Pipe "sweating", condensation or minor leak?

There's no such thing as a minor leak with pressurized plumbing. If there was a leak, you'd have an endless stream of water spraying out under pressure and everything in the area would be soaked.

It's condensation. It's cold outside - that cold moves to the inside along the pipe and where it enters the warmth of the basement, you're going to have condensation.

How long have you owned the house? Look at it in a couple of months when it's warmer outside.

BTW - I've never seen plastic used as the main supply from the city. Is this typical in Calgary? Is it 3/4"?

torontotim wrote: ↑ There's no such thing as a minor leak with pressurized plumbing. If there was a leak, you'd have an endless stream of water spraying out under pressure and everything in the area would be soaked.

It's condensation. It's cold outside - that cold moves to the inside along the pipe and where it enters the warmth of the basement, you're going to have condensation.

How long have you owned the house? Look at it in a couple of months when it's warmer outside.

BTW - I've never seen plastic used as the main supply from the city. Is this typical in Calgary? Is it 3/4"?

Thanks for the reply...We built this house and it will be 7 yrs old in May...Yes, I think it is typical to have pex as the main supply from the city in Calgary, at least our previous house has it as well...Not sure about the size though...

torontotim wrote: ↑ There's no such thing as a minor leak with pressurized plumbing. If there was a leak, you'd have an endless stream of water spraying out under pressure and everything in the area would be soaked.

It's condensation. It's cold outside - that cold moves to the inside along the pipe and where it enters the warmth of the basement, you're going to have condensation.

How long have you owned the house? Look at it in a couple of months when it's warmer outside.

BTW - I've never seen plastic used as the main supply from the city. Is this typical in Calgary? Is it 3/4"?

Thay isn't true you can have a small leak including pin hole leaks that just drip out a drop of water it doesn't have to be an endless stream, my source being a plumber.

Plastic as the main supply is used in many municipalities, even in the GTA and has been for about the last 10-15 years around here. Most of the newer subdivisions (within the time frame mentioned) in Vaughan, Maple, klienberg, surrounding areas use it.

Looks like condensation but not really possible to tell from the pictures.

WMPCOT wrote: ↑ Thay isn't true you can have a small leak including pin hole leaks that just drip out a drop of water it doesn't have to be an endless stream, my source being a plumber.

Plastic as the main supply is used in many municipalities, even in the GTA and has been for about the last 10-15 years around here. Most of the newer subdivisions (within the time frame mentioned) in Vaughan, Maple, klienberg, surrounding areas use it.

Looks like condensation but not really possible to tell from the pictures.

But doesn't pinhole leak only apply to copper lines?

g62kc wrote: ↑ But doesn't pinhole leak only apply to copper lines?

My response was more to the poster saying that there is no such thing as a minor leak because it's a pressurized system.

I've seen leaks in PEX but always at a connection point either from poor crimping or movement in the pipe. There has been failure in other plastic pipes such as kitec but those pipes didn't just leak they usually resulted in a complete failure. Also while unlikely you can get leaks by accidently putting a nail through the pipe, it would be a slow leak as the nail or screw is holding back most of the water. In your case its likely condensation but from the picture its not possible to tell, the pipe and water are going to be cold coming in from the outside, extremely cold sometimes and your home is going to be at a comfortable temperature which leads to condensation I would say 99% of the calls I've had before about this turned out to be condensation.

WMPCOT wrote: ↑ My response was more to the poster saying that there is no such thing as a minor leak because it's a pressurized system.

I've seen leaks in PEX but always at a connection point either from poor crimping or movement in the pipe. There has been failure in other plastic pipes such as kitec but those pipes didn't just leak they usually resulted in a complete failure. Also while unlikely you can get leaks by accidently putting a nail through the pipe, it would be a slow leak as the nail or screw is holding back most of the water. In your case its likely condensation but from the picture its not possible to tell.

If it is condensation, do I need to do anything about it (insulate the section of the pipe? will that cause a frozen line though as warmth cannot get to it?) or just leave it as it is?

g62kc wrote: ↑ If it is condensation, do I need to do anything about it (insulate the section of the pipe? will that cause a frozen line though as warmth cannot get to it?) or just leave it as it is?

I would just leave it if it isn't causing any issues which it doesn't seem to be, I saw what I thought was wet drywall but I believe that was a shadow you said in the post. Seems like any condensation is contained as it travels down the pipe and into the ground.

Thanks all for the help...I will leave this as it is for now and check once a while