PEX is it any good?

[tmurpha1hi]

I am replacing my copper in a rental property with pex. If you have experiance with this stuff tell me what you think.

[bob haller]

pex is awesome its cheap, no one will bother stealing it, unlike copper:( its flexible and goes around obstructions easily.....

no hidden connections in walls, just homeruns...

some limited reports of mice eating it.....

[Steve B]

Asked a plumber, and he said it lasts longer than copper because no corrosion. Easy to work with, repair, add on, etc. PEX and Sharkbites make any job easier.

Steve

[Home Guy]

Gimee a break.

Show me a plumber that's old enough to see residential copper water pipe corrode to the point of failure, where PEX would have survived intact and in service.

I agree that PEX is just as reliable as copper (assuming someone doesn't start making those crappy fittings again) and easier to install. Just don't embellish it by saying it lasts longer than copper.

[RicodJour]

PEX can outlast copper. In areas with high alkalinity (untreated well water, for instance) copper erodes much more quickly. Copper installations are also more prone to installation errors, such as pinhole leaks due to excessive use of flux.

With normal water and normal good installation practices, either will be around long after we're pushing up daisies.

R

[Ed Pawlowski]

It has been around for 50 years. Just becoming popular in the US in the past 15 or so. IMO, it would be the first choice for replacement work as it would snake a lot easier.

[THE.TRUTH.REVEALED]

You're going to discard good copper pipe and replace it with that crappy pex? Are you a fool, or just an idiot? If you had really old steel pipe, I might understand this, but copper..... Give me a break.

There's a moron born every minute!!!!

[Ed Pawlowski]

It is probably better to replace the copper now rather than wait until the tenant steals it. Things like that are happening all over. It the place in vacant for a couple of weeks between tenants, it would be gone for sure.

[Home Guy]

Huh. Yes, I also have to ask why the OP is replacing the copper with PEX.

If this is part of a major reno, that's one thing.

If this is just an excercise of ripping out copper just to put PEX in exactly the same place, then I have to ask why.

The cost of doing that has got to far outweigh the potential that a tenant or some other criminal will steal the copper (and even if they did, wouldn't your insurance cover that?)

[bob haller]

not only will the copper thieves steal the plumbing but the colateral damage can be great. i looked at a home for sale, the copper thieves had damaged a structural wall risking a building collapse/////

[Home Guy]

If a dwelling is either rented out to miscreants or is so vulnerable to dismantling due to it's location or extended periods of vacancy, then I question the logic in spending any money on it at all. So that's the first point of logical failure here.

The second logical failure on the part of some people is believing that replacing copper with pex would stop someone from ripping out the walls in their quest for copper. They might just keep looking even after finding run after run of pex, and in the end not finding any might get pissed off enough to torch the place.

When you go to the big box to buy your PEX supplies, do they also sell stickers that your supposed to paste outside your front door that reads "This house plumbed with PEX - NOT COPPER" ?

[Home Guy]

Why aren't you getting first and last month's rent when you sign up a tenant?

Why aren't you doing a background or credit check on a tenant before you sign them up?

Isin't that cheaper than replacing your plumbing with PEX? How many thousands is that costing you?

And the dammage is already done.

Don't rent to theives then.

[RicodJour]

Right - first and last month's rent solves all tenant issues. Good thing we don't have lawyers, criminals and changing economic conditions or we'd really be screwed.

See above.

So, you equate a planned expenditure set at a time and cost to minimize disruption, with an unplanned expenditure that's guaranteed to have far more extensive damage and repairs, while going through an insurance company, and being unable to rent the property until everything is done. Hmmm...I don't think those are two similar situations at all.

Huh? Do you believe that crooks looking to rip out copper start busting random holes in the walls to locate the plumbing? Why wouldn't they go to the basement or mechanical room first and check the most likely place to find copper?

Okay - while you're doling out the life instructions, captain, any directions on what we should all have for breakfast tomorrow?

R

[bob haller]

my family in phoenix state that it can take 3 months minimum to evict a tenant....

must be 30 days late to begin proceedings

takes 30 days once started

then tenant can appeal, another 30 days:(

so the landlord is out 90 days rent.......

things like this are why my family got out of the rental business. they quit perhaps 10 years ago

one tenant he evicted after not paying for 4 months removed and cut off short every outlet and receptable. the home required a complete rewire.... heck they even stole the main panel....

if he turned stuff like this in on insurance the insurance rate would triple......

losses like this are a cost of doing business

[Ron]

I don't know the exact details, but that happened to the guy that used to own the house next to me. The renter didn't pay rent for at least 2 months, and by the time the owner got him out the place was trashed and the renter disappeared. Not only was it trashed, it was roach infested. The roaches were so bad he had to call a pro to get rid of them.

[bob haller]

same sort of thing happened to mu neighbors rental home.

tenant left water and sewer bills over a grand.

landlord had to pay the back bills to get water turned on before he could rent home or even work on it....

[RicodJour]

The Sybil story was in the news recently - apparently some of the people involved copped to it being made up.

R

[Home Guy]

So that means you don't do it?

So that's the logic you follow in not protecting yourself *to the extent you can* as a landlord eh?

You obviously get what you deserve.

an unplanned expenditure that may very well never happen, and for which competent landlords are probably insured against.

If there's such a high probability of renting to miscreants and low-life scum like that, then why are you in the rental business?

If they *would have* ripped out your copper pipes (but because of your PEX job there are none) then they most likely will try to rip something else out of the place before they leave. That's why I see the PEX job as a futile attempt to prevent tenant dammage and theft.

Actually, ripping plumbing out does take some elbow grease.

While I'm doling out life instructions, you (or the OP) are busting your ass replacing perfectly good copper plumbing with PEX.

[RicodJour]

Please show me where the OP mentioned anything at all about the condition of the copper. Oh, right - he didn't. You're jumping to conclusions and acting stupid.

Maybe the house is 80 years old, he's gutting it, and doing a complete replumb and rewire. It's his fookin' house, you know nothing about the situation at all, and you're trying to come across like Joe Landlord. Ya ain't. Why are you telling the OP what to do with his money? He didn't ask for that advice.

Someone not the OP mentioned that theft might be a concern, and you were off and running. Actually you were off and running before you had any information at all, didn't request any information, and told everyone why replacing copper with PEX is always stupid. In other words, just making a general ass out of yourself.

R

[Home Guy]

I'm responding to the direction this thread took about speculating why it's being replaced -> to prevent the dammage that would be caused by copper theft. A theory (or at least a reason) you subscribe to.

Until the OP comes back here, we'll never know his reason.

Why do you lie?

This is what I said you ass:

------------ If this is part of a major reno, that's one thing.

If this is just an excercise of ripping out copper just to put PEX in exactly the same place, then I have to ask why.

-------------

This is what the ------------- I am replacing my copper in a rental property with pex.

-------------

I still think it's stupid to be "replacing" (not REPAIRING) copper plumbing with PEX.