Said It Here

How to deal with failing and rusted galvanized pipes

Old galvanized plumbing naturally reaches the end of its lifespan, resulting in internal rust, crumbling metal, and unexpected bursts. Dealing with this corrosion during repairs forces homeowners to face messy, extensive repiping jobs from the main line up to the fixtures, creating constant worry about future water damage.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Installing the sink for now and delaying major pipe work
  2. 2
    Getting bids for a full house repipe over the next 12 months
  3. 3
    Leaving the pipes alone until a leak occurs or saving up to replace them completely
  4. 4
    Opening the wall to inspect the extent of the corrosion before committing to a fix
  5. 5
    Checking pump flow rate
  6. 6
    Replacing piping with copper
  7. 7
    Looking for manufacturer information on the pipe

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“Sadly a pipe near my water tank burst while I was at work.”source ↗

“The plumber said it’s weird the way it burst and the pipe was basically crumbling from the inside.”source ↗

“The pipe seems sketchy and I’m worried about future damage.”source ↗

glittrrcat · r/Plumbing · 74 upvotes

“Lots of 40s galvanized pipes close to the end.”source ↗

“I'm replacing a rusted out cast iron sink and don't want to ignore this while I'm at it.”source ↗

“Dreading the mess more than the cost since I knew for a while about the lifespan of these pipes.”source ↗

Persimmon9 · r/Plumbing · 2 upvotes

“I have to start some bidding. Two story house with galvanized to the street.”source ↗

Persimmon9 · r/Plumbing · 2 upvotes

“I can always change that part but assume it's rusted out into the vertical part and that connection would be just as bad.”source ↗

Persimmon9 · r/Plumbing · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

r/Plumbinghome maintenanceplumbing

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