Copper Pipe Lifespan

Copper pipe can easily last 50 years or more in buried applications but pool water tends to be very harsh (chlorine, salt, scale) so you definitely will get shorter life out of it. If you’re doing all that work then I agree with the first PB - ditch the copper piping.

Also, if you are doing an extensive renovation then the entire pool needs to be brought up to current code which means your single main drain is not VGBA compliant. Best to just abandon the main drain and plaster it over. You can add equalizer ports to the skimmers BUT check local code as equalizers are considered an entrapment hazard in some areas and are not allowed by code.

You will also need to make sure your electrical is up to code which could mean having to drill into the shell at 4 separate points and add a #8 copper bonding wire to the rebar in the shell which then runs back and bonds to all the equipment at the pad. If you don’t do that then you will need to add water bonds to each skimmer.

Finally electrical code is way different nowadays. You’re going to need GFCI breakers for all your electrical equipment and so you may want to check into what upgrades your equipment pad will need. Having a separate sub-panel at the equipment pad makes it much easier to update to the latest code.

Just as a random data point, my pool was built in 1988 with copper pipes above ground at the equipment pad. One of the pipes developed a pinhole leak in 2017 (the day before a big pool party, of course). So not quite 30 years.

Luckily all the underground pipes are PVC so I only replaced the above-ground pipes when I did my pool renovation in 2018. Apparently the theory back in the '80s was that exposed copper would stand up to sun and weather better than PVC. The opposite turned out to be true, at least in my hot, sunny climate.

If I were you, doing a job that requires shutting down the pool anyway, I would definitely replace the copper at the same time.

I had my main drain plastered over when I re-did my plaster. Best decision! No anti-entrapment drain configuration is safer than no drain at all! Now there are no ugly drain covers in my pool, nothing to stub toes on, nothing for my cleaner to get hung up on and nothing to leak down there. I do not have an equalizer tube for the skimmer, and while an argument could be made for one, it's just another entrapment problem that will need a solution. +1 for dump the drain.

I had to replace an entire four-plex of copper plumbing because of pin hole leaks. It was about 30 years old. Copper was supposed to be a 100-year solution, but that's not a universal truth. Water makeup affects its longevity. I suspect decades of mineral-laden city water just wore it out from the inside. Of course, pool water is filtered, but I gotta think that a hard-water profile has to be worse for copper, filtered or not. @JoyfulNoise, any truth to that? Point being, maybe consider the makeup of your fill water as part of your decision-making process.

If you're tearing it all up, maybe now's the time. It will be a lot of work and cost to dig out the old copper. And you'll probably lose your deck, I would imagine. Tough call on whether you want to get a project like that done now, or roll the dice on a possible leak that would necessitate doing it 5, 10, 20 years from now. Hard to imagine construction costs will be less in the future, so there's that to consider, too. How's the current deck look? Do you want to live with it, as is, for the next 20 years?

Speaking of which, is this your forever home? If not, and moving is a possibility, any money spent now on your pool will likely be unrecoverable. Not only will pool improvements not generate any sort of return, you'd be lucky to recoup even a sliver of the cost of any such improvements in terms of sale price. If you put $20K into your pool, you will not be able to increase its listing price buy $20K.

That said, if they replace the deck and the copper, then you could do a proper job of the electrical, get new skimmers, you could add an auto-fill system, state-of-the-art lighting (more than one lonely bulb), etc. You could also just send me your charge card number and I'll think up even more ways to spend someone else's money!

I understand the oxide that forms on the copper gives it it's protection. A corrosive environment will strip the oxide making the copper vulnerable. Water balance is the key...

Charlie Bezzina said:

I understand the oxide that forms on the copper gives it it's protection. A corrosive environment will strip the oxide making the copper vulnerable. Water balance is the key...

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It is the key, but it's barely understood now (mostly only by us!). Back in 1965, not so much. The OP's dilemma is there is no way to know what's been done or not done, and when that will raise its ugly head...

cwilliamp said:

Thank you all for your feedback to my questions. Your feedback is making me feel more confident in my decisions and prompting me to ask more questions of the PB. I hope to live here another 20 years or more and have a pool that is free of major work needs. The deck is concrete and in good shape. The PB plans to saw cut the concrete to make trenches to access the pipes, light, and skimmer.

Thanks again.

Charlie

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Huh, I know that's done, but I don't like the sound of it, though I can't say exactly why. @Newdude, @kimkats, who do we have that could weigh in on that approach? I would be concerned about the integrity of the patch and the remaining deck, not to mention the color- and texture-matching aspect...

Newdude said:

Well the patch seams could be the weakest or strongest part of the patio depending in how they were done.

And the matching like you said.

@jimmythegreek has been busy lately but maybe @ajw22 has thoughts.

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Thoughts about what?

Let's start with why is it time for maintenance to be done?

The copper pipe will need to be replaced someday. Why is now the time?

As far as the deck and skimmer and what it will take, post pics of the pool and deck and skimmer and equipment pad and show us what the situation is.

Newdude said:

Or we can talk about my car in the shop,

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So what is doing with your car while we wait for Charlies response?

Newdude said:

Freaking warranties man, I TELL ya. The hood was chipping and the dealer and the body shop both said it was a factory issue. Been 5 months getting a respray approved. Now that it's there. There was another week and a half of red tape.

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I am sure the delay was due to COVID.

They just repainting the hood?

What model car is having lousy paint from the factory?

Newdude said:

Any dodge in the history of dodges. My other 2 have it also but this one was still covered so I figured I might as well.

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Dodge, nuff said.

I only buy Toyota’s. American car brands are …