PEX water pipes

[jclark]

If you can get it, go wit the Wirsbo brand pex. They are the original. This brand is they only kind of pex that is approved for use in hospitals, and is very good and super east to work with. They have plastic or brass fittings, the plastic ones work just fine, I used them in my house when we built it, going on 5 years without any problems. The only down side is the tool to make the joints. It is expensive, about $300, but worth it. you will have to get this kind from a supply house, Lowes and Menards don't carry it. I got my stuff from Mechanical supply here in Terre Haute. I work for a local contracter that has a large pluming and fitting department, and all the plumbers I talked to about it, said this was the best type to get. They said the joints were tighter and better than other brands. Make sure you support it every 2-4 feet, especially the hot side. I ran a manifold system also, so I can isolate each fixture if need be and still have water every were else.

Jason

This guy is spot on. I am a plumber by trade. I think this stuff is for folks that can't run copper, but the Uponor system is by far the best style of flexible piping.

 

[remauto1187]

Actually the freeze (expansion) tolerance of PEX was mentioned on page 1. Had your house originally been plumbed in PEX, the freeze in winter 2009 wouldn't have hurt your plumbing.

My house is CPVC built in 2005 and I've had numerous leaks develop in the 3 years I've lived here and I can see multiple places where the walls were cut open and repaired presumably to fix other leaks in the CPVC plumbing...

Had the house had POWER and a FURNACE running it would not have been a problem. (I didnt own the house then). Leaks develop because the CPVC wasnt installed correctly. Square cut end of pipe, Debur, PRIMER then GLUE and hold fittings tight for 2 minutes or so..and dont glob the glue on.

Still waiting for a valid reason to warrant the higher cost of a Pex install.

It is a system designed simply for contractors to decrease time spent on plumbing installation. Time is money in the building industry. For the howeowner that does it themselves, we have all the time in the world.

NO PLUMBING IS DESIGNED TO BE FROZEN SOLID!

 

[CountryBoy19]

For the howeowner that does it themselves, we have all the time in the world.

It's wonderful if you have all the time in the world, but not everybody does. I don't have all the time in the world. Including my drive-time to work, some weeks I'm gone for 52 hrs/wk just working. When I'm deployed I'm gone every hour of every week and there are stacks of more important things to do when I return.

For the peace of mind and the ease of installation I think PEX is well worth the investment. That's just my opinion having dealt with CPVC in my current house and PEX in my parents house.

 

[concrete dog]

Really? IANAPlumber/contractor/etc, my only experience with any of it was redoing a bunch of my own, but I *love* PEX. It's only been in... oh, 5-6 years now, but so far, zero problems and it was VERY easy to work with. In my VERY limited experience with anything related to plumbing, I'm a fan.

I'm not saying pex is bad just the quick connect fittings. My house has copper and plastic both.( copper goes bad, Plastic goes in)

 

[CathyInBlue]

Let me preface these comments by saying, "I loathe plumbing." With a burning and deadly passion, I loathe it. To work on my potable water system, I have to choose between goopy, sticky chemicals or flame near my dried out floor joists and liquid metal? BS! Plumbing with PEX, however, it nothing like plumbing before, though.

Plumbing with PEX is more akin to electrical wiring to my way of thinking, especially when you are plumbing in a home-run manifold system, which is what I intend to do.

Pex will freeze and expand to ten times its original size without bursting. ( i didnt believe it till i tested it myself)

Not a chance in the `verse I believe this statement at face value. PEX will burst when frozen just like copper will. Expand to the breaking point and a seam splits open and spits high pressure water everywhere. I believe the disconnect comes in your use of 10 times. An expansion of 10x would make a piece of 3/4" (~7/8" OD) PEX expand to 8 3/4" OD. No PEX will do that without bursting, nor would you want something that could do that installed in your walls and floors and ceilings.

Now, if you had used "by ten percent", a 3/4" PEX line would almost reach 1" OD at 10% expansion before bursting, and that I can believe all day long. It certainly beats copper for such durability.

I'm using a bastardization of Apollo and Vanguard tools, tubing, fittings, etc. No expansion, just slip everything on, crimp down the hard copper ring, check with the go/no-go gauge and move on with my life. As for the fitting being more expensive, as was mentioned, they are recoverable. Just use the tubing cutter to cut it flush with the fitting, then use the crimp ring removal tool to break the copper ring in at least three, preferably four places spaced around the circumference, and the ring falls off, the tubing comes off, and the fitting it immediately ready for another use.

As for the fittings narrowing the aperture, considering I'll be using 3/4" line off the muni service's 5/8" into a manifold, I don't foresee many problems of supply.