Today's lesson- Rust, or in the case of real estate, rusty pipes.
Rust is scientifically called oxidation, which occurs when oxygen comes in long-term contact with certain metals. Over time, the oxygen combines with the metal at an atomic level, forming a new compound called an oxide and weakening the bonds of the metal itself. If the base metal is iron or steel, the resulting rust is properly called iron oxide. Rusted aluminum would be called aluminum oxide, copper forms copper oxide and so on.
The main catalyst for the rusting process is dihydrogen oxide, (Formed from an extremely energetic chemical reaction between its constituent elements), but we know it better as water mixed with air or oxygen. Iron or steel structures and pipes may appear solid, but water molecules can easily penetrate the microscopic pits and cracks in any exposed metal. The hydrogen atoms present in water can combine with other elements to form acids, which will eventually cause more metal to be exposed. If sodium is present, as is the case with saltwater, corrosion will likely occur more quickly. Meanwhile, the oxygen atoms combine with metallic atoms to form the destructive oxide compound. As the atoms combine they weaken the metal, making the structure brittle and crumbly.
Galvanized pipes
Galvanized pipes are made of iron with a coating up of zinc. Galvanizing involves the application of molten zinc to pre-formed steel pipes to provide a corrosion resistant coating. However many galvanized pipes in old buildings were manufactured using Zinc that contained lead. Galvanized pipes are still common in older homes and many commercial buildings. Galvanized pipes will corrode over time, as indicated by the following corrosion symptoms:
High levels of zinc or iron in tap water
A "metallic" taste in the water
Poor water flow due to blockage from mineral buildup
Discolored water (brown, red or yellow water)
Slight discoloration of the exterior of the grey galvanized pipe
It was not until 1986 that the Wheatland Tube Company became the first galvanized pipe manufacturer to be certified to ANSI/NSF Standard 61 for its hot dip galvanized pipe. 100% of all residences built before 1986 have or had galvanized pipes installed from the curb throughout the structure. Over 70% of homes in Southern California were built with galvanized pipes up until 1995. Over 60% of homes that were "copper re-piped" still have a percentage of galvanized pipes left due to homeowner installations and shoddy contractors replacing only what the owner could see. This leaves a large percentage of the properties you will eventually sell with galvanized pipes in the home.
So now you know a little about rust. So what you say. Why do I need to know this as a Realtor? Listen Grasshopper and you will soon learn.
Today, there are many homes on the market that still have galvanized pipes. With luck, most will survive for a few more years. If the property is continually occupied, the signs of failure are quickly noticed and can be remedied before a major disaster. In today's foreclosure market, the utilities are turned off on most if not all bank owned properties usually by the former owner or tenant. That includes the water which you quickly determine as you drive by the now dead vegetation, the usual tell-tale sign of a distressed property. The water is generally off for a few months, sometimes as much as a year or more. This in itself is a recipe for a disaster. A science experiment in the making.
"GALVANIZED PIPE FOUND IN TYPICAL RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY- LOOKS OK ON THE OUTSIDE"
You have just learned how water mixed with oxygen creates oxidation or "rust" over time in galvanized pipes. There is a measurable amount of oxygen present in a pressurized residential water system, H2O, meaning two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen, creating that slow process of oxidation or rusting of the interior of the pipes. This has been going on since the first amount of water was introduced through the pressurized water system of the property in question. Now, the water is turned off, effectively introducing one hundred times the oxygen molecules to an already rusting pipe interior. Water is still present for a few months until it finally evaporates and dries completely. Sometimes it never will, speeding up the oxidation (rusting) process tenfold. Science taking place before your very eyes, but you can't see it! The rust builds within the pipe and soon corrodes right through the side of the pipes creating "pinholes" and eventually the pressurized system fails completely. Still you know nothing. Why? So much oxidation has built up within the pipes that they have now coated as much as 60% of the pipe interior with a "sandstone like" consistency of iron oxide, common rust plugging the recently created pinholes.
"LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING"
Disaster averted, right? Wrong young grasshopper! As soon as the water is turned on the system is pressurized and the oxidation begins anew. So what? Well the moment water is coursing through the pipes providing our daily dose of wet stuff, the iron oxide, "rust" wears off quickly, ( in as little as a few days, or over a month or two), and disaster strikes. The pinholes are no longer pinholes but nice pressurized exits for the water to leak into the walls and cause untold damage to your recent buyers "new" home....and where do you thing all that nice gritty rust goes? How about into the new water washing machine, and dishwasher, completely ruining them. The water heater? Well if you didn't have it replaced, it's lined with a steel tank. Empty the water and you have created the exact same scenario. It worked fine for a few days but will quickly begin to leak. Failure is generally within thirty days after the reintroduction of water pressure. If you replaced the unit due to a previous failure, guaranteed premature failure due to 10-20 pounds of iron oxide sediment filling the tank with in the first week.
Think this doesn't happen too much? Unfortunately you're quite wrong. Water system failures happen on eight out of ten foreclosure properties even when the fresh water pipes are copper, (the copper lines don't fail but the water heater always fails, sometimes catastrophically causing thousands in "liquid-dated" damages). If the property has any galvanized pipes, you can be assured of a disaster waiting to happen.
And that grasshoppers; is you science lesson for the day. Test on Friday. Now go out and prosper.
Next week: That pesky "discoloration" under the kitchen sinks otherwise known as mold.
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