Hi,

I am a homeowner who just had a pinhole leak in pex hot water piping. The pipe in question runs inside an exterior wall. The plumber replaced the portion of the pipe with the leak, and I am trying to figure out what might have caused it. The inside of the damaged portion has lumpy deposits that are rust colored. The sides almost looked they were burned. I am not sure how to post a photo but does anyone have thoughts? The hole itself is about 2-3 mm and round. The house is only 3 years old and there are no signs of rodent damage to the pipe. Thanks!

sounds like a nail that pierced the pipe and did not leak until it rusted away.

i've seen this happen a few times but i never looked at the inside of the pipe.

I've done this as a homeowner...fun fact: not everything the stud finder picks up is a stud....

Using a pneumatic finish nailer, I sent a 16-ga finish nail through a copper water pipe when I was installing baseboard. The nail is a perfect seal for its own hole, and it didn't start to leak until about 6 months later when the steel nail started to corrode against the copper pipe. It starts dripping very slowly until it finally lets go.

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Not a plumber by trade but a fierce DIYer

Thanks!



Edited 1 times.

A contractor did that when we plumbed his new house. It took about a year before the nail rusted enough so it could leak.