Replace 50 yr old copper lines?

[DIYMissus]

I have a 2 bdroom condo on Jekyll Island Georgia they are doing some sewer work and are wanting to replace all the original copper lines. Just bc they are 50 yrs old. No leaks from what I can see when pulling out the dw and other places they look shiny ish. Is it recommended to replace them all after 50 years? What would you do Spend the 8500 or say no thank you? TIA Cynthia

 

[John Gayewski]

I have a 2 bdroom condo on Jekyll Island Georgia they are doing some sewer work and are wanting to replace all the original copper lines. Just bc they are 50 yrs old. No leaks from what I can see when pulling out the dw and other places they look shiny ish. Is it recommended to replace them all after 50 years? What would you do Spend the 8500 or say no thank you? TIA Cynthia

Do you know if the copper is type m or type L? If it's type M I'd say no thank you. If it's type L I'd think about it.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[DIYMissus]

o you know if the copper is type m or type L? If it's type L I'd say no thank you. If it's type M I'd think about it.

Tyvm I will try to find out I do know originally it was built as a commercial property

 

[Fitter30]

Red printing on tubing is M. Blue is L. Sold a house that was 50 years old in 2024 didn't even think about it and know it was M.

 

[John Gayewski]

Tyvm I will try to find out I do know originally it was built as a commercial property

My original answer was backward. L is fine to keep and will last a long time. M is thin and can wear out a lot faster.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

I could think of better things to spend my money on.....
the copper in my home is from 1966 and I dont have any plans
to mess with perfection

 

[cdherman]

I think another aspect is your water quality. If it municipal, then its not likely to have acidity or other issues. But if you have your own well, bets are off. And another aspect is -- what is the price of a failure (leak). My house is 60 years old and I am not going to replace lines in the basement -- its unfinished and I have a leak detector.

However, I also had copper lines running under a portion of the house that was slab construction. And I put down $20,000 of hardwood floors over that part of the house. Those lines got re-routed and replaced with PEX. Had to open some walls up, but I also was replacing aluminum wiring so it made sense.

I will say -- the pex expands more and I must have made some mistakes, because I get expansion noises sometimes.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

If you got all the lines out of the concrete then you are ahead of the game...

Pex really expands a lot ,, especially the hot lines.... I have run some perfect water lines
along ceilings that were perfectly level to the eye only to watch the hot water
side warp and bend it like spaghetti ... its very sad