My Copper Pipes Keep Getting Pinhole Leaks (Seabeck, WA)

What usually causes pinhole leaks in copper in Seabeck

The most common cause we find in Seabeck is water chemistry. Slightly aggressive water dissolves copper from the inside over decades. On forest parcels along Seabeck Highway with boulders in dense till underneath, that's where we look first.

We also check velocity erosion, because in Seabeck it explains a real share of pinhole leaks in copper calls. Undersized hot lines or a recirculation pump wear the pipe at elbows and tees.

And age: copper from the 1960s and 70s has been in service for half a century, and thin spots fail first. Less common on acreage off Holly Road, but we've found it near Big Beef Creek.

First steps on a Seabeck property

Long HDPE replacements on brittle poly well lines, bedded in clean gravel so the new pipe doesn't sit in saturated muck.

Before we arrive in Seabeck, three things you can do: look at exposed copper in the crawlspace for green-blue staining or earlier patches. Do the meter test to catch the current leak if there is one. Note whether the pinholes are all on the hot side. None of it requires tools, and all of it helps us tie in and test faster on acreage off Holly Road.

How we fix it

Fixing pinhole leaks in copper here usually ends with whole-house repipe near Guillemot Cove: tie in and test with new main shutoff and, close and document on waterfront on Hood Canal, survey. One crew, one visit, peat in the Big Beef Creek valley put back the way it was.

We've handled pinhole leaks in copper near Big Beef Creek where the cause was galvanized on old waterfront cabins, and near Seabeck Highway where hardpan with heavy roots was hiding a drain failure. About twenty-five minutes out Seabeck Highway; we schedule Seabeck so you aren't waiting a whole day.