Duct Tape Band-Aid

The home inspectors at Pacific Coast Inspections, Inc encounter grey duct tape being used all the time – mainly on heating and cooling ducts – which turns out to be a non-compliant use of the tape.

It’s probably true, that duct tape has a 1001 uses. There’s even a book about duct tape that you can buy this year at Amazon.com called… you guessed it… the  Duct Tape book.

In the photo, the inspector spotted a single rust-streak on the duct tape on a water supply pipe above the 2005 model water heater.

The tape above the streak was peeled away revealing a very corroded pipe. Although the water heater was only 6 years old, the steel pipe fitting was connected to a flexible copper pipe probably without enough Teflon tape or pipe thread compound.

Because steel and copper pipes are dissimilar metals and there was little or no insulator between them… the steel pipe corrodes rapidly.

Count on the experienced and observant home inspectors at Pacific Coast Inspections, Inc to look a little closer at duct tape usage during their inspections. Recommended action: call a licensed plumber.

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