipes are. A quick search also led me to Plumbing Express as polybutylene pipe removers in our area. Plumbing Express can completely replace ALL the plumbing in your home in just a few days.
Jasmin, the plumber, removed all of the nightmare plastic pipes and replaced them with copper in just 2 days. Of course, you could also choose to have cPVC or PEX piping installed too. [Here is a
handy chart to help you with the decision.] I don’t know a lot about plumbing but I could tell Jasmin is a professional with a keen attention to detail. I was mesmerized by the blow torch and welding.
As you can imagine, replacing pipes involves a lot of cuts in sheet rock.
That’s where Kenny came in. Kenny fixed the sheet rock so it looked as good as new! You can’t even tell there were gaping holes in our walls or textured ceiling. I took advantage of the open ceilings and had recessed LED lighting installed in
the kitchen. Absolutely love it! I’m a bit obsessed with lighting in general and want to install these everywhere!
There were a few minor issues with Plumbing Express, such as a broken bathroom light and lack of clean up in some areas, but overall, we are super pleased to have had all plumbing replaced and sheet rock damage repaired within one week! Next up, flooring! Goodbye to the upstairs carpet. See our new floors upstairs
here and our semi-new floors downstairs
here.
-J
Wow. Check the internet to see if you can be reimbursed for the replacement of your polybutelene pipes. At one time there was a class action lawsuit but you house had to be built within a specific time period and there is usually a cutoff point for filing a claim, but its worth a look. Is Kenny my Ken? I hope so he’s marvelous. I’m glad things are working out so quickly.
Yes, that class action expired awhile ago. Unfortunately, Ken was too booked up. Flooring starts today. Super inconvenient, but glad it’s starting.
Oh no to coming home to busted pipes, but yay on the upgrades! Did Kenny do your recessed lights too? If so, I need his number. I was going to ask what made you refinish your floors, but now I see why. Love the new floors upstairs!
No, we had our electrician do the recessed lighting. I will send you his contact info!