Water Heater Drain Pipes - PVC?

 I recently had a house inspection conducted on a house I intend to
purchas.  The inspection showed that PVC (not CPVC) was being used as
the T&P drain.  The inspector stated that this may not have been
against code when it was built (8 years ago), but was not considered
acceptable according to his standards.

Is it truly a concern that the hot water drained would cause problems
with potential melting of the PVC joints?

There is access in the attic to replace a portion of the PVC up to
where it goes into the wall.  If I had the accessible PVC replaced with
copper into a holding tank that subsequently connects to the PVC, would
it be sufficient to cool the water enough?

Is there a flexible hose option - similar to hot water hoses that
connect to washing machines?

I want to avoid any interior work where the lines go through the wall
and drain outside.

Any thoughts?

 

It has been oK for the 8 years though, right?


How often do you drain the tank and for how long?  Flush the sediment once
or twice a year for three minutes?  If yo are draining the tank to replace
it, the water is probably not hot anyway.



Yes, but why bother?


PEX would owrk

My only thought is that you should just ignore it.  Hot water under pressure
for extended periods of time is a problem, IMO, but this is hardly a real
use, has no pressure and probably not much temperature in reality. I'd just
forget about it.
Ed

 jason@kaddywampus.org wrote:

    I would not worry at all.  PVC is fine for that use.  It is not fine for
full time pressure hot water use, but the T&P drain is not going to have
pressure and will only have hot water in it on rare occasions.   Maybe CPVC
would be better, but I sure would not worry about it.  I would prefer PVC to
a flexible hose.

    Also note: "The inspector stated that this may not have been against
code when it was built (8 years ago), but was not considered acceptable
according to his standards."  I suggest his standards are just that.  I
don't believe (I could be wrong) that is generally a part of any building
standard.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

 

Furthermore, home inspectors are supposed to be pointing out visual defects
only. Codes are always evolving and a home built years ago will have multiple
things that don't meet current code. Pointing out things that don't meet current
code may make the inspector feel good, but are irrelevant.

 

defects

multiple

current

You mean like GFCIs?  Inspectors always note the non-existance of these
buggers in older homes.  I think it's these details that the person that
hired the inspector likes to hear about.  What a pain in the butt for the
seller though!  Many buyers won't rest until everything is up to code, no
matter how insignificant the item is.  Simply ignorance.