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19 Comments on Copper is a hot item in our area...
We are having a HUGE problem with this in New Orleans with all of the vacant and flooded homes still waiting to be repaired. Thieves are stripping houses of copper wiring and pipes every day, especially in sparsely populated areas. The people who buy it from them without following the law regarding getting ID and keeping a log of where it supposedly came from are just as guilty - they are enabling thieves to make a profit. Grrrrr...
Copper and any other scrap metal is stolen too often here in Kern County too. It's unfortunately costing farmers here thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. An example is a farmer having the copper metal from his water well stolen by scrap metal thieves. The farmer may not even know about the problem until days later (many farmers farm hundreds of acres which aren't too well policed or monitored).
The same type of problem is happening with local farmers and diesel fuel that they store on their farmland.
I think to stop the scrap metal thieves, the scrap metal dealers need to be more vigilant. The thieves can't transform the metal into hard dollars without the scrap metal dealers.
Here in the Atlanta area I have had both copper wiring and pipes taken. I have even had three a/c compressors taken from outside AND three furnaces from attic and crawl spaces.
Where are these people going with copper? What is the scrap metal value and does a scrap metal dealer have any responsibility to verify the source and keep track of whose bring it in?
I've had this happen to several homes recently. They actually took the entire AC unit at one! Can you believe that? The whole unit...gone.
Lumber and building supplies are walking off job sites. Entire wiring jobs have disappeared in the night.
It is crazy.
Jessica and John, I am also having theft of the A/C units. Those nice outside units that are both air and heat are carted off and there is nothing left but the duct work. Then the compressors for A/C's are leaving. I guess its harder to get the heating unit out of a closet or attic. Water heaters are also disappearing.
The dealers who are buying the copper are as guilty as the thieves, in my opinion. Thanks for all comments.
It surprises me when my clients actually buy a property that has copper left in it. Its a bonus to them. Its slowing down a little. My county now requires a picture ID to submit copper to the recycle Company.
I was watching a COPS episode last week and the police followed the water trail that led to the Copper theif! He decided to take the water heater as well and got arrested!. That was funny!
Mike, what we'll do for the REO companies!!! But there is never a dull moment. We have to be ever alert to solve the problems that come with them. Thanks for the comment.
Tell your plumbers to us PEX. I build as well as have a brokerage and my engineer turned me on to this stuff 2 years ago. Copper is a thing of the past and yes it works in cold weather, I'm in upstate NY.
PEX is approved under the national building code and meets most states local specs as well. You can also use it to patch between copper links. This stuff is so easy to use there is almost no need for a plumber. It comes from a number of different companies but its all basically the same, Wirsbro, Aquapex,Bestpex, Propex etc.
Costs less than copper to and has no resale value!!!
I asked the buyer of the home that had the copper stolen what he used to rehook the house. He replied that he did not use copper. Evidently he may know of the PEX that you refer to. Copper may be a thing of the past, as you said.
Thanks for tip.
Barbara,
We have the same problem here in RI. As an REO agent, I aqree with E Jeffrey above. PEX is a great alternative and it tends to stay in the house.
As a buyers agent for some first time homebuyers, it's hard to find a home with not only copper, but a furnace!
Barbara
I've had the copper completely taken out of the walls, all the pipes gone. I had mantel pieces and light fixtures removed along with windows and doors. The worst and no one saw it happen was all the landscaping was removed right down to the sod.
Karen, is PEX used for wiring and for plumbing? Thanks for comment.
Gary, you have one up on me. I've never had the sod removed but I have had the shrubs taken. Only one house had no doors. Almost all have light fixtures gone. Windows so far haven't been missing, just broken from time to time.
We all agree.....never a dull moment with foreclosures.
We have those same copper thieves in Central Florida...the local expressway authority has decided to leave the streetlights on during the day as someone(s) removed the copper wiring on entire side of a local bridge. This is the only way that they could think of to keep it from happening again?