Hi all,
So I came home last night and found a ton of ants on my kitchen counter having a feast. Small little buggers that can be squashed and don't die, you have to squash and twist to kill them![Smile :) :)](/talk/styles/default/xenforo/smileys/grin.gif)
Anyway, I've been finding the occasional ant in my kitchen recently. Sometimes even a few dozen. This was hundreds. So it was time to investigative after getting rid of them.
I tracked them down to under my sink. As I clean out the under sink cabinet, I decide to caulk the cabinet holes where the copper pipes come through from the floor (they are vertical pipes, not horizontal rough-ins).
I notice some corrosion and dust around the base of the hot water pipe. I remove the hot water pipe foam jacket and bam...
My copper pipe was soldered by a blind man using improper parts, too much flux (probably), and otherwise a joke. There MAY have been very slight leakage - if so it's not continuous, it's the lightest dab of moisture. The foam jacket felt and looked dry, the pipe itself by one of the joins had a shininess that I couldn't definitely say was freshwater.
...
There's a thick jacket of green/white crust around some of the joins. This piping is maybe 10 years old.
....
I don't really know why I'm posting this - I know I have to replace it. I guess I'm trying to make myself feel comfortable with waiting for a month or so. It's actually kind of a bear of a job, because I need to cut out the base of the cabinet around the pipe and cut the pipe below the base, insert a SharkBite or otherwise instant connection, and run a new supply line.
The cabinet is tight as heck and I'm not yet sure how I'm going to plunge-cut a nice smooth hole into the wood without risking nicking OTHER supply lines down near it where I can't see them.
Ugh, what a pain![Smile :) :)](/talk/styles/default/xenforo/smileys/grin.gif)
So I came home last night and found a ton of ants on my kitchen counter having a feast. Small little buggers that can be squashed and don't die, you have to squash and twist to kill them
![Smile :) :)](/talk/styles/default/xenforo/smileys/grin.gif)
Anyway, I've been finding the occasional ant in my kitchen recently. Sometimes even a few dozen. This was hundreds. So it was time to investigative after getting rid of them.
I tracked them down to under my sink. As I clean out the under sink cabinet, I decide to caulk the cabinet holes where the copper pipes come through from the floor (they are vertical pipes, not horizontal rough-ins).
I notice some corrosion and dust around the base of the hot water pipe. I remove the hot water pipe foam jacket and bam...
My copper pipe was soldered by a blind man using improper parts, too much flux (probably), and otherwise a joke. There MAY have been very slight leakage - if so it's not continuous, it's the lightest dab of moisture. The foam jacket felt and looked dry, the pipe itself by one of the joins had a shininess that I couldn't definitely say was freshwater.
...
There's a thick jacket of green/white crust around some of the joins. This piping is maybe 10 years old.
....
I don't really know why I'm posting this - I know I have to replace it. I guess I'm trying to make myself feel comfortable with waiting for a month or so. It's actually kind of a bear of a job, because I need to cut out the base of the cabinet around the pipe and cut the pipe below the base, insert a SharkBite or otherwise instant connection, and run a new supply line.
The cabinet is tight as heck and I'm not yet sure how I'm going to plunge-cut a nice smooth hole into the wood without risking nicking OTHER supply lines down near it where I can't see them.
Ugh, what a pain
![Smile :) :)](/talk/styles/default/xenforo/smileys/grin.gif)