Uponor PEX issues - 5 leaks in 2 months. House built in 2015. Need advice.

[JohnCT]

They are still claiming "no manufacture defect", but will replace all my pipes. So basically, not admitting fault, but will fix the problem. Which at end of the day, I can live with that.

Are they replacing just the materials or paying for a full repipe and all that entails?

Are you on a municipal water supply and if so, has anyone done a chemical analysis of the water?

John

 

[leaking_upnor]

Are they replacing just the materials or paying for a full repipe and all that entails?

Are you on a municipal water supply and if so, has anyone done a chemical analysis of the water?

John

They have not 100% fully committed, but they want the quote to do everything. Parts/material/labor. Drywall/paint too. And yes, the inspector did chemical analysis on-site. Everything came out okay.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JohnCT]

They have not 100% fully committed, but they want the quote to do everything. Parts/material/labor. Drywall/paint too. And yes, the inspector did chemical analysis on-site. Everything came out okay.

Thanks for the info. I hope you get the whole thing covered.

John

 

[KDavis]

(RED TUBE) BOPSI 2100 UPONOR - PEX A TUBING UB62140926 U5295

I am having this issue with the same pipe. 9 leaks in total, all pin hole leaks in the hot water lines. We are re-plumbing the entire house today. The question is whether to replace the clod line too. I started a claim with Uponor, but I need our re-plumb invoice to finish. Did you end up re plumbing? Did you do the cold side too? I understand that there is a class action suit against them in Colorado. It involves failures at the joints (mine are not at the joints, but in the middle.) That was a lot of questions in one go. Sorry

 

[KDavis]

Or, it could be a municipal water issue in the Atlanta area - has Uponor also taken a water sample(s) in addition to failed pipe samples?

I'm sorry for what you are going through. I had to repipe because my copper got swiss-cheesed by low pH water, and waking up to a kitchen ceiling soaked with water still gives me nightmares. I can't imagine what you are still going through now.

One leak could be a nicked pipe on installation, two leaks indicates a problem. Photos of failed pipe posted on this forum have always shown the failed pipe with yellowing. It's been speculated that chloramine added to municipal water is burning the PEX chemically. Do you have any close up pics of your failed pipe you can post?

FWIW, a lot of pros on this site have been installing Uponor for decades with zero leaks, so it must either be a batch problem or local water issues.

We are having issues in Colorado

 

[KDavis]

Hi @Disnyfan1 @Mgreen063

Looks like I am also in the same boat and searching for Uponor landed me here. My house was built in 2016. Over last year, I had about 15 leaks. Hot water carrying Uponor 3/4" Red PEX pipe - pinhole leaks in different section of the pipe, every 4-6 weeks. I spent lot of money already, after lot of frustration, I decided to repipe the house and asked for some quotes. All the plumbers I asked for a quote immediately asked me to file a warranty with Uponor and told me that there is a problem with the Uponor pipes and one of the plumber in Altanta area claimed that their company is doing 1-2 Uponor repiping projects every week!!!

I have filed my first claim in August 2022 and sent the sections of PEX pipes that were cut to fix the leaks to Uponor. It has been a frustrating experience so far, Uponor keep on dragging without any conclusion. Since the initial claim, I had several more leaks and more claims were made. There was site visit by one of the Uponor field person to verify the conditions at home, more than 2 months ago. Then Uponor sent a mail saying their computers were hacked for a month. For more than 2 months, only response is "evaluation is in progress".

The warranty says if you repipe on your own, they won't reimburse. Every time a new leak develops, they are asking for that section of pipe to be sent to "complete evaluation". But they don't complete the evaluation in time before next leak occur. In few weeks another leak is happening and they are asking to send the part again to "complete evaluation". It looks they are playing a game to to frustrate customers. it has been terrible to deal with water leaks, 15 times dry walls/ceilings were cut and I have small kids and entire family is frustrated with leaks, water mitigation loud sounds for 3-4 days and repair process. I am concerned about potential mold development. However, Uponor seems unmoved by the plight of the customers. Never in my life dealt with such terrible customer service. I have not heard anything other than "evaluation is in progress" to my weekly emails.

(I had several evaluation by qualified plumbers to find out why leaking are happening, water pressure, water temperature, every faucet and every equipment connected to plumbing system was checked several times. No issues identified. House has recirculation system and I even installed a timer to shut circulation for nearly 9 hours every night, still pinhole leaks are happening).

This makes my heart stop. Plumbers are literally cutting holes in my house and re-plumbing as I type this. I have started the claim process, but they want invoices for the repairs. I am just now realizing they mean the REPAIRS, not the re-plumbing. UGH! Well, there is also a class action suit here in Colorado. The attorney was willing to add my type of failure (not at the joints, but in the pipes) I guess t his will be our course of action. We have had 9 leaks. What in the world... do they expect us to wait and repair hoping we catch it before it destroys more that lust a little dry wall?

 

[JohnCT]

This makes my heart stop. Plumbers are literally cutting holes in my house and re-plumbing as I type this. I have started the claim process, but they want invoices for the repairs. I am just now realizing they mean the REPAIRS, not the re-plumbing. UGH! Well, there is also a class action suit here in Colorado. The attorney was willing to add my type of failure (not at the joints, but in the pipes) I guess t his will be our course of action. We have had 9 leaks. What in the world... do they expect us to wait and repair hoping we catch it before it destroys more that lust a little dry wall?

A leak is a single event - could be a blem in the extrusion process or a nick by a careless install.

Nine leaks means the pipe is garbage. If the house isn't re-piped, you will be cutting holes and patching pipe as long as you own the house.

The house needs to be re-piped and Uponor needs to pay for all of it including drywall and paint.

John

 

[KDavis]

Im not going to google PEX leaks but I wonder if 20 people in the country had it happen would all of them wind up here and putting such doubt into what so many belive/ belived a good product. (Im trying to understand extent of the problem) and dont find that pending lawsuits are an indication. I suppose if you can replace every bit of pex in the house and 100 percent repipe with pex most of us would be good with it. Id like to know exact price differance to upgrade or downgrade depending on opinion to copper type L?
Leaking Uponer , please share more was it all red pipe? plus anything else I know you are looking for answers but sharing your details might help others, and spark more info back to you from others

We are having this problem in Colorado .

A leak is a single event - could be a blem in the extrusion process or a nick by a careless install.

Nine leaks means the pipe is garbage. If the house isn't re-piped, you will be cutting holes and patching pipe as long as you own the house.

The house needs to be re-piped and Uponor needs to pay for all of it including drywall and paint.

John

That is the goal!

 

[leaking_upnor]

I am having this issue with the same pipe. 9 leaks in total, all pin hole leaks in the hot water lines. We are re-plumbing the entire house today. The question is whether to replace the clod line too. I started a claim with Uponor, but I need our re-plumb invoice to finish. Did you end up re plumbing? Did you do the cold side too? I understand that there is a class action suit against them in Colorado. It involves failures at the joints (mine are not at the joints, but in the middle.) That was a lot of questions in one go. Sorry

I feel for you man. I went through the same thing. Looks like many more folks are going through the same thing. How many people do you need for a class action?

 

[JohnCT]

How many people do you need for a class action?

Enough to make the lawyers happy...

John

 

[Jeff H Young]

I feel for you man. I went through the same thing. Looks like many more folks are going through the same thing. How many people do you need for a class action?

Still waiting for you to provide helpful information on what is going on with your case? Go hire a lawyer if thats your intention

 

[leaking_upnor]

I'm just waiting right now. Uponor is deciding if they are going to pay for the repair. I'm guessing they will make an offer? But just waiting at the moment.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Good Luck on it leakin upnor! I think Uponor is a stand up company . I think providing details on your problem , including who the plumbers coming out for "free" 9 or 10 times why are they working for free ? You only said the Engineers havent got back? so no water on in house ? holes been patched? If I put plumbing in a house Im not coming back 10 times 4 years later for "free" or if I do its out of charity not respoceability. maybe Uponor is paying them as I would expect. Maybe Uponor is cooperating and doing the right thing to get to the bottom and stand behind product

 

[najna]

Hi All, been dealing with this for the last year and couple of months as well. Just wanted to chime in an add that i'm also in Atlanta, just to add to the number count of us from here if anyone is tracking. Same stuff as others have said, Uponors phone lines were down for weeks and weeks and we were having a pipe failure after another. We were extremely luckly to have found all leaks when we did. We are in townhomes so lots of my neighbors are having the same issue, but no one is talking anout it cause either they are trying to sell their home once they realize or like is they just repiped. Told me husband we should just repipe ourselves and then go after the warranty. Otherwise we'd of been looking at potentially flooding our house at some point. Id love a class action in Atlanta. I don't even care about getting money anymore, im over it, I'd be happy for the lawyers get it, i just want them to freaking pay for these tactics they use to lead customers on and just waste your time and put you out of more money and add additional stress.

 

[JohnCT]

Hi All, been dealing with this for the last year and couple of months as well. Just wanted to chime in an add that i'm also in Atlanta, just to add to the number count of us from here if anyone is tracking.

Seems like a lot of people with this problem come from the greater Atlanta area.

There must be a common denominator because Atlanta is over represented far more than mere coincidence can possibly explain.

Could it be water? A single large plumbing contractor who did all these installations and mishandled the pipe? A large plumbing material supplier in the Atlanta area that mishandled the pipe? More than one Uponor production facility and a specific one feeding your area??

Frustrating to not know why some Uponor pipe fails and most pipe doesn't, but the other common thread here is that the few who do experience a leak don't get just one leak (which would be an aberration) but a dozen or more. Makes no sense.

Did you keep any sections of the failed pipe? If requested, I would send Uponor a sample but not ALL of it..

John

 

[Jeff H Young]

Hi All, been dealing with this for the last year and couple of months as well. Just wanted to chime in an add that i'm also in Atlanta, just to add to the number count of us from here if anyone is tracking. Same stuff as others have said, Uponors phone lines were down for weeks and weeks and we were having a pipe failure after another. We were extremely luckly to have found all leaks when we did. We are in townhomes so lots of my neighbors are having the same issue, but no one is talking anout it cause either they are trying to sell their home once they realize or like is they just repiped. Told me husband we should just repipe ourselves and then go after the warranty. Otherwise we'd of been looking at potentially flooding our house at some point. Id love a class action in Atlanta. I don't even care about getting money anymore, im over it, I'd be happy for the lawyers get it, i just want them to freaking pay for these tactics they use to lead customers on and just waste your time and put you out of more money and add additional stress.

Sorry for the frustration , Im sure every consumer would be happy to have manufactures write a check in full for whatever is requested no questions asked , On otherhand every manufacture would like to never pay a claim as well.
Frustrating too for those that really want to understand the problem all you homeowners do is come on here throw a tiny bit of info muddy up the water and then go away because all you (collectively) care about is getting your own personal problem taken care of and maybe a little more , then there are those looking to make money off it lawyers and other money grubbers.
My point is a little whinning about how long things are taking isnt helping anyone. Id say get proactive but its hard you doccument everything you talk to Uponnor all you can trell them you are moving foward with the full repipe and you dot every i and cross the t and get the job done then go after your losses . But I wouldnt do it without written notice of your intent. Of cource where is your proof that it was manufacture fault and not as John CT mentioned possible other problem.
I dont understand what you mean when you say you dont care about the money "your over it"then like 4 words later you say you do?

 

[Breplum]

Any one hoping to make a claim with Uponor needs to keep the failed sections and those sections need to have the date code id printed part of the piping preserved. That way they have the evidence needed. The local Uponor Rep is typically the ones who will pick up the failed material, but that may differ in varieties of geographic location.

 

[najna]

Sorry for the frustration , Im sure every consumer would be happy to have manufactures write a check in full for whatever is requested no questions asked , On otherhand every manufacture would like to never pay a claim as well.
Frustrating too for those that really want to understand the problem all you homeowners do is come on here throw a tiny bit of info muddy up the water and then go away because all you (collectively) care about is getting your own personal problem taken care of and maybe a little more , then there are those looking to make money off it lawyers and other money grubbers.
My point is a little whinning about how long things are taking isnt helping anyone. Id say get proactive but its hard you doccument everything you talk to Uponnor all you can trell them you are moving foward with the full repipe and you dot every i and cross the t and get the job done then go after your losses . But I wouldnt do it without written notice of your intent. Of cource where is your proof that it was manufacture fault and not as John CT mentioned possible other problem.
I dont understand what you mean when you say you dont care about the money "your over it"then like 4 words later you say you do?

What doesn't make sense? I said i want the company to pay for these tactics, i didn't say they need to pay me anymore. Happy for them to pay the lawyers or others who are having these issues. We are talking about the same townhomes, some homes have uponor and the rest have other pipes, all built in different phases. The phases with uponor have pinhole leaks. All other phases of houses have no issues. Doest matter what type of water it is, a pipe made sold to carry water should be able to do it without leaks.

 

[najna]

Any one hoping to make a claim with Uponor needs to keep the failed sections and those sections need to have the date code id printed part of the piping preserved. That way they have the evidence needed. The local Uponor Rep is typically the ones who will pick up the failed material, but that may differ in varieties of geographic location.

I've got the full box of them in my garage waiting for when this issue is made right. When the Colorado law suit is settled I'll have my pipes ready.

 

[najna]

Seems like a lot of people with this problem come from the greater Atlanta area.

There must be a common denominator because Atlanta is over represented far more than mere coincidence can possibly explain.

Could it be water? A single large plumbing contractor who did all these installations and mishandled the pipe? A large plumbing material supplier in the Atlanta area that mishandled the pipe? More than one Uponor production facility and a specific one feeding your area??

Frustrating to not know why some Uponor pipe fails and most pipe doesn't, but the other common thread here is that the few who do experience a leak don't get just one leak (which would be an aberration) but a dozen or more. Makes no sense.

Did you keep any sections of the failed pipe? If requested, I would send Uponor a sample but not ALL of it..

John

Could be, but it's uponors product, so we claim warranty for a faulty pipe. Then they can sue whoever mishandled them. The plumber that imstalled ours is not a small but not a large plumbing contractor. They say they dont buy uponor anymore because they are aware of how defective these pipes have been. A large plumbing supplier, perhaps. Again, Uponor had the resources to give consumers a fair look into this. They have the responsibility, resources and information to track the logistics of where thr pipes have been. They sell a product like any other company, and "offer warranty" but not really.