Because the housing here is relatively new, what goes wrong is quite different from the older parts of the Lowcountry — and generally less serious.
It is the fittings, not the pipe
The pipe in your walls is modern and fine. What fails is everything attached to it — shut-off valves, flexible supply lines under sinks, hose bibs, toilet fill valves and shower cartridges. These are inexpensive items, and much cheaper caught before they leak into a wall or a ceiling.
Everything ages on the same schedule
When a neighbourhood is built out over a few years with the same fittings throughout, those fittings wear out together too. If a neighbour has just had a valve or a cartridge replaced, yours is likely a similar vintage.
Hard water accelerates it
The mineral content here is hard on cartridges, valve seats and seals. If things seem to wear out sooner than they ought to, that is not your imagination — and treating the water slows it down considerably.
What we are called out for most
- Shut-off valves that have seized or started weeping
- Supply lines under sinks
- Hose bibs and irrigation connections
- Toilets that will not stop running
- Dripping taps and showers
- Water pressure that is too high, which shortens the life of everything