jgohlke
My other hobby
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2004
- Messages
- 991
Hey, I hear ya! Play with fire...What's not to love? Plus I just bought a brand new MAPP gas trigger fired torch. So far I've mostly used it to light cigars when I'm in the shop....
Running copper would have been 4-8 times more expensive depending on the grade of copper pipe. Plus I would have been using the torch in the attic, in the walls, all over the house. Figuring if I didn't burn the house down, I would still have to be up in the attic with a torch (in August)...it just wasn't that appealing.
The copper they use when they build the house comes on a roll...they unroll it and rough it in for the fixtures. When it unrolls, it isn't round in the cross section (more oval). They sweat fittings on it (above ground only, a code requirement), so they mash it round, sweat a coupling or a tee on it and run it back underground. Combine that with slightly acidic water and acidic soil, lots of lightning, wait 20 years....it's gonna leak...it's basically just a crappy system.
If you replace it (or have a basement), generally the copper pipe is straight pipe, thick walled and will last a lifetime (or longer). Copper has some definite benefits and is very durable, but is really only a decent solution if you have a basement.
Running copper would have been 4-8 times more expensive depending on the grade of copper pipe. Plus I would have been using the torch in the attic, in the walls, all over the house. Figuring if I didn't burn the house down, I would still have to be up in the attic with a torch (in August)...it just wasn't that appealing.
The copper they use when they build the house comes on a roll...they unroll it and rough it in for the fixtures. When it unrolls, it isn't round in the cross section (more oval). They sweat fittings on it (above ground only, a code requirement), so they mash it round, sweat a coupling or a tee on it and run it back underground. Combine that with slightly acidic water and acidic soil, lots of lightning, wait 20 years....it's gonna leak...it's basically just a crappy system.
If you replace it (or have a basement), generally the copper pipe is straight pipe, thick walled and will last a lifetime (or longer). Copper has some definite benefits and is very durable, but is really only a decent solution if you have a basement.
