In this episode, Richard and Ross Trethewey explain why, when, where, and how to prevent major plumbing failures.

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Richard explains how, where, and why plumbing systems fail.

Richard gives a deep dive on when and how plumbing pipes and connections can be repaired or replaced.

Ross explains and demonstrates how to prevent plumbing failures with new technology.

Preventing Water Damage
Kevin O’Connor and damage prevention specialist Michael Milligan toured a home to identify ways to prevent plumbing leaks and other flood damage.

How a Frozen Pipe Bursts
Richard demonstrated that pipes, when frozen, expand in volume, which exponentially increases the water pressure and forces the pipe to burst. In these circumstances, shut the water off at the main and immediately call a plumber.

To prevent the pipes from freezing in the first place, Richard recommended keeping cabinet doors open and insulating the pipes with pipe insulation. This can be found at home centers.

How to Replace Polybutylene Piping with PEX
Richard travels to Richmond, Virginia to help a homeowner replace her polybutylene piping with conventional PEX.

Where to find it?
Polybutylene pipes are no longer to code and need to be replaced by a licensed professional. Richard was assisted by Capital Mechanical. The tools and materials required to replace the pipes, including the PEX lines, fittings, and the expansion tool, can all be found at home centers and plumbing supply houses. The PEX piping for this project was supplied by Uponor.

Future House | Smart Automatic Water Shutoff Valves
Ross travels to Los Angeles to learn about innovations being made to automatic water shutoff valves.

Where to find it?
While automatic water shutoff valves have been around for quite some time, there are a number of different companies that are now modifying the units to make them smart devices.

In this segment, Ross learned about the functions of a Flo by Moen automatic water shutoff valve. During the discussion afterwards, Ross and Richard also talked about the Phyn automatic water shutoff valve, which is a similar device in the smart automatic water shutoff valve space.

Testing Smart Automatic Water Shutoff Valves
Richard Trethewey tests two different styles of smart automatic water shutoff valves.

Where to find it?
Richard explained that most modern automatic water shutoff valves fall under two categories of design: sensor-activated and valve body activated.

The sensor-activated valves are usually more economical and have a faster response time, since their primary function is to detect leaks and other plumbing failures. The sensor-activated valve Richard demonstrated was a Floodmaster App-Based Wireless Plumbing Leak Detection & Automatic Water Shut-Off System, which is manufactured by Reliance Detection Technologies. The kit comes with two sensors and additional ones can be purchased and paired.

The valve body activated valves have more features to them, including usage reports and running health tests to try and catch plumbing failures ahead of time. The all-in-one smart valve Richard demonstrated was the Phyn Plus Smart Water Assistant + Shutoff, which is manufactured by Phyn.

Expert assistance with this segment was provided by the Walter F. Morris Company.

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Products and Services from this Episode

Technical guidance:
State Farm Insurance

Automatic shutoffs:
IntelliFlow

Flo by Moen
Phyn

Floodmaster App-Based Wireless Plumbing Leak Detection & Automatic Water Shut-Off System
Phyn Plus Smart Water Assistant + Shutoff

Expert assistance:
Capital Mechanical
Walter F. Morris Company

PEX piping:
Uponor

About Ask This Old House TV: From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.

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ASK This Old House | Preventing Plumbing Disasters (S19 E2) FULL EPISODE
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