The old flex copper pipe coming out of the bathroom floor under the toilet is partly clogged. It's the last piece of original flex copper in the house since I replaced all the old pipe with rigid copper pipe over the years. However, last year we had a hot tub installed by a professional plumber, and he used PEX to that tub. The cold pex pipe is connected to the copper real near that pipe to the toilet. I think I'd prefer copper, but am considering the pex. However two questions come to mind. First, I was told that pex needs a manifold setup. The plumber did not do that, he just connected the pex to the existing
1/2" copper (a stub coming from the 3/4" supply pipe, which went to the original tub). In my case, I'd have to do the same thing. Secondly, the pipe now makes a 90 degree bend in the basement where it goes up thru the bathroom floor under the toilet tank. Can pex be bent at a 90 deg. or must I use an elbow? (it would be a gradual bend, not a sharp bend). Then comes the question whether the pipe would come straight out of the floor or would it be at an angle due to the bend? The hole in the floor is directly under the toilet tank fitting. Also of concern is the fact that this pex is not rigid and having about 9 inches of soft pex sticking out of the floor looks like a pipe waiting to break if bumped. The pipe is too far from the wall to attach to anything solid. (A shutoff valve and supply pipe to the toilet would be above the pex). This alone makes the copper look more like what I want, but I thought I'd ask.- posted
14 years ago