Home Builders defective copper plumbing

Complaints.com received this e-mail on July 30, 2000:

From:

RE: Defective Copper Plumbing

To: National Assocation of Consumer Advocates (NACA)

Dear Sir: I have a very serious consumer problem. I bought a newly built house in September of 1988. In 1993 I had a leak in the copper plumbing. We had a plumber to come over to fix the leak. A year later we had another and two more leaks in 1998 and a major leak earlier this year. Each time the plumbers told us that the copper pipes were not good and we will eventually have to replace all of it. The pipes are made by the Mueller Copper Tube Company out of Fulton, Mississippi. We are dealing with a Company spokesman by the name of Edd Finley. Each time we have complained to Mr.. Finley he has tried to blame the problem on the City of Daphne, Alabama water supply. Arthur Rigas, Director of Utilities for the City of Daphne has informed me that the city uses lime to raise the PH of the water and zinc ortho phosphates to prevent pipe corrosion but nothing is in the water to cause pipes to spring pinhole leaks like this. In fact, Mr.. Rigas says that the pipes should have no problem handling the cities water supply because the water in Daphne is not very hard. We sent Mueller a sample of our plumbing for an analysis. This analysis said that out water contained sulphur, which is corrosive to pipes. Mr.. Rigas says the Daphne water has no trace of sulphur and it might be naturally occurring in the copper pipes. This situation has been very costly. We have spent over $600 alone this year on this plumbing and we have our Insurance canceled because of these water damage claims. It is now very hard for us to get reasonable homeowners insurance and most insurances are reluctant to insure us. We were told by the last plumber to expect more costly problems in the future. We are asking you for any assistance your organization can offer in helping us resolve this problem. I do understand that Mueller has had to pay some people for bad plumbing. I am sending you some additional documents that might give you a better understanding of this problem as well as the addresses of the people mentioned above. Sincerely, Robert L. Wright Edd Finley Mueller Copper Tube Company P.O. Drawer 849 Fulton, MS 38843 Ph. 601-682-2181 fax-601-862-3002 Email User Arthur Rigas Director of Utilities City of Daphne(Alabama) 900 Daphne Ave. P.O. Box 2550 Daphne, AL 36526 Ph. 334-626-2628 fax- 334-621-3052