'Ask This Old House' Films in Area Home: Show Tackles Leaky Polybutylene Pipes -- a Problem for Many in Triangle

Aug. 3--RALEIGH -- Tim and Charlotte Porterfield bought a house in East Raleigh last year and soon found themselves living a first-time homeowner's nightmare.

Unknown to them, deteriorating plastic water lines in their two-story house in the Mallard Crossing subdivision had pin-hole leaks and were causing $250 monthly water bills.

The Porterfields sought advice from the public television home repair show, "Ask This Old House," which made a house call to Raleigh on Thursday to tape a segment on replacing faulty plumbing.

The culprit was polybutylene piping -- a leak-prone water supply piping installed in thousands of houses in the Triangle and other fast-growing regions in the 1980s and 1990s. It is now the subject of class-action lawsuits because of its failure.

"This is a story we've wanted to tell," said Richard Trethewey, the plumbing and heating expert for "Ask This Old House."

Trethewey said polybutylene pipe was once viewed as the pipe of the future. But he said hot water can cause it to become brittle and split; certain types of water can cause it to deteriorate; and improper installation can cause it to leak.

"There are as many suspects and theories as who killed JFK," he said.

The Porterfields knew their three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house, built about 1986, had polybutylene pipes because home inspection reports disclose it to prospective buyers. But they wrongly assumed that it wouldn't be a problem.

"We were so excited about being new homeowners that we didn't think enough about it," Charlotte Porterfield said.

"We didn't fully comprehend the issues that come with having this type of pipe," added Tim Porterfield, who works for a Raleigh computer software company. "We had one leak going for two months before we found it. It sprays a mist into the wall."

What the couple noticed was that their water and electric bills were soaring. Leaks cause the water heater to run more, using more power.

A plumber fixed the initial leaks. But the Porterfields faced the tough choice of whether to replace all the lines to head off future leaks. Replacing faulty water distribution lines requires cutting out sections of the walls and ceilings around sinks, toilets and water heaters.

It's a decision many homeowners have made.

Jeff Falls, a Cary plumber, has replaced polybutylene pipe in about 2,500 homes in the Triangle in the past 12 years. Many houses still have the piping.

"There were probably at least 250,000 houses in the Triangle built with it," Falls said.

The easiest way to know whether a home has polybutylene pipes is to go under the house and look for gray plastic water lines, Falls said. Or check the home inspection report.

The cost of replacing polybutylene pipes and repairing the drywall ranges from $5,000 to $10,000 for a 1,600-square-foot house -- the size of the Porterfields' house.

At the Porterfields' house, the plumbers found five additional leaks under the house as they began work this week.

As the television crew taped a scene in the bathroom, Falls crouched beside a toilet and removed the same section of pipe over and over again because director David Vos wasn't happy with how it looked on camera.

"Jeff, I don't want you to take this the wrong way," Vos quipped at one point. "But have you ever done this before?"

To his credit, Falls did not hit the director with a pipe wrench.

The crew spent a day taping. The repairs will take a bit longer. The Porterfields expect to have the work completed and walls repaired by the end of next week.

"We'll be back to normal, better than normal," Tim Porterfield said. "Our normal before was leaking pipes."

The segment on the Porterfields will air in October or November, said Chris Milot, a publicist for the show. "Ask This Old House" airs on UNC-TV at 9:30 a.m. Sundays, immediately after its companion show, "This Old House."

Staff writer Wade Rawlins can be reached at 829-4528 or Wade.Rawlins@newsobserver.com.

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