"I ended up replacing a section of pipe that was almost completely blocked by scale. Not fun... or cheap."
Yeah, been there myself—definitely not a good time. When we redid our bathroom, the plumber mentioned that PEX tends to resist buildup better than copper because it's smoother inside and doesn't corrode. Copper pipes can get rougher over time, making it easier for minerals to stick. Might be worth looking into if you're planning a plumbing overhaul anyway. Good luck with the project!
PEX is great stuff, but I've seen it get chewed through by rodents a couple times...not fun either. Copper's pricier and can scale up, but at least mice don't snack on it. Trade-offs everywhere, I guess.
Speaking of rodents chewing through PEX...makes me wonder if anyone's had issues with critters causing faucet malfunctions too? I've seen cases where tiny debris or buildup inside the cartridge caused leaks or weird pressure fluctuations. Could rodents indirectly contribute to faucet troubles by contaminating lines or fittings upstream? Curious if anyone's noticed a connection like that before—it'd definitely make troubleshooting a bit trickier.
Hadn't really thought about rodents causing faucet issues until you mentioned it, but now that I think back, I might've had something similar happen. Last summer, we had a weird pressure drop in our kitchen faucet. Checked the aerator first—clean as a whistle. Then I moved on to the cartridge, and sure enough, there was some tiny debris lodged inside. At the time, I just assumed it was sediment from the water supply.
But here's the thing... around that same period, we discovered mice had gotten into our crawlspace and chewed through some insulation near the plumbing lines. Didn't connect the dots then, but now I'm wondering if they might've disturbed something upstream and indirectly caused that debris to enter the faucet cartridge.
Anyway, after replacing the cartridge and sealing up entry points for the mice (steel wool and caulk worked wonders), we haven't had any more faucet issues. Might be worth checking upstream lines if you're dealing with rodents—could save you some troubleshooting headaches down the road.
Interesting theory, but honestly, I'd lean more toward sediment or mineral buildup from your water heater or pipes. Rodents chewing insulation wouldn't typically introduce debris into a sealed water line... unless they somehow damaged the pipe itself? Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
