Plumbing question: corrosion on copper main line - concern or no?

[Cameron Wood]

A concrete slab on my current project- you can see the foam wrap on the copper pipes. I consider it good practice, but I see lots without it without issue. It may depend on the concrete, if there's more salt.

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[Bob Coates]

Lee and Dan are correct. When I had to replace mine shutoff the plumber said that passing through the block wall was part of the issue. He put some type of plastics covering over the copper.

[Jim Becker]

While encashing metal pipe in something when concrete is involved is something you see these days (or not even using copper in favor of PEX which still often goes in conduit unless it's for radiant heat), "back in the day", a lot of different kinds of pipe got buried directly in concrete. The folks living in Levittown PA and NY got a good taste of the consequences many years later after the homes were built when the metal pipe in the floors for heat disintegrated and leaked. Not pretty! Not inexpensive. (A former in-law had to deal with that in Levittown PA in the early 1980s)

[Larry Frank]

I would check it very carefully. It does not look good to me.

[Brian Elfert]

I had a new house built to replace a condemned house in 2001. The build included new sewer and water lines as the lines from the 50s had all kinds of issues. Anyhow, the water line is copper and they wrapped the copper line in foam where it came up through the concrete floor.

My current house has a well and it has a poly line run under the concrete basement floor. I assume if it ever leaks that the repair will be to run a new line around the house instead of going underneath. I have some sort of underground line coverage with my insurance that costs about $15 per year. The insurance should pay for a new line if it ever breaks, but these insurance policies often do the bare minimum. They might dig up the line and patch it if it isn't broken under the concrete. My philosophy is that if a line like this leaks in one spot it is likely to leak elsewhere so a full replacement is a better option.

[Tom Bender]

Soft copper tends to be thicker than ridged so you have some extra margin for corrosion. Also it will be a little more forgiving of frost heave or other movement.

At my house the city shutoff is in the middle of the lawn, down 6 ft with a stem that is only buried about 2 ft. I made a map so I can find it in case they can't. Crossed fingers it's never needed.

[Jack Frederick]

Jim, I about made a living replacing the heating systems you refer to in Levittown. They were called Campanelli homes across eastern MA, S NH. The copper failed after about 40 years and the slabs had to be abandoned.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, I about made a living replacing the heating systems you refer to in Levittown. They were called Campanelli homes across eastern MA, S NH. The copper failed after about 40 years and the slabs had to be abandoned.

Yea...there were a whole lot of contractors that suddenly "got busy" when the failures started to happen and accelerate.