Twenty years ago a plumber installed polybutylene pipe under my 19th
Century house. Five years ago I had to pay him $100 to bring his
crimping tool so I could replace my water heater. He told me not to
worry about my polybutylene plumbing.

This week I found a joint dripping. I put a tub under it and in a
couple of days the dripping stopped. Apparently I'd disturbed the joint
by bumping the pipe, and it reseated itself. A neighbor told me that
can happen.

I've read that polybutylene is still widely used because installation is
quick and doesn't require much skill. Modern installations don't use T
connections. The crimping tool must be kept in calibration because if
it's too tight the pipe can split later. The new system uses pairs of
copper bands. Lab tests have shown that chemicals in chlorinated water
can damage the plastic once used in connectors, but nobody has tested
the pipe in chlorinated water.

Should I worry about my plumbing?