Thanks for this video. I'm about to start the repipe on my 1200 square foot double wide. I have only about a foot of clearance in my crawlspace so it is a nightmare to do anything under there. I had a plumber come out to quote it and he said his guys would be upset about it and he never even sent a quote. My wife wants new floors so I'm taking this opportunity to replace the poly B from the top just like you did here. I am going to use the stainless PEX clamps and I ordered a Ryobi power tool that pinches them. I plan to upload a video of my experience too because it's hard to find information about the easiest way to get it done. Thanks again for taking the time to make this video and share your knowledge. Most house flippers do a terrible job but you take pride in your work.
@@alexkram I already have crappy water pressure and wanted to keep the pressure drops to a minimum from the elbows and fittings that constrict flow. I'm in the south so I don't get any major freezing weather that would make me worry about brittleness.
@@alexkram I read more into pex and I ended up going with Pex-A since it doesn't neck down the diameter at the connections. It went great. Entire house was re-plumbed. Super easy to do except the army crawling in the crawlspace for two days.
just bought my place with this piping. its leaking now and I will just replumb the entire house with cpvc. I've done basic copper plumbing fixes in a normal house with a basement but now im in a manufactured with a crawlspace and I'm dreading this job. Edit: I replumbed with Pex-A and it all went great. If you buy pex, go with straight pipes. Those long rolls can be rough if you are trying to fit it into a tight crawlspace with limited space and sight
I have zero plumbing experience and just moved into a mobile home with polyb piping, some of which is leaking, so thank you for making this video. It is greatly appreciated.
We are in the process of replacing all of the Poly B in our 1982 mobile home. Started off with a simple water leak which I repaired in a few hours. Then discovered another leak, then another leak, and then while handling a 3/4 inch supply line the pipe just cracked into two pieces. That started a major project. So now our bathroom is stripped back to the studs, access holes cut in the floor, and many trips under the home. The only major hang up we are having is that the kitchen in the front is pretty much 40+ feet away from all the rest of the water system. I am trying to think of a way to send 40 feet of PEX under the floor without cutting the floors or the insulation bag under the home?? A trained rat to pull a string through would sure be useful. :) If you have access to your plumbing and it is Poly B my recommendation would be replace it now before you have to rip and tear your home apart to do it. It's not a matter of "IF", it's a matter of "WHEN" the Poly B will fail. Of course ours failed in January - February in Alberta so......yeah.....cold.
You should make the opening you have there into trap doors. That way in the future it will be easy to work on the water pip. I would think that would be a great selling point. Cool video thanks for sharing.
Thomas, great idea, it sure is a lot easier working on those pipes from the top instead of from underneath, but I am hoping those pipes aren't going to be needing any work for a long, long time. :-) Thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate it! :-)
I'm so grateful for this video...first mobile home I have owned and this is easy to understand for a non-plumber and rate of speech was perfect! Extremely helpful! Wish you could do mine!
Great video. I'm facing this project after patching several times at the water heater. One good thing is mine has the bath, WH, kitchen all centrally located.
Awesome video super helpful tons of extra information in here. I’ve learned more in this video then what I have since I bought my first home 5 years ago, God bless you!
I have those exact toilet shut offs in my mobile home. Currently trying to figure out how to change it because it has sprung a leak and I can’t shut it off! I have to find my main shut off under my home. I’m a total beginner and I feel a lot better after having you walk through the process AND I have an idea about what it looks like under my flooring! Invaluable information! Thank you!
I'm currently repiping my single wide Dutch Mobile home. I believe its MUCH easier to come from the bottom than through the floor. I can see WHERE to cut I to vapor barrier and have made "access plates" to complete reseal the vapor barrier. Another advantage is you can BETTER see any leaks. If anyone is thinking of repiping a Dutch mobile home, let me know and I'll make a blueprint with dimensions where all plumbing junctions are so you o ly cut where you need to.
@@BCRenovationMagazine I've run all the piping in pex now. When I'm done, I'll do a video with measurements where all piping junctions are. It's not easy but when I think of saving myself $10,000-$12,000, ITS SURE WORTH IT.
I'm done and it's all good. I bought bottom board (vapor barrier) self-adhesive repair roll of plastic. Same exact material. 28"×25' for $50 on ebay. You only need to cut EXACTLY where you need to attach sink, shower, laundry, and toilet lines. I've NEVER done any plumbing on this level EVER. Icrimp brand PEX crimper and cutter kit with 30 1/2"& 3/4" crimp rings included off Amazon for $25 and free shipping. Whole house repipe with 2 bathrooms AND new water heater less than $1,000.
I YOU ARE concerned with FREEZING PIPES, slip on the foam pipe insulation tubes as you install the PEX pipe. GOOD IDEA to do it on all the HOT WATER pipe as well to cut down on HEAT LOSS over LONG RUNS of pipe carrying eh water you spent $$ heating up.
My brother in law wants to use a plumber to replace the 1992 piping in the mobile. As far as I know, they’re going to go underneath which is about 2 1/2-3’ high. The outdoor spigot is on the front patio. People don’t go behind their trailers as most of it is the neighbor’s. He says he’ll have to move the spigot to the backside…It’ll make things easier, they said, though it’s not clear to me why. The trailer is only 15 feet wide and 500 square feet. This would be inconvenient as I would have to run two hoses around to the patio. I don’t get it. Why would replacing the pipes not follow what’s already there? They want to put in an electric water heater to replace the propane one because they think it’s dangerous in the bedroom in its own little closet. They would also mess with the shower faucet-take out the old 2-knob one and leave a hole or have two faucets which would look weird. Do you have any idea as to why they would move the spigot? I don’t want it moved. You can easily take off the skirt panels and go underneath anywhere. A lot of webs under there. But panels can be taken out on both sides to let in light and air…and scare all the mice away. 🫣
Oh how I wish I’d seen this before I put the new floors in! Just found out that I can’t get insurance with the existing poly-b, so I’ll be crawling underneath, dealing with the crumbling, 30 year old insulation. Ugh. 🤬 Thank you for sharing...huge help for me!
Hi, sculptor210. That is a miserable job to do from the bottom. I have done it from the bottom. I avoid that if at all possible. All the best to you on your project. 🙂
@@BCRenovationMagazine The good news is, I watched your video on fixing the underbelly with the garden cloth, so I can clean it up while I’m under there. 👏🏻👏🏻
yeah but would be okay because now you can replace that insulation, especially if you have any leaks down there you can inspect all the insulation. Going from above you wouldn't know if there were pin hole leaks somewhere in the pipe causing moldy insulation.
@@BCRenovationMagazine I can't wait to get out of the deep freeze and get started...all your videos have just been so helpful...I have all my new appliances as well because of the black friday sales so that is one thing off the list..lol
Hi there , I am from Winnipeg and just bought a brand new Mobile home from Best Buy homes it’s a 16 wide , I saw the hot water tank it’s electrical hot water tank and I forget if it has that pan underneath the tank I sure hope I got it lol it’s a brand new home and we will be getting heat tape on the water lines as well
Trev8282, I have family that live in Winnipeg. I get out there every once in a while. Don't forget about the heat tape. You are going to need it before long. It gets freakin' cold out there! :-)
I hadn’t considered coming in from the floor…I’m doing a live-in renovation and have virtually no flooring in place, definitely not where my main issues are!
Liberty Speidel, unless you really like crawling around under these homes with the spiders, etc.😮 , doing it from the top is the way to go. If you have no flooring in place, now is the time to do this. Thanks for watching and commenting. 🙂
I'm thinking of using the manifold. I'd rather run individual lines to everything than have any crimps and fittings under the floor. By the time u notice a leak it's too late.
This approach may allow you to address each 'wet' location individually - eg. do one bathroom, then the kitchen or laundry at a time while still 'living' in the home. The Manifolds that allow disconnecting individual runs are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than the simple NON-VALVED copper and Polymer manifolds. Building your own (replete with issues related to how well you did building it) would prove more expensive (consider an 8-port manifold) than the 'factory unit' at $46.24 than the copper version at Home depot for $29.00 (3/4 in. PEX Barb x 1/2 in. Barb Copper 8-Port Open Manifold Fitting)
Hmmm, that 'fish tape just gave me an idea. I've a pair of long runs from the Master bath to the 2nd bath - maybe 50 feet? If it cut the pipe where it begins in the Master bath, I should e able to feed that fish tape through the pipe the entire distance. That way, I could cut the access in the 2nd bath, cut the pipe and pull it off the fish tape - leaving the fish tap in place to pull the replacement PEX back through the underbelly to the manifold in a clean run. With a helper, I might be able to pull both a BLUE and a RED run together. Then again, why not simply cut the Poly at the far end join it to the new PEX and pull the old out and the new it in one fell swoop? In our MH the Poly-B pipes may have been supported by strips of galvanized strips fastened between the joists (as were the waste pipes) and this could prevent pulling even a smooth plastic pipe easily across the sharp edges and impossible if either side of the join were to 'catch.' Hmmmm the effin' complications abound.
I think sharkbite has an end cap for pipes that you just slip on poly b pipe to stop the water flow. No need to go from poly b to pex connector and then an end cap.
YES there are fittings available to do just that. When renovating a Master Bath, I capped off the plumbing so as to allow water to flow to the rest of the home while demolishing the Master Bath and figuring out how to rebuild it and replace the POLY-B plumbing. See QickTite Repair Fittings, Sharkbite CAP fittings should work (PRICEY), the ones I found at a local Hardware store were reasonably priced and checking Mobile home Supply places works as well - I found fittings at two such places but found the prices (and selection) better at the local Hardware store.
Hello, Jerry. Thanks for watching and commenting. Any Poly-B to PEX transitions that you may have seen in this home were just temporary. When the job was complete there was none of these left, and all Poly-B was removed.
Hi, Jessica. That is great that you got your old pipes replaced. This is an excellent upgrade to do on an older home. Are you in the United States? The dollar figures I am giving are Canadian dollars. Based on today's exchange rate $1,700 American is about $2,300 Canadian. Thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate it! :-)
BC Renovation Magazine no, I’m over in Victoria. “I’d rather be plumbing” is the name of the business and and it only took them 1.5 days. They also did a few repairs underneath IE: my shower was leaking underneath - they even pulled the wet insulation and replaced it. These guys are 6 stars :-). Very hard workers.
Jessica, Wow! These guys treated you right and at a great price. That is really good to hear. Too often we hear about unscrupulous contractors taking advantage of people. I have no connection to these plumbers at all, but I fully support hard working, honest people that treat their customers fairly. If you are in the Victoria area on the Island and need a plumber I would check these folks out. Rather Be Plumbing: www.ratherbeplumbing.com/
Now that I am learning things from your vid here I need you to come to Winnipeg and help me dummy proof my new modular home I would love to send you pics of our brand new home
Trev8282, I have yet to see a mobile home come from the factory with one of those pans under the hot water tank. They cost about $20. Why wouldn't they install them.It is not a question if a hot water tank will leak, it is when will it leak. They all eventually leak, and the damage they cause to the floors around them is very expensive, and inconvenient, to repair. I suggest that you get a pan installed if your home doesn't have one. It is not that big of a job. Just drain the tank and lift it up just enough to slide the pan under. There is usually a place nearby that you can run the drain from the pan to to get the water away.
BC Renovation Magazine update , yesterday I went to the new home to water our ceder tree 🌲 and the guys were there installing the skirting and I asked the guy if they put a pan under the hot water tank and he said yes they do and if I would like to see and I said sure so he let me in the house and I went for a look and it dose come with a plastic pan with a pip that leads to under the home so it can exit the home the safe way without going on the floor and they even fomed the hole the pip goes threw
We bought a house in the country built in 93. Has poly b piping with the copper fittings.. Nothing is leaking from what i could tell and the prrvious owners did install a new tankless water heater using copper piping. But since our poly b isnt leaking.. In devating on just leaving it alone or not. The basement needs renovated.. it has that ugly push up ceiling like office buildings. But maybe we should redo the lipes before we dry wall the ceiling ? I just dont want to spend thousands on repiping if it isnt broken.
Jacon, the house that I live in has poly b piping in it. I built it in 1990. I haven't had any problems with it and when I have taken parts of it apart for remodeling work it has shown no signs of deterioration. I have the copper fittings, copper rings and my piping is the third generation of polybutylene. Mine was done in that last of the last era of poly b when I think they pretty much had things figured out. The first and second generation of the piping and the plastic fittings were problematic. Unfortunately, all poly b has been swiped by the same brush as being a "liability". Insurance is the problem that I am starting to encounter. I don't intend to tear out my poly b piping any time soon. However, as I have been doing remodeling and coming across it I am changing it out for PEX. Just because of the insurance issues. In these mobile homes that I have been remodeling the poly b is second generation, plastic fittings and aluminum rings, so it has to go. Thanks for watching and commenting. 🙂
@@BCRenovationMagazine okay so i should just leave the poly b in my 93 house i just bought.. its a two story single family on 14 acres. It has no leaks from what i can tell.. and its using copper fittings and copper comoression rings. So gen 3
@@BCRenovationMagazine na you arent you have had wayy more experience in it than me. I never jeared of poly b until our agent mentioned he saw it. This is the thing. The house is 1880 sqft. 600 is basement that is finished but not livable. So 2400 total. All the plumbing is in the basement. 0 plumbing is in the crawl space outside. Because all the upper bathrooms and kitchen are under the basement. We have ugly ass push up ceilings in the basement.. 60% are missing and falling down.. we want to reno to basement snd go full drywall ceilings. But i think like your video since its all accessable now.. to replace it. But god . The piping in the basement looks like a mess. I mean its like all over th3 ceiling its weird how much of it is there for just 3 bathrooms up stairs and a kitchen.. but i guess 3 bathrooms for 2 hot and cold pipes for shower tube toilet sink.. its a lot of pipe. But i always figure if it isnt broken dont fix it. But then preventative is always good. I guess itd suck if it leaks after we spend Xx amount on reno and dry wall. Ill try to convince the other to replace it lol.. we did get the house for 350k vs 400k.. becauase of the reno work it needs. So we have about 40k in cash in bank to use
Love your videos, it's been a great find for me, because I'm rebuilding a mobile home right now. Unfortunately, i'm doing the work while my sister-in-law is still living in it. That pan under the water tank is a great idea, but is that drain pipe a freeway for mice?
I have a 1984 modular on a basement, previous owners cut the tub/shower plumbing trying to reinstall a tub/shower and need new plumbing. Any suggestions? I'm in the States.
I know this is irrelevant to this video but you seem to have alot of knowledge about mobile homes. I'm having venting issues with septic. Over the years the vent stacks have been disconnected. I have found little information online about venting a double wide. Any information or drawn up diagrams would be appreciated. Thanks and great videos!
Hello, Caleb. Thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate it! :-) Your vent stacks need to be connected. That is the first thing that I would correct. For your plumbing drain system to work correctly there must be a way for the system to draw air in, and that is through the stacks on the roof. The stacks also serve to let out septic gases from the system to the outside air, instead of inside your home. These gases are harmful to you. This video gives you a pretty good idea of how the venting system should work: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-U-TLlwzvk28.html
@@BCRenovationMagazine Thanks for the reply and the video. I havent watched all of it just yet but from what I can tell it looks like a good one. Yeah I have fixed one vent but instead of coming through the roof it goes out from the side of the trailer. But im assuming it still needs two stacks for the system to work properly. It was working well until we had rain for about 3 days straight. I have one toilet disconnected and put an end cap on it. Are you familiar with studor vents (cheater vents) would that work for septic? Before the trailer was mine one stack was takenout to make room for a shower, ironically and the other one wasn't even hooked up. Also the kitchen sink, washer and bathroom sinks dont run into the septic but outside a pipe near a property line. . I just dont know exactly how close the vent pipes were from the toilets. Is there a certain distance that has to be in order to vent right?
You guys don’t need 18 inches off the top of copper before you go to pex? Maybe it’s a state thing here. I was always told we couldn’t do pex right to the water heater. It would be so much easier and cleaner.
Kent, thanks for this video. I have this same junk for plumbing and I want to replace it all with PEX. My main problem is finding parts, like tub/shower diverter, manifold, etc. (I want to use a combo home run and branch system). Is it possible to just replace the ploy-b with PEX and use the old hardware (diverter, etc). I'm hesitatnt to tear apart my home and two bathrooms to install new drop-ears, diverters, etc. Got any advice?
Hello, Reba. Yes, you can keep all of your old fixtures and valves and just replace the poly B with PEX piping. You can use a poly B to PEX adapter fitting to make the transition from poly B to PEX as near to the existing valves as you can get. That will leave you with only a short length of poly B left between the valve and the adapter fitting. Here is a link to a description of the adapter that you would use: www.rona.ca/en/aqua-dynamic-lead-free-pex-and-pb-adapter-kit-3-4-9783-604-01735561 These adapter fittings are very common and available at just about any hardware store. They are available in different sizes but 1/2" is the size you would most likely be using.
@@BCRenovationMagazine ohhhh. You might want to do a whole panel replacement.. stab-lok panels are big fire hazards.... I am an electrical distributor in Illinois and everytime one of my customers sees a stab-lok panel they refuse to work on them. Because of the big fire risk....
manuel, yes, I am aware of the issues you refer to. There is some confusion about this, I think. Kind of going off the cuff here, but I believe Federal Pioneer is the Canadian arm of the American company Federal Pacific, both commonly referred to as FPE. Apparently the Canadian Federal Pioneer equipment comes out of a Canadian factory, and there is a difference. Again, I am no authority on this. If memory serves me correctly I believe that there was a recall in 1997. This panel is circa 1991. My understanding is the issue was with the bus bar, and the breakers fitting loosely, potentially causing arcing and a fire. I have heard reports of breakers so loose they actually fall out, and people are duct taping them or bending the contact to get the breaker to stay in. Not good. This panel shows none of those symptoms. The breakers are firmly in place. In fact, we removed some to re-arrange things and they were quite difficult to get out. That being said, the new breakers that we put in (which I believe come from Schneider) don't seem as robust as the originals, but they did snap in quite firmly. The electrical safety and certification in mobile homes around here is a very big deal. The panel has been inspected by an electrician friend of mine that oversees my work and by the provincial electrical inspector. No issues were indicated by either of them.
You can find poly pans and drain them to grade or sewer.I bought a single wide, under the diswasher was a poly pan, and a made of concrete sloped deck that led to a drain under my clothes washer and water heater. Any maintenance or repairs never left a mess. Built by a Master Contractor, Ray Oltman, Idaho
Hello, Jay. Carpenters are born with radar eyes. We can see through walls and floors. :-) Actually, it is nothing that mysterious. Floor joists are typically 16" apart. You will see a row of nails where the floor was nailed to the joists. The rows of nails are 16" apart. Cut between the rows of nails. :-)
