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Do I have Polybutylene pipe in my yard?

Polybutylene underground yard service pipe is usually blue, but it may be gray or black. It is usually ¾” or 1” in diameter, and it may be found entering your home through the basement wall or floor, concrete slab or coming up through your crawlspace. Frequently it enters the home near the water heater. The main water shutoff for your entire home is attached to the end of the yard service pipe. If the interior of your house does not use Polybutylene pipe you may only have a couple of feet (or less) of PB pipe inside your house before it connects to the other copper/CPVC piping.

Note: Keep in mind that any amount of PB pipe coming into your house (even a few inches) is a potential danger. The main water shutoff valve inside your home is located after this piping and will not shut off a leak/rupture in this piping. The shutoff valve for this yard service pipe is located outside of your house. You may or may not know where this valve is located in your yard. Normally only the county water/sewer personnel or a licensed plumber is able to locate this valve and turn the water to your house completely off. It may take several hours for this action to occur. In the meantime significant flooding and property damage may occur.

If you have a Polybutylene leak outside your house, it's obvious that the leaking pipe must be repaired or replaced. Please contact our office to schedule a free in-home estimate to replace the pipe. If you have not yet experienced any leaks, congratulations! You have already beat the odds and hopefully still have time to plan for a scheduled 'controlled' replacement of the piping system(s) at a date and time when the cost and overall impact of the work can be best tolerated by your family. Please contact our office for a free in-home estimate for the proposed replacement work.

Yard service in the ground will typically fail at a stress point like this grabber fitting at the county connection or in the basement.