George, Silver Spring George emailed me the day the Post article ran in February, having found his sixth leak the day before. His first leak showed up in early January, springing to life in an upstairs bathroom wall and taking down most of the kitchen ceiling. A plumber knocked a hole in the kitchen wall and installed a shutoff valve, but two more pinholes showed up in the 3/4" vertical risers during January. "These leaks put a quarter of inch of water over the entire basement one night!" All of the leaks have been in cold-water pipes. The house is on the small side, built in the 1940's, and most of the pipes are easily accessible; George has had several estimates for repiping (plus some other work) ranging from the low-$4Ks to the mid-$5Ks. While ordering new bathroom fixtures on February 2 leak number six appeared (sounds like one big leak and several small friends) in a half-inch horizontal pipe, sending a stream of water five feet into the basement. 02/05/2001: "On Sunday morning while I was checking leak #6 and emptying the bucket I heard that dreaded sound of a drip from somewhere else. I finally found it next to my basement workbench. Actually all I found was the drip as the leak is somewhere between the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom. This makes 3 pinhole leaks on that one vertical riser." 02/07/2001: "By the way leak #7 is now bypassing the cut off valve and is dripping so this may be leak #8. Can I wait till Feb 27 for the plumber to get here? Leak #6 is putting out 1 gal. of water every 4 hours now. Do they have retirement homes on the moon, yet?" I haven't heard from George in a while. I hope he's okay.

Bill, Kensington This is the guy with 17 leaks. Bill's house was built in 1953 and the walls are plaster over wallboard, about one inch thick. "Early in this experience I got good at drilling through the ceiling with a masonry bit and cutting a square hole about 6" x 8" with my jigsaw. I made a map of where the pipes go, so I have a good idea of where to look when we see evidence of a leak." Bill's got a map, for crying out loud. "I patch the leaking pipe with a short piece (about 1" long) of 5/8" inside diameter rubber hose slit down the side (saved from when we threw away an old washing machine) and a 99-cent mini hose clamp. I keep a bag full of those clamps, so I'm always ready!" Ten leaks in the kitchen from the pipes serving the upstairs bathroom, seven in the (finished) basement from the pipes feeding the kitchen sink. I've awarded Bill the Copper Medal for sheer numbers, but he still seems to be in good spirits, so I may just pass it on to someone who needs cheering up.

Ross, Woodmoor Ross had four separate leaks in the kitchen over three years beginning in 1997. Two leaks were in vertical cold-water pipes behind the refrigerator and the other two were in the horizontal cold-water pipes running through the kitchen ceiling. Eventually tiring of the holes in the wall Ross had the kitchen repiped, a job that ran a few grand including refinishing the walls and ceiling. "It was discouraging to hear that new pipes were not immune, but I'd rather take my chances with new type than the original pipes in a house built in 1940."

Thomas, West Laurel This is an interesting case, as it started seven years ago (earlier than most reported incidents in the Montgomery County area), about a year after the WSSC relined the water mains in Thomas' neighborhood. He first spotted trouble with his boiler, which was overpressurizing. Shutting off the fill valve didn't solve the problem. "The only possibility was pinholes in the tankless heater which heats my domestic hot water by running cold water through heat exchanger tubes immersed in the boiler. I had the heater replaced, and sure enough, the problem was fixed." A few years later the first plumbing pinholes appeared (horizontal, cold-water); given the earlier problem Thomas had the plumbing in the house redone, but left the heating system intact. Thomas makes the important observation that his hot water baseboard heating system has not suffered pinholes (neither has the one in my house) - these are closed systems, and recycle water rather than introduce new water like the plumbing system does. If the problem is in the copper and not something introduced into the water supply, why aren't these systems failing? Does it have anything to do with the volume of water passing through the system (Thomas thinks so), or with some chemical introduced, or a combination of the two?

Glenn In the last two years Glenn has had eight pinholes in the ceiling of the pantry. Before he returned home with supplies to patch the first leak another appeared. He's become adept at working with whatever repair tubing is available, most recently employing 3/4" auto heater hose and a 1" clamp. Glenn's house is about fifty years old and he's lived there for the past forty. "I look in the pantry every time we return home and finding no new ones, I say a little prayer of thanksgiving."

Rick, Kemp Mill Rick gave up after five leaks and had his 40-year-old house repiped. Most of his observations concern the "house autopsy", as he puts it: the amount of dust is incredible, so move items you want to keep clean to whatever room the workmen aren't currently in; have the plumbers tell you of any other plumbing deficiencies they may find while they're in there (Rick is having a number of fixtures replaced); try to leave at least one working bathroom at all times over the multi-day project. While insurance typically doesn't cover these types of general maintenance projects don't be afraid to work with your agent; apparently Rick's agent has been helpful in wording his claim with regard to the damages inflicted by the original leaks. 2/9/2001: "On the morning of the 7th day of my re-piping project.......I turned on the kitchen sink and the outside water faucet went on full blast! Then I went upstairs to take a shower and water began streaming down from the downstairs family room!" 2/10/2001: "...discovered this morning that the plumbers who did my re-piping cut the wires to my furnace in two places... all you "HOLD-OUTS" have a lot to look forward to!" Thanks, Rick.

Jim, Bethesda The first leak was discovered in 1999 via the trusty wet-carpet-through-sock method, and the plumber found the vertical cold-water pinhole only after knocking numerous holes in the living room wall. A few months after the repaired living room paint dried another pinhole sprung up a few feet from the first, only in a less accessible spot. On January 2 Jim's wife heard the telltale drip in the basement ceiling, and the plumber was called a third time. A few thousand dollars has already changed hands (and Jim hasn't even repiped!), but his insurance company has been handling the situation very well.

Marc, Montrose Forest Marc's been getting leaks like clockwork every fifteen months or so - they must come in groups, because in his email I count eleven or twelve (two in the kitchen ceiling, two in the kitchen soffits, two in the basement, I think five at least in the living room). There are five holes waiting for repair in that living room, but Marc isn't falling for that again as he'd patched the wall once before just to find another leak a few inches from the first. His house is 22 years old now - the pipes can't have been more than eighteen to twenty years old before they began to fail.

More to come - updated 02/14/2001.