The greatest irony of lead water lines in Chicago is that, due to our glacial pace of building code reform, they were
required to be lead up until 86 almost a full decade after lead paint was banned by the federal government. I just looked at a building that had a really nice 2.5" line put in in 1983 that was solid lead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by left of center
I've seen cast iron waste pipes less than 50 years old rust away to the point they need to be replaced. PVC is a much smarter solution, but don't expect the code to change on that anytime soon.
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The biggest benefit of PVC is that, when installed correctly, it is basically a frictionless surface inside meaning that it doesn't catch debris and hair and back up. They still require you use cast iron below grade even if its a smaller (less than 3 floors) residential building and you are allowed to use PVC above grade. This is literally the most moronic thing because below grade is where most sewer backups happen and you have to tear everything out to get at it. Why not allow watertight infinite life plastic below grade too?