A Fresh Look at Pittsburgh Commercial Water Pipe Replacement
What Makes Pittsburgh Commercial Water Pipe Replacement Different
Nothing lasts forever and this for sure holds true with water pipes in a home or commercial building. In fact, most people are surprised to discover how limited the lifespan is for iron pipes in particular.
Pittsburgh is an older city, and it wasn’t that many decades back when iron pipes were the preferred option when plumbing in the water system on a building. It’s no secret that when water meets iron, the result is rust, and its rust on the inside iron water pipes that’s the determining factor in how long they last.
So plumbers in Pittsburgh are kept busy with commercial water pipe replacement jobs, because as iron pipes begin to show their age, there are a couple of things that happen. One of those things is that they start to develop tiny leaks.
A very small amount of water gradually escapes out of tiny pinhole leaks. Small leaks of this type may not seem like a big deal if they’re in a safe place like underneath, or in a basement or subfloor area, or on the exterior of a building where the water the minimal amount of water emitted is safely soaked up into the ground.
But if you could get a look inside old rusted iron water pipes, what you would discover is that as the wall has grown thin leading to these pinhole water leaks, rust nodules have also grown out towards the center to form a blockage.
So along with the sporadic small pinhole leaks that have begun to appear, what you will also start to notice is a decrease in water flow as the inside of the pipe has become blocked by the growth of these rust nodules. Perhaps you may have seen the limited flow when a water faucet or shower is turned on.
So then, what about Pittsburgh commercial water pipe replacement as it pertains to copper pipes? After all, copper doesn’t rust, so it only stands to reason that it shouldn’t be a problem.
What needs to be understood here is that while the copper doesn’t corrode to the degree that iron does, it’s the solder at the joints of copper commercial water pipes that will if given enough time. Also, because copper has always been more expensive than iron, copper pipes over the decades tended to be smaller in diameter.
That may have worked in the past, but today there are new reasons for Pittsburgh commercial water pipe replacement, even in copper pipes that haven’t reached the level of corrosion that iron water pipes of the same age.
Tankless toilets installed in commercial buildings is one of those reasons. No tank on a tankless toilet means that a high volume of water is required for the flash on demand. Tankless means that a higher volume of water needs to come from a larger-diameter commercial water pipe.
The same applies to tankless water heaters, also known as on-demand water heaters. Again, because they require a greater volume of water to function on demand without a tank, older, thinner copper water pipes may not be adequate.
Older iron commercial water pipes in Pittsburgh are also often the source of water volume problems. That is that often time has taken its toll on older iron pipes that at one time may have been large enough to provide the amount of water that these modern appliances require, but today they don’t.
Mold and termites both thrive in a damp environment, so both of them must have water to exist. Dry rot and an odd musty smell, as well as rodents, also tend to be found in commercial buildings that have water leaks to keep them happy and healthy.
So it’s all these things combined that provide the reasons that older water pipes keep plumbers busy with Pittsburgh commercial water pipe replacement work.
What Makes Residential and Pittsburgh Commercial Water Pipe Replacement Different?
The answer to the question of what makes Pittsburgh commercial water pipe replacement different from residential water replacement is there are a few things to look at. The primary one is that commercial water pipes tend to be more significant.
Particularly on a multi-unit building where several families can be drawing on a water system at once, it’s not hard to picture that the water pipes will need to be bigger in diameter than the pipes on a single residence replacement job. The same thing applies to drainage pipes on the sewer system.
When was the last time you walked into a home, looked up, and saw exposed pipes running across the ceiling from one wall to another? The answer here is you never have, but the same can’t be said about a commercial building. Perhaps a big box hardware store, a warehouse, or a mechanic shop.
When a home is being built, the building codes for plumbing that apply to it are different than those that would apply to a commercial building. Another fine example of this is fire sprinklers that are required on the ceiling of a new commercial building but certainly not on a new home.
So then the big question that people in older buildings in Pittsburgh ask is how much does Pittsburgh commercial water pipe replacement cost? The answer here is that there’s good news because you as a customer now have more options than ever before that, in turn, allow you to play a greater role in determining the final cost.
One of those options comes in the form of PEX hi-tech, flexible plastic systems. It’s flexible, so it’s easily threaded around corners and up inside walls without the cutting and connecting that comes with older standard plumbing systems.
Trenchless is another new development that’s generating a big buzz. Trenchless technology comes into play on drain lines where different variations of inserts create a new inner lining on degraded water pipes.
New flexible sleeves and durable rubberized multi-layer pipes are pulled through the existing drain lines to breathe new life into them. Even though it’s called trenchless, this newer plumbing repair technology is also regularly used to repair drainage pipes inside buildings, in walls, under floors, and in attics.