PVC – Easy to install and less expensive to buy. Should have a long dependable life. Caustic chemicals will dissolve or damage the plastic.

Galvanized Steel – Life expectancy is 50 to 75 years. It does not oxidize as fast as galvanized steel water supply lines.

Cast iron (picture to right)– Life expectancy is typically 60 to 100 years. Cast iron drain piping that fails sooner may have been installed with too much slope. Vertical piping may occasionally break from stresses and or inadequate support. Check cast iron piping at the base of the vertical sections and special attention the horizontal piping, approx. 8’ to 20’ past the vertical drop.

Copper – A quality system used mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. It was common to use copper drains for sinks and tubs, etc. into the 1990s. However, PVC is clearly the material of choice in modern construction.

Lead – Mostly found in older houses, mainly for traps under water closets, sinks, tubs and showers.

Orangeburg or Bermico – Manufactured during the Korean War years, it is a paper tape type pipe impregnated with tar. Its life expectancy is typically 30 to 60 years. In older neighborhoods, where Orangeburg pipe had been installed, it has mostly been replaced or abandoned. This pipe is used on the exterior and is susceptible to damage by tree roots. It also had a tendency to collapse with age.

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) – During the mid 1970s, Centaur and Phoenix Manufacturing, Inc. began to blend a variety of plastic resins and substances that were not virgin. If you find pipe that is marked “Centaur” or “Phoenix,” it is likely that the pipe is defective. Evaluate the degree of deterioration that may be present. The picture to the right is a combination of ABS and PVC piping.