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The tragedy of a burst braided metal hose supply line is, it’s not supposed to happen!
For years, we’ve been advocating to homeowners to replace old rubber hoses with the braided stainless steel supply hoses. We believed that water damage prevention took a giant leap forward when homeowners replaced their old rubber supply lines with the reinforced metal ones.
And yet…
One day, a short time ago, we received a frantic phone call from a homeowner in the Society Hill section of Philadelphia.
She had gone on vacation. A week later, she came home to a huge water damage disaster.
The source of the flood: the upstairs bathroom sink cold water supply line had ruptured.
The homeowner had done her due diligence. She’d hired her plumber replace the old rubber supply lines with the metal braided kind. She trusted the promise of the plumber and the manufacturer’s “lifetime warranty.”
Yet, the braided metal hose burst, causing thousands of dollars in water damage from the flood of water upstairs to the walls and ceiling of her dining room and kitchen downstairs.
Unfortunately, her experience is not unique!
As a matter of fact, the problem of burst braided metal hoses is so prevalent,
there are now several class action law suits against all the major manufacturers of braided stainless steel supply hoses.
It appears both manufacturing as well as design defects are the source of the burst braided metal hoses — and the resulting water damage problems.
For some types of hoses, it’s a failure of the braided steel hose . The mechanism of failure involves localized corrosion of the stainless steel wire braid. Although stainless steel isn’t supposed to corrode, the presence of water treated with chlorine and/or cleaning products with chlorine appear to corrode the metal braid, weakening it. Then, under normal household water pressure, it bursts.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For other types of metal braided hoses, it’s the the plastic coupling nuts at each end of the hose responsible for the failure. Coupling nuts connect the metal braided hoses to the supply lines. Often, they’re made with cheap plastic, and aren’t designed or molded to best engineering practices. So sometimes, the coupling nuts crack under normal water pressure and leak.
For still others types of metal braided hoses, it’s the crimp connecting the rubber hose and the steel braid to the swivel. When you bend and flex these hoses, they fail at the crimp point because the crimp pushes the steel braiding into the rubber tube. And, once the rubber tube is severed, there’s nothing to hold back the water. It pours out between the holes in the metal braid.
Normal household water pressure is between 70 and 80 psi (pounds per inch).
Why is that important?
What it means for you is that a burst braided metal supply hose can inundate your home with 3-5 gallons of water per minute. That’s 180-500 gallons per hour!
So what can you do to protect your home?
1. Turn the water off before you go on vacation!
2. Consider beating the burst!
If your metal braided hoses are over 5 years old, replace them now.
It’s not hard.
If you can connect a garden hose to a faucet, you can replace your metal braided hoses.
Here’s how:
First, turn off the water at the main.
Next, use a wrench to loosen the old hoses.
Then, attach the new hose and hand-tighten.
Last, give the coupling an extra 1/4 turn with the wrench.
3. Consider installing an automatic water shut off system
The Water Damage Defense website carries all manner of water leak detection and shutoff systems for you to use to protect your home. It won’t prevent the metal braided hoses from bursting, but, it will prevent water damage to the rest of your home should the metal braided hoses burst.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Remember: For any kind of water damage, time is not your friend!” color=”black” border_width=”10″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The longer you wait, the more damage it causes, and the more it costs to remediate and repair.
For water damage restoration emergencies from burst braided metal hose – or any other source-
In the Philadelphia and Cherry Hill areas, call the water damage cleanup experts at PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services 877-750-7876
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This is so true, no amount of steel will help when then rubber goes bad. I change my washing machine hoses every 3 years or so and supply lines to faucets and toilets every 5. I just don’t trust something that costs a few bucks to last. For washing machines I used to use the FloodCheck – super heavy duty rubber (not the ones that supposedly shut off a leak – those are also junk), but the company seems to be in trouble and never shipped my last order. We really need an alternative to the cheap hardware store version, at least for washers. Also plus 1 on the leak detection. If you have laundry any place other than the basement, it’s a must. Even in the basement. Thanks!
I was laying in bed this morning surfing the internet on my laptop when I heard a loud hissing sound. I thought “What the hell is that???” I ran into the bathroom and my stainless braided water line that goes to the toilet was SPRAYING water all over the place, there was a huge pool of water on the tile and it was flowing out onto my laminate wood floor in the hall. I quickly turned the water off at the wall valve, and grabbed everything I could to sop up the mess before it leaked down into the condo below me. The braided supply line had suddenly developed a hole in it. I have now replaced it with a new PVC one. I shudder to think what would have happened if this bursting had occurred while I was sleeping or while I was gone. I’m so disturbed by this. I now feel the need to replace all the supply lines in my condo.