Foreclosures and house stripping

[AllanY2525]

I dunno, maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I like copper plumbing.  It lasts a very,
very, very long time.  If you practice "sweating" copper tubing on a few pieces of
scrap copper it's not that difficult to get the hang of it.

The keys to making good solder joints are:

a) To make sure that the copper tubing is sanded with some emery cloth until
    it is VERY clean where it is to be soldered.
b) To use a good "flux" (a chemical paste that is brushed onto the area where
    the solder joint is to be done, prior to heating it with a torch and applying
    the solder

c) Using the right torch to heat the copper tubing (quickly) so that it does not
   get carbon deposits, etc which make the joints weak and unreliable.  Most
   of the plumbers I have dealth with in the past use what is called "MAP" gas
   with their soldering torches - versus propane.

As far as worring about "house strippers" if your property is vacant for a while,
I would definitely suggest and ADT system (or equivalent) to protect the
property.  This helps prevent ANY type of house-stripping, not just the
theft of copper pipes, in the interior of the house.

[Rick Rowlands]

Why would you replumb the house with copper?  My house is completely plumbed with flexible PEX and Qest fittings.  That stuff is SO VERY EASY to run, and to cut a new line into the system takes at most about two minutes.   Who would want to mess around with soldering copper, then chasing leaking joints, and then worrying that the copper will be stolen if you aren't in the house for a while.  And the water lines are just as durable as the copper, and probably a bit more freeze resistant, although I don't plan to find out.

[AllanY2525]

Westsider,

Here in Maryland, plumbers are very expensive - but then that's because the
overall cost of living is fairly high where I live.  I can go to the Home Depot and
buy 1/2 inch copper pipe relatively cheap - it's the labor that's really costly.

If you plan on installing new copper plumbing yourself, it shouldn't cost more
than a couple hundred dollars for the piping, and maybe another $30 to $50
for a decent pipe soldering kit and a copper tubing cutter.

The house on Woodbine was already stripped of the basement water pipes
when I bought it, as was the property I purchased on Elm street.


Allan

[northside lurker]

I find it amusing that many of the houses I've seen stripped of aluminum siding actually look better (to me, at least) after the siding is completely gone.

I've looked at a couple houses for sale in my neighborhood that have been empty for some time.  They were all stripped of their copper plumbing.  But, the thief (thieves) must be conscientious, because they have only stolen the visible plumbing, and I haven't seen any exterior stripping, yet.  I was told by a coworker (who has been an architect for about 30 years) that it would only cost about $1000 to run new plumbing through the basement.  Maybe Allan has personal experience with this, and could provide a more accurate estimate?

[Rick Rowlands]

Uh, yes... That is what is happening here too.  Fortunately the city is dealing with the abandoned houses.

[Towntalk]

Here is a disturbing article about Cleveland that makes me wonder if this is a major problem here in Youngstown.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/16/real_estate/suprime_and_crime/index.htm?cnn=yes