I love that you mention that shark bite or any of the other manufacturers but I guess I only know of shark bite for sure now that I think about it, has the gray plastic edge to let you know that it is for polybutylene piping. I have used it only because it was a retiree who couldn’t afford it and he was on his third leak in the service going to his house but I always replaced it with “PEX A”. I know people are in tight spots especially financially when they find out about polybutylene but In my opinion which doesn’t mean much, I would definitely replace all of it that you can but I agree with using the proper shark bite fittings when connecting back to it. I know what it’s like to be broke
You make that look easy, In the long run I suppose you come out better buying the tools and learning how to do it yourself. Good video ! Still hell of a price just to replace for me a shutoff valve for an ice maker.
These are what almost all plummers use now. Most building codes allow for them in walls now. Great, easy way to make a fix if you cannot afford to replace all the poly pipe right away. Most people aren't rich and this was sorely needed. It is getting harder to even find shutoffs that work with the metal crimps and old grey poly anymore. You need these adapters to replace them for the new pex ones.
Thank you so much! I've been scratching my head on how to connect anything to that off size crap poly pipe. Awesome, your a life saver! Our pressure tank gave out right before Christmas and I have to hook the new one into this pipe and get it done asap.
The class-action suit, Cox vs. Shell Oil Co., was filed in Tennessee over faulty polybutylene plastic plumbing. The lawsuit lets home owners with PB pipes get their plumbing replaced. "Polybutylene, or PB, was widely used from the late 1970s through the early '90s.
What usually happens is that the plastic fittings are connected by a ring clamp that is compressed on by a special clamping tool. Eventually the swelling of polybutylene over time under water pressure causes the fitting surface to fail. It may begin with a small leak or the whole fitting may get blown out from water pressure with a gusher of water flooding everywhere. I have never had any problem with the flexible polybutylene failing except at the connections. So if you don't want to re-pipe your hole trailer/house you can choose to replace all the connectors instead. If not you take the chance of them blowing out and ruining your floors or insulation. But since apparently the suppliers refuse to make pollybutylene connectors on both sides of the shark bite in order to make you buy more fittings at a high price, you must buy the adapter fittings and use a piece of standard plastic pipe such as Pex on one end with the polybutylene connected end going to the polybutylene pipe. That way you have to spend about twice as much money for a repair. In some cases you may need extra length to make up for the cut out pipe when removing old fittings,, in which case the adapter fitting is needed. However some of the flexible hoses have enough extra slack that you wouldn't need extra length if you cut the polybutylene pipe close to the very end of the old fittings. But they want your money. After cutting these fitting off with a hacksaw, I insert a bolt close to the size of the polybutylene inside diameter and cut it with a tubing cutter. This polybutylene is thin so without inserting a bolt it will bend and distort when screwing down pressure using a tubing cutter. The Pex pipe comes in a regular grade and a hot water grade. I always use the hot water grade to make sure the pipe does not fail or bleed contaminants from hot water over time deteriorating it. So I do not need to check to see if the lines are hot or cold. Good luck. I know the people who manufactured and installed this crap lost a class action suit and was required to replace this mess in everyone's homes who were affected. Of course many did not get in on this. They had to have known that the ring compressing method on plastic fittings would not hold up over time. Nothing but scams these days.
Zed I believe you had to actually suffer a leak before they would pay. Our house built in 1986 was plumbed with polybutylene but knock on wood we have not had any leaks in the walls probably because we have well water so it doesn't have chlorine in it. I know that we are living on borrowed time. We also have had a water softener since day one so that may have helped. I plan on repiping with Uponor pipe and fittings. I have been researching Pex and Uponor seems to be the best Pex on the market. I will be purchasing the Milwaukee battery powered Pex expansion tool to make the job easier. They don't sell it at the Home Depot store so it has to be ordered on line. It is expensive but so is a plumber if I had to hire one. I have two of the clamping and one of the crimping tools but don't think I want to do the entire house that way. I have had to replace some of the polybutylene when I had a leaking fitting. I used Pex (from Home Depot) and Snakebite connectors and metal clamps. That was a couple of years ago but no leaks since.
@@eyesalooking there's nothing wrong with polybutylene tubing itself. It was the u.s. standard of acetate fittings that were the problem. Polybutylene piping is still used worldwide without any issue. Only in the United States was polybutylene tubing assembled with acetate fittings and it is these acetate fittings that deteriorate with exposure to chlorine not the actual pipe. Polybutylene tubing is used worldwide to this day except in the rest of the world they use copper fittings with copper cinch rings and not acetate fittings. There were two types of polybutylene installations in the US. One system used acetate fittings in a branch system where you would have Main feed lines that would Branch off to supply lines. The other system utilized a manifold system was individual lines that went to each faucet or spigot. these systems did not have any problems because they did not use the acetate fittings so you need to make sure you know which system you have. unfortunately the people replacing polybutylene with PEX are going to have problems in the future as well as it's looking like PEX is much more sensitive to chlorine then even acetate fittings in polybutylene if you are re-plumbing you are much better off using CPVC as it is completely impermeable and 100% impervious to chlorine. Since 2008 there have been 22 lawsuits class action lawsuits involving pex tubing the only piping system that is never had a class action lawsuit is CPVC
How would one find out if they had the manifold system? Is it closed within the walls or in an open attic? I am in south Florida where the water is run through the attic. Thank you.
Polybutylne pipe (QEST) was voluntarily removed from the US market many years ago after class action lawsuits. The lawsuits revolved around the acetyl plastic fittings (elbows, tees) which were attacked by chlorine and leaked inside walls and ceilings. The lawsuit did not apply to any Qest pipe which utilized the "Home Run" plumbing technique. This technique allowed one continuous run of Qest Pipe to each plumbing fixture (toilet, sink, etc,) There was no branching and no plastic fittings inside walls. So no plastic fittings to leak. The water supply to each fixture was controlled by a Central Manifold which allowed a dedicated line of pipe to travel uninterrupted to each fixture. The class action law suit did not apply when Qest was used with the Home Run (Manifold) technique. These systems were judged to fail no more often than any other plumbing system. Polybutylene tubing was never removed from the world market and has been in continuous use in Europe and elsewhere. It is manufactured to this day in Europe. European plumbing standards never allowed for use of acetyl plastic fittings. The Polybutylene pipe itself can be a problem only if stored outside in the sunlight for a long period of time. UV rays can damage the integrity of the pipe.
Would you just replace your fittings? Are the Sharkbites the only existing fittings that will work and do they make T's? I have a home with 14 in-home fixtures (3 outdoor faucets) and just found out this was even an issue today when a faucet needed replacing and I couldn't find parts to go to the polybutylene pipe. Are there not polybutylene pipes cracking like the guy in the video claims? Thanks for any help you can share.
The class-action suit, Cox vs. Shell Oil Co., was filed in Tennessee over faulty polybutylene plastic plumbing. The lawsuit lets home owners with PB pipes get their plumbing replaced. "Polybutylene, or PB, was widely used from the late 1970s through the early '90s.
@@562handsomemike You are correct. But the problem was NEVER the PB. It was the acetyl grey plastic fittings used only in the United States. Shell oil had the deep pockets so they were sued unfairly. That is why they voluntarily left the US market. They never left the European market. There are several plants still making PB in Europe. The European market never allowed the use of acetal gray plastic fittings (elbows, tees.) They used properly crimped metal fittings. PB is being used to this day all over Europe, the middle east, Australia etc.
My home uses PB with the home run system. No fittings, so no problems. Independent tests show PB itself will withstand 75+ plus years with normal chlorine levels, normal hot temperatures and hot water usage rates 3x higher than found in a typical residential home. Mine has been in use 28 years with no problems. It uses the "home run" system where each plumbing fixture gets a dedicated run of PB from the manifold. No fittings. Problems typically occurred at about 3 years into use. It took that long for the chlorine to degrade the acetyl gray plastic fittings used in "normal" plumbing (branching) techniques.
That’s how I did mine. PB to pex crimp transition, new run of pex pipe with a crimped in 1/4 turn shut off valve for a toilet. Probably and up replumbing the entire house now that I have the crimp tool.
They make a pex by polybutylene adapter as well which where I am from is approved for use inside drywalled walls. Ensure the sharkbite fitting is approved for use in your local area. At first I liked this video (as a professional plumber) and then you went on to say a plumber would charge 300-500 dollars to do this job and you can do it for 50 bucks and after that I removed my like as I consided it an insult to my trade. An honest plumber will charge you a fair rate to properly repair that problem using the approved fittings and materials. If this is an approved fix where you live then that works but here in canada I can only use sharkbites in exposed locations. They are good fittings and do have their time and place. Kudos for mentioning the polybutylene sharkbites as they are a good fitting. Just make sure not to conceal them if they are not approved where you live.
I don't think he was insulting plumbers but simply stating for those of us who can't afford a $100 an hour plumber (which is probably why half of us are here) that you don't have to do without water or let it continue to ruin your house but that you can indeed fix it affordably.
@@floridagoon7785 The class-action suit, Cox vs. Shell Oil Co., was filed in Tennessee over faulty polybutylene plastic plumbing. The lawsuit lets home owners with PB pipes get their plumbing replaced. "Polybutylene, or PB, was widely used from the late 1970s through the early '90s.
@@562handsomemike I purchased my home in 2004 and unbeknownst to me it has PB pipe from the meter into the house. The house needed a lot of repairs, I took a deferred loan out through the city. They replaced all the plumbing in the house, but didn’t replace the main line from meter TO house ( which turns out to be the one that needed replaced) that was in 2007. The contractor that did the work, cut so many corners that it’s not even funny. Is there any way I could go back and try to get them to replace it now? It’s deteriorating badly. Right now I have a bad leak for the third time and I don’t think it can be rigged again to work. Not sure you can answer that question, I’m just curious if you can. I live in Florida if that helps any.
Do you see the pipe I'm repairing ? It is Poly, and the last thing this lady cares about is a failure on a sharkbite...since this video was shot, I've been back 3 more times to repair the PIPE leaks...trust me, the repair is better than that crappy failing pipe.
I've been doing some sort of plumbing since 1985...that I'm not a REAL plumber is irrelevant to the video. Do you suggest this lady re-plumb the WHOLE house with the 5g she doesn't have, or fix the leaks as they appear ? Damned the code, she needs water, and until she can afford to have all the poly taken out ( along with your against code sharkbites ), she;s happy, I'm happy, and viewers are happy...The $100,000 a year plumber is NOT happy, too bad.
Using a shark bite on copper the plastic piece in the shark bite needs to be removed He didn't do that That's why handy men are useless They act like they know everything in fact they don't know much
The reason the Poly B failed is the reason you want to remove every bit of it from the ceiling, inside your walls, etc. Basically, if your water carries the chemicals that weaken Poly B and the pipe begins to develop pinhole leaks, splicing in a section of PEX is a waste of time and money. Geeze, he had the ceiling out and decided on a 'patch job in the same hidden space. No prob. He'll sell the place off and let the next guy do the job right!
@@dontworryaboutit8127 I think he’s just saying that there are better options that are less likely to fail over time. If the fitting is “mechanical” it’s going to fail eventually
You just saved me a ton of money I don't have! Headed to Home Depot right now!! Thank you for showing us how simple this is.
Welcome
Just fixed a leaking pipe under my bathroom sink with this method, couldn't thank you enough!
I love that you mention that shark bite or any of the other manufacturers but I guess I only know of shark bite for sure now that I think about it, has the gray plastic edge to let you know that it is for polybutylene piping. I have used it only because it was a retiree who couldn’t afford it and he was on his third leak in the service going to his house but I always replaced it with “PEX A”. I know people are in tight spots especially financially when they find out about polybutylene but In my opinion which doesn’t mean much, I would definitely replace all of it that you can but I agree with using the proper shark bite fittings when connecting back to it. I know what it’s like to be broke
Man, I've had three burst and PVC. My dad thinks it's my water pressure. I told him this stuff just sux. Thanks for ur help. Helped me.
if you have polybutylene plumbing the leak's will NEVER STOP
Wish I had seen this video yesterday before buying an expensive crimping tool. On my to Home Depot to return that tool, and get sharkbite fittings.
You make that look easy, In the long run I suppose you come out better buying the tools and learning how to do it yourself. Good video ! Still hell of a price just to replace for me a shutoff valve for an ice maker.
These are what almost all plummers use now. Most building codes allow for them in walls now. Great, easy way to make a fix if you cannot afford to replace all the poly pipe right away. Most people aren't rich and this was sorely needed. It is getting harder to even find shutoffs that work with the metal crimps and old grey poly anymore. You need these adapters to replace them for the new pex ones.
All of that is wrong, they will fail, good plumbers DO NOT use them
Thank you so much! I've been scratching my head on how to connect anything to that off size crap poly pipe. Awesome, your a life saver! Our pressure tank gave out right before Christmas and I have to hook the new one into this pipe and get it done asap.
Perfect !
Just helped me out so much! Super easy! Thank you!
It's recommended to replace all polybutylene pipe. It can burst at any part of the pipe, not only unions.
The class-action suit, Cox vs. Shell Oil Co., was filed in Tennessee over faulty polybutylene plastic plumbing. The lawsuit lets home owners with PB pipes get their plumbing replaced. "Polybutylene, or PB, was widely used from the late 1970s through the early '90s.
What usually happens is that the plastic fittings are connected by a ring clamp that is compressed on by a special clamping tool. Eventually the swelling of polybutylene over time under water pressure causes the fitting surface to fail. It may begin with a small leak or the whole fitting may get blown out from water pressure with a gusher of water flooding everywhere. I have never had any problem with the flexible polybutylene failing except at the connections. So if you don't want to re-pipe your hole trailer/house you can choose to replace all the connectors instead. If not you take the chance of them blowing out and ruining your floors or insulation. But since apparently the suppliers refuse to make pollybutylene connectors on both sides of the shark bite in order to make you buy more fittings at a high price, you must buy the adapter fittings and use a piece of standard plastic pipe such as Pex on one end with the polybutylene connected end going to the polybutylene pipe. That way you have to spend about twice as much money for a repair. In some cases you may need extra length to make up for the cut out pipe when removing old fittings,, in which case the adapter fitting is needed. However some of the flexible hoses have enough extra slack that you wouldn't need extra length if you cut the polybutylene pipe close to the very end of the old fittings. But they want your money. After cutting these fitting off with a hacksaw, I insert a bolt close to the size of the polybutylene inside diameter and cut it with a tubing cutter. This polybutylene is thin so without inserting a bolt it will bend and distort when screwing down pressure using a tubing cutter. The Pex pipe comes in a regular grade and a hot water grade. I always use the hot water grade to make sure the pipe does not fail or bleed contaminants from hot water over time deteriorating it. So I do not need to check to see if the lines are hot or cold. Good luck. I know the people who manufactured and installed this crap lost a class action suit and was required to replace this mess in everyone's homes who were affected. Of course many did not get in on this. They had to have known that the ring compressing method on plastic fittings would not hold up over time. Nothing but scams these days.
Zed I believe you had to actually suffer a leak before they would pay. Our house built in 1986 was plumbed with polybutylene but knock on wood we have not had any leaks in the walls probably because we have well water so it doesn't have chlorine in it. I know that we are living on borrowed time. We also have had a water softener since day one so that may have helped. I plan on repiping with Uponor pipe and fittings. I have been researching Pex and Uponor seems to be the best Pex on the market. I will be purchasing the Milwaukee battery powered Pex expansion tool to make the job easier. They don't sell it at the Home Depot store so it has to be ordered on line. It is expensive but so is a plumber if I had to hire one. I have two of the clamping and one of the crimping tools but don't think I want to do the entire house that way. I have had to replace some of the polybutylene when I had a leaking fitting. I used Pex (from Home Depot) and Snakebite connectors and metal clamps. That was a couple of years ago but no leaks since.
@@eyesalooking there's nothing wrong with polybutylene tubing itself. It was the u.s. standard of acetate fittings that were the problem. Polybutylene piping is still used worldwide without any issue.
Only in the United States was polybutylene tubing assembled with acetate fittings and it is these acetate fittings that deteriorate with exposure to chlorine not the actual pipe. Polybutylene tubing is used worldwide to this day except in the rest of the world they use copper fittings with copper cinch rings and not acetate fittings.
There were two types of polybutylene installations in the US. One system used acetate fittings in a branch system where you would have Main feed lines that would Branch off to supply lines. The other system utilized a manifold system was individual lines that went to each faucet or spigot. these systems did not have any problems because they did not use the acetate fittings so you need to make sure you know which system you have.
unfortunately the people replacing polybutylene with PEX are going to have problems in the future as well as it's looking like PEX is much more sensitive to chlorine then even acetate fittings in polybutylene if you are re-plumbing you are much better off using CPVC as it is completely impermeable and 100% impervious to chlorine.
Since 2008 there have been 22 lawsuits class action lawsuits involving pex tubing the only piping system that is never had a class action lawsuit is CPVC
How would one find out if they had the manifold system? Is it closed within the walls or in an open attic? I am in south Florida where the water is run through the attic. Thank you.
@@dannelson8556 now that is good solid info ...thanks
@@gailyfl7551 manifold systems were much more common in commercial installations not residential
Zurn qest compression fittings work very well and are less expensive they are mechanical and can be removed if needed
Thank you for saving my life!
Is this plumbing by Rorschach?! Like from watchmen movie
Polybutylne pipe (QEST) was voluntarily removed from the US market many years ago after class action lawsuits. The lawsuits revolved around the acetyl plastic fittings (elbows, tees) which were attacked by chlorine and leaked inside walls and ceilings. The lawsuit did not apply to any Qest pipe which utilized the "Home Run" plumbing technique. This technique allowed one continuous run of Qest Pipe to each plumbing fixture (toilet, sink, etc,) There was no branching and no plastic fittings inside walls. So no plastic fittings to leak. The water supply to each fixture was controlled by a Central Manifold which allowed a dedicated line of pipe to travel uninterrupted to each fixture. The class action law suit did not apply when Qest was used with the Home Run (Manifold) technique. These systems were judged to fail no more often than any other plumbing system. Polybutylene tubing was never removed from the world market and has been in continuous use in Europe and elsewhere. It is manufactured to this day in Europe. European plumbing standards never allowed for use of acetyl plastic fittings. The Polybutylene pipe itself can be a problem only if stored outside in the sunlight for a long period of time. UV rays can damage the integrity of the pipe.
Would you just replace your fittings? Are the Sharkbites the only existing fittings that will work and do they make T's? I have a home with 14 in-home fixtures (3 outdoor faucets) and just found out this was even an issue today when a faucet needed replacing and I couldn't find parts to go to the polybutylene pipe. Are there not polybutylene pipes cracking like the guy in the video claims? Thanks for any help you can share.
The class-action suit, Cox vs. Shell Oil Co., was filed in Tennessee over faulty polybutylene plastic plumbing. The lawsuit lets home owners with PB pipes get their plumbing replaced. "Polybutylene, or PB, was widely used from the late 1970s through the early '90s.
@@562handsomemike You are correct. But the problem was NEVER the PB. It was the acetyl grey plastic fittings used only in the United States. Shell oil had the deep pockets so they were sued unfairly. That is why they voluntarily left the US market. They never left the European market. There are several plants still making PB in Europe. The European market never allowed the use of acetal gray plastic fittings (elbows, tees.) They used properly crimped metal fittings. PB is being used to this day all over Europe, the middle east, Australia etc.
My home uses PB with the home run system. No fittings, so no problems. Independent tests show PB itself will withstand 75+ plus years with normal chlorine levels, normal hot temperatures and hot water usage rates 3x higher than found in a typical residential home. Mine has been in use 28 years with no problems. It uses the "home run" system where each plumbing fixture gets a dedicated run of PB from the manifold. No fittings. Problems typically occurred at about 3 years into use. It took that long for the chlorine to degrade the acetyl gray plastic fittings used in "normal" plumbing (branching) techniques.
Plumber here- The correct way is to use the pex x pb adapter couplings,pex 90 any either the SSteel crimp rings or the crush rings.
That’s how I did mine. PB to pex crimp transition, new run of pex pipe with a crimped in 1/4 turn shut off valve for a toilet. Probably and up replumbing the entire house now that I have the crimp tool.
They make a pex by polybutylene adapter as well which where I am from is approved for use inside drywalled walls. Ensure the sharkbite fitting is approved for use in your local area. At first I liked this video (as a professional plumber) and then you went on to say a plumber would charge 300-500 dollars to do this job and you can do it for 50 bucks and after that I removed my like as I consided it an insult to my trade. An honest plumber will charge you a fair rate to properly repair that problem using the approved fittings and materials. If this is an approved fix where you live then that works but here in canada I can only use sharkbites in exposed locations. They are good fittings and do have their time and place. Kudos for mentioning the polybutylene sharkbites as they are a good fitting. Just make sure not to conceal them if they are not approved where you live.
I don't think he was insulting plumbers but simply stating for those of us who can't afford a $100 an hour plumber (which is probably why half of us are here) that you don't have to do without water or let it continue to ruin your house but that you can indeed fix it affordably.
Can't find these anywhere. Anyone got a link?
Oh snap! Star Tile dude LOL.weird to see you not doing tile.😀
thanks for the demo. Where is a good place to buy that pipe cutter that you were using?
Home Depot
thx
A shark bite on my main outside line only lasted 2 yrs
“How to fix leaking polybutylene pipe”… Answer: you don’t, you replace ALL of the PB.
You pay the cost to do it and we will all be glad to switch to the good stuff. nothing wrong with the pipe it's the fittings that are bad.
@@floridagoon7785 The class-action suit, Cox vs. Shell Oil Co., was filed in Tennessee over faulty polybutylene plastic plumbing. The lawsuit lets home owners with PB pipes get their plumbing replaced. "Polybutylene, or PB, was widely used from the late 1970s through the early '90s.
@@floridagoon7785 wrong....pipe degrades from chemical reaction to water, nothing to do with connections
@@562handsomemike I purchased my home in 2004 and unbeknownst to me it has PB pipe from the meter into the house.
The house needed a lot of repairs, I took a deferred loan out through the city. They replaced all the plumbing in the house, but didn’t replace the main line from meter TO house ( which turns out to be the one that needed replaced) that was in 2007. The contractor that did the work, cut so many corners that it’s not even funny.
Is there any way I could go back and try to get them to replace it now? It’s deteriorating badly. Right now I have a bad leak for the third time and I don’t think it can be rigged again to work.
Not sure you can answer that question, I’m just curious if you can. I live in Florida if that helps any.
Good job 👍..fugk the haters
Shark bite fittings can not and should not be concealed in a wall or ceiling with out an access panel.
Do you see the pipe I'm repairing ? It is Poly, and the last thing this lady cares about is a failure on a sharkbite...since this video was shot, I've been back 3 more times to repair the PIPE leaks...trust me, the repair is better than that crappy failing pipe.
The Bald Handyman It is still against the code. But of course if you were a real Plumber you would already know that!
I've been doing some sort of plumbing since 1985...that I'm not a REAL plumber is irrelevant to the video. Do you suggest this lady re-plumb the WHOLE house with the 5g she doesn't have, or fix the leaks as they appear ? Damned the code, she needs water, and until she can afford to have all the poly taken out ( along with your against code sharkbites ), she;s happy, I'm happy, and viewers are happy...The $100,000 a year plumber is NOT happy, too bad.
Rest easy. Sharkbite connectors are permitted in closed walls and crawl spaces according to most building codes these days. Was not always the case.
Yet you put cpvc in... yikes.
Using a shark bite on copper the plastic piece in the shark bite needs to be removed
He didn't do that
That's why handy men are useless
They act like they know everything in fact they don't know much
The reason the Poly B failed is the reason you want to remove every bit of it from the ceiling, inside your walls, etc. Basically, if your water carries the chemicals that weaken Poly B and the pipe begins to develop pinhole leaks, splicing in a section of PEX is a waste of time and money. Geeze, he had the ceiling out and decided on a 'patch job in the same hidden space. No prob. He'll sell the place off and let the next guy do the job right!
But the plumber would do it right
Great video horrible music 😂
Do not use this , it is crap .
Use pex piping or copper .
Pay to do it rite the first time .
@@dontworryaboutit8127 I think he’s just saying that there are better options that are less likely to fail over time. If the fitting is “mechanical” it’s going to fail eventually
Why not just cut it on the pinhole and use the sharkbite there? They have push to connect PB to PB I believe.
Good point. If you're not going to replace everything with Pex, might as well just cut out the hole and fit the PB back together with a Shark Bite.
Shark bites leak also. There only good for a quick temporary fix. You should replace that pipe with pex.