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Common problem · TN LLP #5045

Failing Galvanized Pipe

Old steel supply line corroding shut from the inside.

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Quick answer

Not an emergency, but it does not improve. Galvanized steel supply line corrodes from the inside out, so pressure drops gradually and leaks start appearing. Once one section goes, the rest is usually the same age.

Galvanized steel supply pipe was standard in houses built before roughly the 1960s, and there is plenty of it left in the older cores of Athens, Niota, Etowah, and Cleveland. It rusts internally, narrowing the bore and reducing flow long before it starts leaking.

How you know this is it

  • Chronic low water pressure that has come on gradually over years
  • Rusty or brown water, especially first thing in the morning
  • Pressure that drops sharply when a second fixture is opened
  • Repeated pinhole leaks in the same run of pipe
  • Visibly rusted, threaded grey pipe in a crawlspace or basement

What usually causes it

  • Internal corrosion narrowing the pipe over decades, which is what galvanized does
  • Threaded joints corroding first, since the coating is thinnest at the cut threads
  • Hard water accelerating scale and corrosion together
  • Dissimilar metals joined without a dielectric fitting

Common questions

Failing Galvanized Pipe: your questions answered

Do I have to repipe the whole house?
Not always, but be sceptical of a patch. If one section has corroded through, the rest of the same-age pipe is on the same clock. We will show you what is actually there and give you the honest version.
What replaces it?
Copper or PEX, both to code. Which one depends on the house, the runs, and what has to be opened up. We will explain the tradeoff rather than just picking for you.
How disruptive is a repipe?
It is one of the larger jobs a house needs, and we scope it properly and give you one number before anything is opened up. Knowing the price up front matters more on this job than almost any other.
Will I know the price before you start?
Yes. You get one number to approve before any work begins, and it holds once the job starts. This market has a documented habit of quotes climbing mid-job; we built the opposite habit deliberately.
Are you licensed?
Yes. Tennessee Limited Licensed Plumber #5045, issued by the state Board for Licensing Contractors and verifiable at verify.tn.gov. Across eighteen local competitors, not one publishes their number.

Related problems

Burst PipeFrozen Pipes

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TN Limited Licensed Plumber · #5045 · verify at verify.tn.gov

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