Very popular, particularly now that copper prices are very high and contractors have figured out how to crimp the fittings properly. Being flexible and in long rolls, PEX reduces the number of joints to potentially leak, is faster and easier to install, and is cheaper.
It was more when it first came out, but contractors were starting to adopt it due to the speed and ease of installation. With copper prices today it is cheaper and you'll find few if any homebuilders using copper unless it's some high end house and the owners insist on copper for some unknown reason.
Yes. Also used in radiant floor heating systems.
I would use it for new construction or any significant remodel. If I'm just doing a repair or slight change to existing copper I'd stay with copper.
Not many cons these days. In the early days the cons were expensive crimping tools, and general lack of familiarity with PEX. Now there are fairly cheap crimp tools available and PEX has been around long enough for people to be familiar with it.
New today, if you can find anything new done in copper will probably be M since it's the cheapest. Older installations will likely be L since it's more durable, particularly in hard water areas. I doubt you'll find K anywhere but commercial installations.
I did when we built our house. Why? one joint on each end and easy to run. Just make sure you don't scratch it as you pull it. It will not bust as easily as copper if it freezes.
Evidently it's a lot cheaper. Otherwise it wouldn't be used.
Yes.
Personally, I hate the stuff. I'd rather sweat copper than mess with it. I have it in this house and hate the stuff.
Small jobs are a PITA, compared to copper.
My bet is 'k', only because of cost. I'd use 'l', but only because the cost of materials isn't my primary motivator. Labor is a far bigger issue and the labor is the same. I'm using 'l' for air in the garage and shop.
Ok, so you don't know much about PEX and the fact that it was becoming popular over copper even when it was more expensive due to much faster and easier installation and fewer joints to potentially leak.
You also don't know much about copper since you have the grades backwards. Type "M" is the thinnest wall and cheapest, type "L" is a medium wall thickness and type "K" is the heaviest wall thickness and the most expensive. Type "K" is rarely found outside of commercial installations.
Pex is extremely fast to install on new construction. That's it's main selling point. Labor is about the most expensive part that goes into a new home.
Sharkbite connectors are horribly overpriced/expensive. I considered PEX until I found out how much the connectors cost. If you can find an inexpensive way to join PEX tubing, it will be much more cost effective. You can get connector kits and make your own, but I don't know how much those cost per connector.
Copper. One main reason - I don't trust the PEX connection process. The push on connectors use rubber o-rings to make a seal. Know what rubber o- rings do after 20 years? Yeah - they leak. The clamp fittings clamp the pex to pipe, but again you are clamping flexible pex to pipe, and it's going to leak sooner or later. My copper job will be in this house working flawlessly when I've died of old age. An equivalent PEX installation will be leaking like a sieve by then.
I may be wrong, but I've seen a lot of clamped pipes and o-rings in my time, and they all leak sooner or later. Until they come up with a inexpensive PEX connector that will last 50 years, I won't use it anyplace that I can't get to it quickly and easily for maintenance. Keep that in mind before you seal PEX into a wall - when it leaks, you will have to tear the wall out, and if that happens you will wish you had used copper (at least I wished they had used copper - I would not have had the broken platic pipe to start with). My neighbor is likewise cursing cpvc - he had a similar experience a while ago with breaking cpvc in a wall.
I also admit to some bias against plastics in general. I just spent a week ripping out cpvc and replacing it with copper. We had a pipe break inside of a wall and it made quite a mess. I'm not sure why it broke nor how durable the cpvc is supposed to be, but I do know I'm not the only one around here with broken cpvc, and I also know my copper job will be there for many years without leaks.
How do they install it on a commercial or large job? I'm guessing they make their own connections and that these connections are much cheaper then sharkbites?
I actually have a half dozen sharkbites. I used them to cap pipes so I still had water to half the house while I was working on the plumbing - I found them to be *very* handy for this. Pop them on, pipe sealed. Pop them right off when done. Then when I went to pressure test my work, grab a sharkbite cap and pop it on, test my pipes, pop it right off when done. They are very usefull in the right place :-)
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