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Pipe material, a decade prior, not a camera in the wall

The year a house was built is a prior on what the supply pipe might be, overlapping on purpose. 1978 to 1995 is the polybutylene window in many US houses, alongside copper. That is not a law that every 1988 house has PB. Identification is visual. This page will not tell you that your walls contain polybutylene.

A prior not a material report on your house Overlapping decades: galvanised, copper, polybutylene, PEX. Confirm by looking at a heater connector or a slab coupon. HyrePlumber does not inspect walls.

Type the year built and whether you already know the drain is cast iron. A 1988 house with unknown supply returns the 1978-1995 polybutylene window as a prior, alongside copper, and a sentence that identification is visual, not this year. A 1960 house points at copper or remaining galvanised. After the mid-1990s, copper and PEX are the common supply materials, still as a prior. Look. Do not assume. HyrePlumber does not inspect walls.

Year built, then whether you already saw cast-iron drain

A prior, overlapping. Not a report that your walls contain PB. Nothing is emailed.

0 if unknown. A year is a prior. Confirm by looking.

— Supply prior
— Drain note
— What this page will not do

What this assumed —

Decade priors, overlapping on purpose. Polybutylene is a window, not a law that every 1988 house has it. Confirm by looking. HyrePlumber does not inspect walls.

How this calculator works

There is no test kit in this box. Year is bucketed into overlapping priors:

unknown year     → look, do not assume
before 1950      → often galvanised; lead service possible on the lot
1950-1977        → often copper or remaining galvanised
1978-1995        → polybutylene window, alongside copper
after 1995       → copper and PEX common

The 1978-1995 window is widely associated with polybutylene supply in US houses. It is not a statute that every house in those years was piped in PB, and it is not a finding that your walls contain it. Identification is visual (grey plastic, often stamped PB2110), not this year.

Drain is a separate sentence. Ticking cast iron only changes the drain note. Year is a weaker prior on DWV than on supply.

What each input means

Inputs on this tool, in the order they appear on the form.
InputWhat it is actually asking
Year Year the house was built, not the year of a remodel unless you are sure the supply was replaced. 0 if unknown. A remodel that "updated plumbing" without a material is still unknown.
Drain seen Unknown, or you have already seen cast-iron drain at a stack or cleanout. Do not tick cast iron because the house is old. That would turn a prior into a fake sighting.

Worked examples

Including one where the naive answer misleads, which is the example most calculators leave out.

A 1960 house, drain unknown

Year 1960, supply unknown. Prior is 1950-1977: often copper or remaining galvanised, with lead service lines still possible on some older lots. That is a prior, not a test. Look at a heater connector. Falling pressure across the house is the galvanised story on the homepage, and it still wants a look, not this year alone.

A 1988 house in the PB window

Year 1988, supply unknown. Prior names the 1978-1995 polybutylene window, alongside copper, and says identification is visual, not this year. The engine is tested to mention polybutylene and to say this is not a material report on your house. A 1988 listing is a reason to look under a sink, not a diagnosis that the walls contain PB.

The one where the year is treated as a camera

Someone reads "1978-1995" and tells a buyer, an insurer, or a plumber that the house has polybutylene because it was built in 1988. Plenty of those houses are copper. Plenty of 1996 houses still have a PB branch that was not pulled. The naive answer is "your walls contain PB." The actual sentence from this engine is that a year is a prior, overlapping on purpose, and you confirm by looking. Using this page as a material report is the failure mode it is written to block.

What changes the result

Crossing 1950, 1978, 1995 changes the prior sentence. It does not change what is in the wall. A 1977 house and a 1978 house can have the same copper, or not.

Ticking cast iron only rewrites the drain note. It does not alter the supply prior. Drain and supply are different materials in almost every house.

A remodel year, if you type it instead of the original year, is only useful if that remodel actually replaced the supply. "Updated kitchen" is not a repipe. If you do not know, type the original year and go look.

Local considerations

Builder practice was regional. Polybutylene was common in some Sun Belt subdivisions and rare in others. A national decade window is still only a window. Local inspection, a coupon from a plumber, and the stamp on the pipe are the local data. This form will not ship a city-by-city material map.

Lead service lines are a utility and lot question. EPA's replacement program is not this interior prior. Ask the water system what they have on file for the address, and do not treat a pre-1950 result here as that file.

What is listed for new work (PEX, copper, CPVC) is the adopted plumbing code. That is local. It does not rewrite what is already in the wall.

When not to use this

Do not use this as a material report, an insurance declaration, or a reason to tell a buyer the walls contain polybutylene. A year is a prior. Confirm by looking.

Do not use it as a lead test. Interior lead and a lead service line are different jobs. EPA and a lab are the documents, not this decade box.

Do not use it as a quote to replumb. After you have identified the material, the repipe estimator takes footage from a bid. No national house average is shipped there either.

HyrePlumber does not inspect walls, camera lines, or perform plumbing work. Matching is still being built.

Related on this site

Questions this calculator answers

What pipes are in my house?
The ones you can see. Year is a prior, not a report. Look at a water-heater connector, under a sink, at a slab leak coupon, or at a cleanout. Stamps (copper, PB2110, PEX) beat a decade. This page will not say your walls contain a given material.
What is the polybutylene window?
Polybutylene supply pipe was widely installed in US houses from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, often cited as about 1978 to 1995. It is usually grey flexible plastic, sometimes stamped PB2110. Copper was installed in the same years. A 1988 year is a reason to look for PB, not a finding that you have it.
How do I tell polybutylene from PEX?
Look. PB is commonly grey, with acetal or metal insert fittings and crimp rings of a period style, often stamped PB2110. PEX is commonly red, blue, white or orange, with different fittings, and it is the post-1990s plastic you still buy. This page is not a photo guide and not a lab. If you cannot tell, a plumber looking at a coupon can.
Does a 1988 house have polybutylene?
Not because this form said so. 1988 sits in the window. Plenty of 1988 houses were piped in copper. Confirm by looking. Insurers sometimes ask; they still want a material, not a year.
What about galvanised steel?
Common on older supply, especially pre-1950 and remaining into later decades. It corrodes from the inside. Falling pressure at fixtures across the house is the classic symptom on the homepage. Year before 1950 is a prior for galvanised and, on some lots, a lead service line. The service line is a utility question, not this interior decade.
Is there lead in my pipes?
Interior lead is a look and a lab, not this year box. Lead service lines (the public or private line to the meter) are an EPA and utility conversation. A pre-1950 prior on this form is not a lead test. Do not take it as one.
What about drain pipe?
Drain, waste and vent is its own look: cast iron, ABS, PVC, sometimes clay on the outdoor run. Year is a weaker prior on DWV than on supply. Tick "cast iron" only if you have already seen it at a cleanout or a stack. This form will not diagnose orangeburg or a belly from a year.
Should I replumb because of the year?
Not from this page. A single failure on sound pipe is often a repair. Repeated leaks, falling pressure, or a material you have actually identified as galvanised or polybutylene is the conversation. Price the feet on the repipe estimator from a bid, after you have looked.
Why do the decades overlap?
Because they did. Copper did not stop in 1977. PB did not start on 1 January 1978 in every subdivision. PEX and copper both exist after 1995. A hard cut would pretend history was a switch. Overlap is the honesty.
Can I tell from the listing or the permit?
Sometimes a remodel permit names a repipe. A listing that says "updated plumbing" is not a material. Ask for what was replaced, or look. This tool does not read permits.
Does HyrePlumber inspect pipe?
No. HyrePlumber does not inspect walls, camera lines, or warrant a material call. Matching is still being built.

Sources and methodology

Figures dated 26 August 2026. Last reviewed .

  • International Plumbing Code and adopted state codes (International Code Council, retrieved 2026-08-26. Cited as the current listed-materials conversation. A decade prior is not a code table of what your walls contain. Confirm by looking, then ask what is listed for new work in this jurisdiction.)
  • Lead service line replacement (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved 2026-08-26. Cited because a pre-1950 prior on interior supply is not a lead-service-line finding. LSL is a utility and lot question. This page does not test for lead.)
  • Hiring a contractor (Federal Trade Commission, retrieved 2026-08-26. If the next step is a repipe, get the material and the footage in writing. A year on this form is not a scope.)

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