PEX - new installation

I am building a new house and thinking of using PEX. I understand how to distribute it throughout the house, but how do you attach it to the water meter? I am not using a manifold but will branch it through out the house.

Do you bring the 3/4 PVC from the meter into the house and hook up there or can you bury the PEX to the meter?

Thanks for any info..

Reply to
texacana
Loading thread data ...

You will not connect directly to the meter. You will hook to whatever type of pipe that comes from the meter. PEX has adaptors which can hook up to any type of pipe.

PVC and PEX are not the same thing. PEX can not only be used for your hot and cold supply but is also used in radiant heating and cooling installs.

Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

And just why will you not use a manifold? How do you intend to hook up each sink, tub, dishwasher, clothes washer, outside faucets....??

A manifold GREATLY simplifies the installation as there are no branches, each outlet gets full pressure and full flow. You simply plumb hot and cold to the manifold. You then distribute equal lengths of PEX to each outlet.

Pex adapters are available to connect to PVC, Copper, steel pipe, CPVC.......

Reply to
Robert Gammon

Reply to
texacana

Reply to
texacana

I think most people here are not familiar with construction in climates where the ground never freezes.

You have an inspection panel behind your bathtub or shower mixing valve, right? Can you put a little manifold at each bathroom behind that panel to reduce the number of long runs? Then another near the water softener or water heater or wherever to supply the utility room and kitchen.

What kind of connectors are you planning on using? Those crimping tools are expensive, but maybe you only need two. There's also at least one crimpless PEX system.

Best regards, Bob

Reply to
zxcvbob

Go with the manifold. It lets you put all of your shutoffs in one place. It allows for better pressure distribution. And the big one... it minimizes the number of joints you have buried within walls, etc. where leaks might occur.

Reply to
Noozer

Would you not still need a manifold in the master bath? For instance: two sinks and a shower. That would require 6 runs of PEX. With a branch manifold in the bathroom you could make two runs (hot and Cold) and then branch it off to the sinks and the shower. Is this where I would put a access panel, say under the sink?

Also would the correct way to run this be to make my main feeder 3/4" and then branch off the manifold in the batroom with 1/2"? Or would it not make that much difference to just run 1/2" throughout?

Or is 1/2" standard?

Thanks Noozer wrote:

Reply to
Pops

I would run 3/4" (is there a 5/8"?) all the way to the bathroom manifold, although if your shower valve is pressure compensating or temperature sensing it probably doesn't matter.

My house has 50+ year old copper, and everything is 1/2". I don't think would meet the plumbing code today. Used to be, if you were taking a shower if someone ran cold water anywhere in the house you were OK, but if they ran any hot water at all you got a sudden jolt of cold. I just put in a new shower valve that is pressure compensating and now the water stays the same temperature even if someone starts the dishwasher.

Bob

Reply to
zxcvbob

There's no big deal making 6 runs to the bathroom with the PEX, again the advantage is that you only have to shut off one section if there is a problem. You won't have to splice or fix other runs as well. Just shut off the troublemaker and everything else is unaffected.

As to the diameter, there are probably better opinions than mine, but personally I run 3/4 supply, then 1/2 to the fixture - but I'm in no way done with my installation so I might change my tune later. The beauty with PEX is that if I do change my mind - it's a 10 minute job to alter it.

As to running to the meter - I wouldn't do it personally. Plastic is too affected by the environment to trust it in my opinion. I would run copper or even galvanized until I got inside the house perimeter. You can trust a copper joint, you can even trust a galvanized joint (at least until the pipe rusts out) but I'm not so sure you can trust PEX - nor am I sure you can trust all those little vermin that might chew on it.

Reply to
Eigenvector

I'm just curious. Why do people spend the money for the tools to use those crimps? Then you cant take them apart when needed. Why not just use hose clamps. Hose clamps are inexpensive and can be easily removed. The tools and crimps might be cost effective for plumbers, but not for a homeowner wanting to do his own plumbing.

I personally would not use any plastic types of pipes in my house, for permanent water supply plumbing, but I am probably just old fashioned. I use copper only. But it seems this PEX is the latest fad in plumbing, so I thought I'd ask.

Another question. I like PVC for drainage pipes. Is that also being replaced with PEX?

Mark

Reply to
maradcliff

I like soldered "L" copper pipe for supply lines and PVC for drain lines. But I'm starting to investigate PEX.

I think PEX is catching on because it installs so fast for large jobs. Plumbers can pipe a whole house in an hour or two and then charge you for a whole day labor. With copper, they would have to actually *work* the whole day.

BTW, if you use hose clamps, make sure all the joints are easily accessible. Don't bury a hose-clamped joint in a floor or wall, just in case it leaks.

Best regards, Bob

Reply to
zxcvbob

Hose clamps won't do nothing for a PEX connection. But you don't have to use crimp fittings, there are quick connects that do a perfectly adequate job.

That new fangled PEX has only been around for about 40 year' - dang newcomer on the block ruinin' the whole neighborhood.

PEX has been around in one form or another for about 40 years or so. Its used in Europe, to what extent I don't know, but it's more than here in America. As to its durability and longevity, to be honest no one really wants to say and be the first to be proven wrong. There's nothing wrong with copper fittings, I plan to use them to interface between my meter and my house - simply because copper is rigid and proven lasting and secure. But I'm sure people use it to the meter as well.

I've never seen PEX in any size above 1", so I doubt it will replace drainage. It's primary strength seems to be that it's cheap, easy to manufacture, and readily adaptable to common fittings. But it may not be so readily available in larger diameters due to problems manufacturing or a simple lack of need. It may also not be durable when subjected to chemicals or wastes. When dealing with water or ethelyne glycol it may be just fine - but urine, feces, bleach, and whatever it is you pour down the drain it may degrade fast.

Reply to
Eigenvector

Hose clams can be problematic also. I've seen many a hose break right at the clamp.

Not a fad by any means. People are finally waking up that this 40 year old material is reliable and h as many advantages over copper. There are many new maerials for building that are far superior than old methods, but many of us like the traditional stuff. If I was building a house tomorrow, it would be from foam and concrete, like

formatting link
and save a bundle of money. Yes, it would have pex plumbing. Check out the house about 2/3rd down on this page
formatting link

Not yet as pex is only in smaller sizes now. PVC works well because it is not subject to the pressures a feed system has.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Crimps seal a lot better than hose clamps and never need to be retightened. The kind of screw hose clamps made of flat metal don't seem to seal very evenly all around the hose because with my old Ford they always leaked at one heater hose assembly, no matter how much I tighten them, unless I first sealed the fitting with rubber cement. OTOH spring clamps and screw clamps made of steel wire sealed it fine. And for air conditioning, it seems that ever since cars switched to non-ozone-depleting R-134a gas, crimped hose assemblies have been needed to prevent excessive leakage, but old Freon R-12 systems could be sealed adequately with just hose clamps and barbed fittings.

Reply to
larry moe 'n curly

Why would it break by a hose clamp and not the crimps? I have not actually looked closely at the crimps, so I am not sure what is different. Actually, in my area I have only seen PEX used in trailer homes.

Being older, I guess I tend toward the traditional, although there are exceptions. For example, I'd never use steel pipe for drains. I have unclogged far too many. I know PVC is better. But for supply water, I dont even like PVC, because it sags. I like something rigid that I dont have to worry about the place flooding when I leave for a week, and I like a neat look to my plumbing, which I cant see with anything that sags. I'll be honest and say I know little about PEX, but plastics never seem to last long. Like the older lawnmowers had a metal cover over the air filter. They outlived the mower. My last mower had a plastic cover that always fell off, eventually cracked which made it fall off more often. It finally got chopped up when it went under the blade. This is just one of many examples I could give. My opinions of plastics in general are they are cheap, short lived, and weak. I still have some of my old childrens toy trucks from the

50's and they are still like new, aside from the paint scratches. Buy a kids plastic toy today and they'll be junk in a year or less. I'd rather spend more to get metal items, but most things are not made in matal anymore.

If PEX was around for 40 years, how come I never heard of it till about a year ago? I even worked for a plumber for 7 or 8 years in the 80's to 90's. Like I said, I saw some of it in trailer houses, never really questioned what it was. I just figured it was some of the "junk" they use in trailer houses, which is generally only seen in trailers. To me, stuff like that is temporary. It's like using a garden hose for plumbing. When I worked as a plumber, I would often run a garden hose from another nearby house to the one I plumbed, so there was water. I just hooked it to a spigot screwed or sweated into the main supply. This was only for a few days or a week.

I'll take a look.

Agreed for drainage. For supply pipes, I dont care for it. I actually put a small amount in my own home, and just in an exposed place in the basement. I just did it because I got it for free and wanted to test it out, but when I go away, I shut off the two valves I placed ahead of it. One of these days I plan to get rid of it. I just dont trust it. 95% of my house has copper pipes. It's just those 15 feet or so thats PVC.

Reply to
maradcliff

Take a look at a typical hose clamp. They are a thin metal that makes an edge that is slightly depressed into the hose material. Vibration, water hammer, temperature changes make the hose or tubing move ever so slightly over a long time. With a wear point, it is possible to cut through the hose at some point. This becomes more of a possibility if the clamp is not positioned properly. The crimper eliminates that possibility.

Pex was originally used mostly in trailers because acceptance of change is very slow in building. Europe has used it for many years.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Thanks for the info. Is there a website with a clear photo of the clamps? In my rural area, they dont even sell PEX. I'd like to take a close look at the clamp just to learn about it. I guess "once a plumber, always a plumber", even if I am retired.

Just a comment, but I wonder why they dont make a "screw clamp" specifically for PEX. In other words, something similar to a hose clamp. There are times when a person wants a pipe that can be taken apart. A water heater is one such example. They need to be replaced from time to time. and unless the place a union in the system, they will have to cut the pipe, and crimp in a coupler. Do they make unions for PEX ???

Mark

Reply to
maradcliff

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.