A Quick Backslide...

When we bought our house, we had an inspection.  I vetted the inspector, and while MN doesn’t require a license, he was licensed in WI right next door.  Well, he missed some things.  From the knob and tube wiring (that was visible right at the top of the stairs) to the PVC water supply to our house.  In his defense, it’s been 10 whole years since we first saw this house and had it inspected!  I’ve known enough to question his analysis for a long time, and I should’ve considered fixing it before failure occurred.

He listed it as CPVC: a similar type of plastic that is perfectly safe for potable water.  Schedule 40 PVC however… not so much.  So, we had a failure of the incorrectly installed exterior spigot and yet another drip in the basement.  Upon talking with the plumber (if you know me and need a plumber, I have the right folks for you!), it confirmed my long-held suspicion that this wasn’t CPVC and we should replumb half the house.  Too bad that I just finished -two weeks prior- the basement ceilings.

Soffits

Thankfully, I planned around accessing almost everything: the main line is hanging under the ceiling, the soffits mostly open up, and with the exception of around the spigot shut off, I may not have to remove the main portions of the ceilings at all.  Fingers are crossed.

Magnets have been a huge benefit for us in this house: creating magnetic soffits really have given us the ability to sneak access panels in where no one would be the wiser.  It makes me a lot less worried about needing to fully backslide and pull our bead board ceilings entirely, because just about everything can be popped off for work.

The Hose Spigot

This is one that I should have considered swapping a while ago!  I was tripped up by gravity, even though I’d been doing all the maintenance necessary.  In the autumn, I’d turn the hose off at the interior valve, and I’d open the valve outside to eliminate cracking from pressure changes and allow the spigot to drain.  Without a bleed valve on the inside, that was the best, if only, way to allow water to escape or expand with freezes.

Theoretically, I was okay!  But our spigot didn’t go straight out the side wall.  It went into the drywall (the one basement wall we haven’t opened), turns up for about 6”, and turns again to exit through the rim joist.  Those two extra turns are what killed us.  Water was never able to drain fully beyond the interior shut off valve.  It stayed in the pipe before the turn, and when exposed to the sub-zero air from the open spigot, it froze and cracked the PVC valve.

The Plan

Naturally, I cannot keep plumbing that isn’t safe for potable water.  This was a DIY likely from the 80s or 90s, and it’s showing its age now.  I’m going to swap from PVC to PEX.  I already hired plumbers to replace the PVC, and they start next week!

While we’re at it, I’m treating my husband cold-water-drinking kids to a fridge line.  The automatic ice machine will make our lives a teeny bit easier… and I’ll add a Moen leak sensor there too.  Luckily, the ceilings to remove are pretty minimal, and I’ll have a handful of access panels to add for the new hose spigot and fridge water line.