When to Change the Supply Lines in Your Bathroom

8/29/2019 (Permalink)

Bathroom supply line

When to Change the Supply Lines in Your Bathroom

There are many things that can go wrong in a home in Woodburn, KY, and the bathrooms and plumbing are one place where things can go very wrong. Keeping your home’s bathrooms fully functioning is important to ensure there isn’t a surprise bathroom leak while you’re not there. A couple of things you will want to keep an eye on, especially if your toilets or sinks are fairly old, are the water supply lines. These are flexible tubes or pipes made of either plastic or braided steel which connect your sink and toilet to a water supply shutoff valve on the wall.
Depending on what type your toilets and sinks have, you may run into some supply line damage after about eight years, where other better-quality lines could last much longer. Many plastic lines have a warranty of five to eight years while steel braided lines can have lifetime warranties.

Plastic vs Braided Steel: Manufacturers used to make toilet supply lines with brass that was bent with special tools to fit each toilet, and this included sturdy compression fittings which offered many long years of trouble-free service. These are still used in places where appearance matters, but now, many homeowners opt for the flexible supply tubes which often come with the connection fitting already attached. This might make your life easier, but the cheaper the line is, the more likely you will run into supply line damage.


Steel with a Plastic Nut: Even if you purchase a steel braided line, many are made with a plastic nut. This plastic nut can easily be tightened too far, causing it to strip or crack, but if it is installed correctly, it should be fine. Be aware that having this weakness of plastic can shorten the life of the line and after seven or eight years, it might need to be replaced.

Protect Your Home

If you have a supply line leak, it’s recommended that you replace it immediately, and replace it with a braided steel line. This will decrease the odds of an unexpected bathroom or even full house flood. If you have already experienced supply line damage which resulted in major flooding damage, there are flood remediation companies that can clean up the mess quickly before any more damage sets in.