Replumbing: Solder or Threads for Ball Valves

Still waiting for evidence that shark bite fittings fail more than sweated or threaded…

you have another 30 years or so for that wait.

Fluoroelastomer is probably the right compound for contact with domestic water although I wouldn't trust even that for the 100+ years I expect a copper plumbing system to last.

well not if they were already failing

That’s a high expectation for copper, even if the installation was good

Galvanized in cold water is still in usable shape after 60 or 70 years, 100 years out of soldered copper is reasonable. I'm not convinced about the o-rings in propress either although it is crimped in such a way that there is a lot less reliance on it remaining pliable.

That depends on a lot.

I had a galvanized water line that I doubt was over 70 and it was almost completely plugged from minerals AND rusted thin enough in a few spots it was sweating in the mud. I say sweating because it was leaking, but so little it was only wet, kind of like it was a long soaker hose. Next to it in the basement was a previous length of galvanized pipe that wasn't great either, no idea how old that was.

Also, I had some copper plumbing that was 70+- that was fine, but I'm glad I replaced it. That was clean on the inside, no mineral build up.

We've also seen how the water in some areas can eat through copper pipe and in those areas pex will have a better life. Like copper, minerals don't build up in pex.

Seems like most plumbing should be expected to last 50 years. Anything over that is a bonus not to mention any of this plumbing will also have valves of some sort and those will have rubber in them. Expecting a "plumbing system" to last 100 years is unreasonable. Yes, some have but most have not weather it's mineral build up, failed joints, failed valves, rusted/rotted piping or modifications to the building.

Perhaps.

But on a worldwide scale that's pretty tiny.

better quality gate valves just need the packing replaced every several decades.

galvanized pipe in the ground will rust from the outside in in most soils. Usually it develops pinholes that produce a fine mist when it fails. the stuff that I cut out of my mom's house a couple years ago on the cold water was from the late 50's and seemed mostly clear although it did have one pinhole that had a rust spot on it. It had been on detroit water for a long time although I know the city had its own wells and water tower at some point, I don't know when that was replaced with a connection to the Detroit system, if it was before or after the house was built.

Thanks Larry! Now I wonder if that sharkbite was installed correctly. Because we know that any fitting installed incorrectly is more likely to fail. This is the problem with anecdotal stories of "I saw one fail once" or even "I've seen a dozen fail"

There are a lot (like thousands) of buildings here with 100 year old water pipes. But Lake Michigan water is easy on pipes compared to elsewhere .

Absolutely, but did none of those fittings ever fail in that time? I kind of think a lot of plumbers would be out of business if copper never failed. We're not really talking about how long something can possibly last, we're (or at least I am) talking about the failure rate of various fitting technologies, and I'm saying there's no real data out there that I have seen.

"Absolutely, but did none of those fittings ever fail in that time? I kind of think a lot of plumbers would be out of business if copper never failed"

You're saying 2 different things. Pipes can be fine, while fittings (valves, taps, etc) may need more frequent replacement/service.

No worries, plumbers have plenty to do, just not a lot of it is replacing pipes.

I thought we were talking about the entire system.