Below are some more items of interest in your repipe decision.

1. Notice of a Construction Defect & dezincification issue discussed. 4 Nov 2006
2. Legal document listing & Links, settlement offer information & Links. Various
3. Pulte & Class action attorneys address Sun City homeowners, w/ Links. 9 Jan 2007
4. Kitec repiping, some questions and answers. 31 Jan
5. "Do nothing" advice offered; announcing future availability of C314 bronze fittings. 21 Feb
6. Vanguard offers a non-brass solution using copper fittings. 24 Feb
7. Kitec repiping. 6 March
8. Kitec repiping. 5 May
9. Kitec repiping, Copper 13 May
10. Copper repiping 31 May
11. REHAU Protocol 5 June
12. Kitec & REHAU repiping. 13 June
13. Kitec repiping. Repipe Specialists Seminar. 2 July
14. Johnsons' repipe decision, Part 1. 21 July
15. Johnsons' repipe decision, Part 2. 3 Aug
16. Johnsons' repipe decision, Part 3, on pricing your home w/ Town & Country. 7 Aug
17. Pricing Guide Table, most recent, Town & Country. 19 Aug
18. A Plumbing Status Report on Sun City Anthem. 24 Aug
19. The Johnsons' repiping experience. 29 Aug
20. Kitec repiping, re water supply line and "fittings only" issue.. 5 Sept.
21. Kitec repiping, Index, Checklist, Do-it-Yourself, Moen vs Symmons Valves. 8 Sept (this page)
22. Kitec repiping, re substitute for Danfoss valves 23 Sept
23. On replacing your water heater 1 Jan '08

2. A Checklist for Prospective Repiping Contractors.

For those looking for a checklist when considering repiping contractors, I am pleased to include one submitted to me by Gerry Buretta. To view Gerry's checklist:  The Checklist

3. Advice for the do-it-youself homeowner from the City of Henderson.

What repiping advice is the City of Henderson's Building plan check Department giving Sun City homeowners? If you are looking for a minimalist approach, a homeowner who recently visited the City and was looking to do the work himself was told that he could get by with replacing only the hot water side (using new PEX piping and new fittings) since the hot water side exhibits the greatest amount of dezincification compared to the cold water side. Also, the City advisor said that since the recirculating pump is not a City code requirement, the do-it-yourself homeowner could eliminate that line altogether, thereby eliminating a significant source of dezincification.

As a word of caution, our homeowner would be accepting a certain degree of risk in repiping only the hot water lines. The main water line valve and other cold water lines fittings do, in fact, exhibit signs of dezincification, although significantly less than in the hot water lines. Also, if you repipe and eliminate the recirculating line, you can expect quite long waits for hot water in the winter, based on our own experience when the recirculating clock was off in the early morning hours and we had to leave the house by 5 a.m. to have this or that procedure performed at a hospital. Without that pump operating, it took up to 30 minutes for hot water to start to appear in the shower.

Also, please understand that this was oral advice given to a homeowner who planned to perform this work himself.

4. The Critical Difference Between Moen and Symmons Shower Valves.

While I have alluded to the low zinc content of Symmons shower mixing valves, I have not mentioned the zinc content of Moen valves except to mention that Moen's was higher. I can now share with you more specific information about that. The chemical composition of Moen valves is based on the C37700 standard, while several of the Symmons valves are based on the C84400 standard.

In the table below, which compares the two chemical compositions of the two copper alloys, the all important zinc content of Symmons valve is a nominal 9% while the Moen valve is a nominal 38%. As a result of this difference, Moen valves are expected to exhibit signs of dezincification a faster rate than Symmons valves.

While the comparison is bleak for Moen compared with Symmons, does that mean one needs to change their Moen shower valves for Symmons valves? While it's true that Moen shower valves will dezincify at a faster rate, one must be cognizant of the fact that shower valves, unlike other plumbing valves and fittings used in the repiping effort, are not in use 24 hours a day. Some prefer to take a bath, not a shower. Some shower less frequently than others and when one showers, some are short and others are long. So the actual perceived need to replace a Moen valve with a Symmons valve will vary.

4. A Repipe Specialists Experience.

I have received a number of emails from very happy customers of Repipe Specialists. Some of the comments were like the following:

• Water on, off and on again in one day!
• Large crew. Repipe uses a large crew of at least 9 workers who converge on you the first day like a “home invasion”.  They ‘rearrange’ that garage and start cutting holes immediately.  All holes are within the house or garage.  They prefer not to go to the stucco, at least in my smaller home.  They had at least two men at each water outlet and by 2:30 that first day, the water was back on.
• Final inspection was a mere 10 days after the start date. I was very pleased with the speed with which it was finished.  Getting the inspectors to show up in a timely manner is crucial for rapid end to the process.
• My house did need a thorough cleaning from top to bottom.  They did use a shop vac extensively that first day, however they had the door open to the garage all day; so many people were in and out that the dust followed them.  The process continued with the inspectors and then more workers in and out carrying ladders, etc.  At the end of it all, there was a fine layer of white dust over the entire house however I requested the use of someone I knew to do the cleaning.