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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474 |
Our home was built with pex. Not sure if it's standard but our builder put in a distribution system so that every line can be independently isolated. Also the big plus for pex is if it freezes, it will swell instead of bursting. Super easy to work on. If the plumber still uses the stuff wiht brass fittings, the fittings can freeze and pop... its rare, but i've seen it down here. Some of the new stuff uses bascially pex pipe, pex fittings, pex bands and should not freeze and pop...
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 33,667
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 33,667 |
[quote=458 Lott]Our home was built with pex. Not sure if it's standard but our builder put in a distribution system so that every line can be independently isolated. Also the big plus for pex is if it freezes, it will swell instead of bursting. Super easy to work on. If the plumber still uses the stuff wiht brass fittings, the fittings can freeze and pop... its rare, but i've seen it down here. Some of the new stuff uses bascially pex pipe, pex fittings, pex bands and should not freeze and pop... It doesn't, as my place here in Idaho can attest.
Conduct is the best proof of character.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 59,128
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 59,128 |
plus no one steals pex out of walls You got a point there, my friend.. 
Ex- USN (SS) '66-'69
Pro-Constitution.
LET'S GO BRANDON!!!
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 8,923
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 8,923 |
My first house was built in the 60's with galvanized pipe that was so corroded a mouse would enjoy sticking his pecker in it to a house built in the 80's with copper. The second house was nice with 75 psi water pressure but the main was a 50 yards away at the street. My current house was built in 2003 and has PEX with a manifold, I didn't pay attention during the inspection but was surprised to find it the first time I needed to replace a hose bib...slicker 'n snot! Not mine but looks the same. ![[Linked Image]](http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k354/fathomknows/manabloc_pex_water_system1.jpg)
Dave
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474 |
Thats the way to do it for sure, with a manifold.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317 |
Our home was built with pex. Not sure if it's standard but our builder put in a distribution system so that every line can be independently isolated. Also the big plus for pex is if it freezes, it will swell instead of bursting. Super easy to work on. A good plumber he hired for sure. Yeah, I'm not so sure about that. I think the manifold is just standard for our builders design. About a month after we moved into the house I had the distinct feeling I was hearing water running through the wall of the house. Long story short my son was taking a bath upstairs and had allowed the tub to get completely full before getting in. The plumber installed the gasket on the overflow incorrectly allowing the water to flow between the wall instead of through the drain. When he installed a filtration system he installed one of the filter housings backwards, inlet to outlet. I called him repeatedly to fix it and finally gave up and did it myself. So you can say I'm not particularly impressed with the plumber.
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Joined: Oct 2011
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 58,977 |
Nothing beats copper. first house I had I replaced the PVC with copper. Except Pex. Copper sucks if you have hard water - VERY common to have pinhole leaks here in Cali - both in wall and in slab. Pex is SO easy to work with. We don't get these problems around here, I've seen pex burst (probably installed wrong) but it cost the home owner a lot of stuff and money. One of the problems with pex is storage of the material before use. Pex if exposed to sunlight for just on week will cut in half it's life of resistance to chlorine and left exposed for two weeks it's resistance to chlorine is almost nil and will cause premature pipe burst. It has also been proven under some circumstances to leach VOC's into the water. Pex is the greatest thing for heating for sure but it hasn't been proven to me as a good alternative to good ole copper. I remember when Polybutylene was the greatest thing for plumbing and then it wasn't. Many homes have to be replumbed do to the use of Polybutylene. I've also been told that Shark Bites are the best thing ever invented and have seen so called professional plumbers using Shark Bite fittings on copper behind walls and if not aligned correctly they will leak, lazy assed plumbers use Shark Bites. Copper has a long proven record I plan to stick with it. There may be places for Pex but it's not in my house. You mentioned pin hole leaks, Your pinhole leaks are not due to hard water it is due to acidic water.
Last edited by 12344mag; 07/19/16.
Paul
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon".... D.A.D.
Trump Won!, Sandmann Won!, Rittenhouse Won!, Suck it Liberal Fuuktards.
molɔ̀ːn labé skýla
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 11,514
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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As a person who installs piping on a daily basis,
1, Copper.
2, Pex.
3, Any other plastics including CPVC.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 29,383
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2004
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Nothing beats copper. first house I had I replaced the PVC with copper. Except Pex. Copper sucks if you have hard water - VERY common to have pinhole leaks here in Cali - both in wall and in slab. Pex is SO easy to work with. We don't get these problems around here, I've seen pex burst (probably installed wrong) but it cost the home owner a lot of stuff and money. One of the problems with pex is storage of the material before use. Pex if exposed to sunlight for just on week will cut in half it's life of resistance to chlorine and left exposed for two weeks it's resistance to chlorine is almost nil and will cause premature pipe burst. It has also been proven under some circumstances to leach VOC's into the water. Pex is the greatest thing for heating for sure but it hasn't been proven to me as a good alternative to good ole copper. I remember when Polybutylene was the greatest thing for plumbing and then it wasn't. Many homes have to be replumbed do to the use of Polybutylene. I've also been told that Shark Bites are the best thing ever invented and have seen so called professional plumbers using Shark Bite fittings on copper behind walls and if not aligned correctly they will leak, lazy assed plumbers use Shark Bites. Copper has a long proven record I plan to stick with it. There may be places for Pex but it's not in my house. You mentioned pin hole leaks, Your pinhole leaks are not due to hard water it is due to acidic water. How would either work with Flint River Water ? 
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 14,038
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Apr 2013
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Nothing beats copper. first house I had I replaced the PVC with copper. Except Pex. Copper sucks if you have hard water - VERY common to have pinhole leaks here in Cali - both in wall and in slab. Pex is SO easy to work with. We don't get these problems around here, I've seen pex burst (probably installed wrong) but it cost the home owner a lot of stuff and money. One of the problems with pex is storage of the material before use. Pex if exposed to sunlight for just on week will cut in half it's life of resistance to chlorine and left exposed for two weeks it's resistance to chlorine is almost nil and will cause premature pipe burst. It has also been proven under some circumstances to leach VOC's into the water. Pex is the greatest thing for heating for sure but it hasn't been proven to me as a good alternative to good ole copper. I remember when Polybutylene was the greatest thing for plumbing and then it wasn't. Many homes have to be replumbed do to the use of Polybutylene. I've also been told that Shark Bites are the best thing ever invented and have seen so called professional plumbers using Shark Bite fittings on copper behind walls and if not aligned correctly they will leak, lazy assed plumbers use Shark Bites. Copper has a long proven record I plan to stick with it. There may be places for Pex but it's not in my house. You mentioned pin hole leaks, Your pinhole leaks are not due to hard water it is due to acidic water. How would either work with Flint River Water ? just add powder, and shoot! lead is already there
the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded. Robert E Lee
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 14,163
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 14,163 |
My original house is plumbed with copper and I have had no problems.
My addition built last year, the plumber used all pex. He loves the stuff, says it is better than copper or pvc, and won't blow if frozen.
Speaking of changes in plumbing, I started working construction in Atlanta in 1966 as a teenage laborer kid.
Always lots of construction in Atlanta.
I was fascinated to see the plumbers working that cast iron.
They had a big steel pot that had a big propane torch set beneath it. They would put 4 or 5 ingots of lead into that pot, each ingot was 5 pounds.
They would set the cast iron drain pipes and pound some kind of rope into the joints.
Then, they got a steel ladle, and poured molten lead into that joint.
That was state of the art 50 years ago. I had a .36 Navy Colt from Dixie at that time, I took one of those lead ingots and I cast many, many round balls from it.
Anyway, all that is long since Gone With the Wind. Long since replaced with pvc.
Last edited by simonkenton7; 07/19/16.
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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Use PEX. CPVC gets brittle over time. PVC is not recommended inside a home. Copper is very costly, both in material and labor.
The manifolds suck. If you break one of the integral valves, you most likely will have to replace the entire manifold.
Run the PEX in the same fashion a one would copper.
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Posts: 58,977
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 58,977 |
Nothing beats copper. first house I had I replaced the PVC with copper. Except Pex. Copper sucks if you have hard water - VERY common to have pinhole leaks here in Cali - both in wall and in slab. Pex is SO easy to work with. We don't get these problems around here, I've seen pex burst (probably installed wrong) but it cost the home owner a lot of stuff and money. One of the problems with pex is storage of the material before use. Pex if exposed to sunlight for just on week will cut in half it's life of resistance to chlorine and left exposed for two weeks it's resistance to chlorine is almost nil and will cause premature pipe burst. It has also been proven under some circumstances to leach VOC's into the water. Pex is the greatest thing for heating for sure but it hasn't been proven to me as a good alternative to good ole copper. I remember when Polybutylene was the greatest thing for plumbing and then it wasn't. Many homes have to be replumbed do to the use of Polybutylene. I've also been told that Shark Bites are the best thing ever invented and have seen so called professional plumbers using Shark Bite fittings on copper behind walls and if not aligned correctly they will leak, lazy assed plumbers use Shark Bites. Copper has a long proven record I plan to stick with it. There may be places for Pex but it's not in my house. You mentioned pin hole leaks, Your pinhole leaks are not due to hard water it is due to acidic water. How would either work with Flint River Water ? Besides being a really piss poor choice for a water supply it was a .gov fuqkup of epic proportions. A quote from the linked story. "to which officials had failed to apply corrosion inhibitors" Link. Copper would work just fine if they treat the water properly. Here's a biggie for you, All across the United States there are tons and tons of lead being used for municipal water lines, main and lateral both. they are treated so they do not leach the lead out into the water. Think about that the next time you grab a glass of water from a municipal supply. some of your older cities still have wooden water lines in the ground but they are mostly lateral.
Paul
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon".... D.A.D.
Trump Won!, Sandmann Won!, Rittenhouse Won!, Suck it Liberal Fuuktards.
molɔ̀ːn labé skýla
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,907
Campfire Tracker
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OP
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,907 |
When I die I hope I don't start voting democrat.
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Posts: 2,342
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,342 |
You should be aware that, like many other things, there is Chinese copper available. Some of this has proven to be poorly manufactured. Corning used it in a new headquarters built for their retail business in the southern tier of NY a few years ago. Massive failure when it was subjected to pressurization tests, requiring it to be removed and replaced. The local scrap yard was delighted. If you think copper is expensive, imagine having to remove most of an installation, and do it over again.
I have several decades of successful experience with copper, but grew less happy as lead solder was banned, wall thickness declined, funky pipe entered the market, then copper prices skyrocketed, it was time for a viable alternative.
I have yet to see or hear of any problems with PEX. Buy a good crimping tool, learn how to use it, and you won't be disappointed. The color coding is a nice bonus.
Imagine your grave on a windy winter night. You've been dead for 70 years.
It's been 50 since a visitor last paused at your tombstone.....
Now explain why you're in a pissy mood today.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474 |
Use PEX. CPVC gets brittle over time. PVC is not recommended inside a home. Copper is very costly, both in material and labor.
The manifolds suck. If you break one of the integral valves, you most likely will have to replace the entire manifold.
Run the PEX in the same fashion a one would copper.
Interesting, I've never seen or heard of these issues with the manifolds. If so, one would think they would make them where you could replace the individual valves then. I'd think it be awful hard to break one of the valves, but likely if nto exercised like any valve, I could see it happending down the road or if folks were not careful. I'll have to google. Thats a downfall of small town USA, don't see quite as much issue wise. Which isn't a bad thing either...
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,640
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,640 |
Nothing beats copper. first house I had I replaced the PVC with copper. Except Pex. Copper sucks if you have hard water - VERY common to have pinhole leaks here in Cali - both in wall and in slab. Pex is SO easy to work with. Most pin hole leaks are caused by not reaming the ends of cut copper pipe, the little ridge causes turbulence in the water flow and over time wears the copper down. I know this doesn't sound plausible but that's what happens. Not saying pin holes can't be caused in other ways but it's the main reason. BTW it's true Pex doesn't break by freezing, however I don't know a good way to thaw it.
The only thing I'm an expert at is my own opinion, and I have plenty of those!
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474 |
Having seen pin holes in copper in our town, FAR from any fitting, I"d have to say you are very much likely right on the turbulence issue causing some holes. But certainly not the ones in the middle of a pipe. ??
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,052
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,052 |
If you use PEX for water, what do you use for DWV (drain) plumbing ?
It doesn't seem that PEX would stay straight enough between supports to maintain proper slope ?
Myron
Last edited by speedsixman; 07/20/16.
How many peckers can a Pecker Checker check if a Pecker Checker could check peckers?
(stolen from shootinurse)
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Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 13,232
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 13,232 |
If you use PEX for water, what do you use for DWV (drain) plumbing ?
It doesn't seem that PEX would stay straight enough between supports to maintain proper slope ?
Myron Usually black plastic ABS drain & waste. It is rigid.
Let's Go Brandon! FJB
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