PEX Tubing For Home Usage; Basic Questions On ?

Hello,

Re PEX plastic piping for home usage.

Looked at several sites on, but still have a few basic questions, please:

a. Just how "popular" is this stuff ? When used, or specified ?

b. Compared to Copper piping for home usage, is it generally more expensive or cheaper ? If more, why is it used (at all) ?

c. Good for hot as well as cold service ?

d. Would you use it in your home, or still prefer Copper ? Why ?

Pros and cons, etc. ?

BTW: what's most common in new homes these days that do use Copper; type k, l, or m ? On "older" (e.g. 25-30 yr)homes ?

Much thanks, Bob

Reply to
Bob
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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.

Reply to
Pete C.

I'm replacing my galvanized pipe with "L" copper. I bought a lot of the fittings by the pound at a metal recycler.

Reply to
Bob F

Don't know

Don't know

Absolutely

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.

See above.

Reply to
Michael Dobony

For me, it is the cat's meow.

Less expensive: easy install, easy repair (I extended my tub lines when I remodeled the bathroom).

Yes. I'm in the desert and it is now being used in landscape irrigation.

I do. I have a PEX system with a manifold in the laundry room - easy access. 12 years old and not a single leak, so far!

I haven't really determined any "cons". Use the newer expanding connectors (no crimp rings).

Check with local permit office, some localities were slow to adopt PEX.

Reply to
Oren

For those who can't figure out the cons:

Rodents love to chew PEX.

Reply to
mike

State your experience please. I know rodents like to chew electrical wires. I have no experience with them eating my PEX.

Reply to
Oren

Don't settle for one data point:

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Google it. Then you can decide if it's worth the risk.

At least with wiring you have various forms of circuit protection (breakers, arc fault, etc). That usually doesn't happen in plumbing.

Reply to
mike

Truth is, I don't have rodents. PEX and circuits are just fine.

I have seen woodpeckers and squirrels dull their beak / teeth on metal.

Makes a heck of noise.

Reply to
Oren

Very. New construction, mostly.

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.

Reply to
krw

'k' is not common. 'm' is the light stuff most commonly used, IIRC.

Reply to
Bob F

Rodent's love to chew. That's not a con of PEX, it's a con of having rodents.

Reply to
Joe

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.

Reply to
Pete C.

Cheaper as defined by material AND installation cost. It also has the benefit of being somewhat freeze resistant.

Reply to
Robert Neville

used (at all) ?

Added some fixtures using PEX, cheap, easy to work with:) no downsides at all.

And since mine MIGHT FREEZE its nice to know its freeze resistant

Reply to
hallerb

Yes it is a con for PEX, since rodents tend not to chew through copper pipe, by comparison.

Softness in the face of rodent teeth is a problem.

Reply to
mike

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.

Reply to
jamesgangnc

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.

Reply to
Zootal

PEX isnt usually installed using Sharkbite connectors.

Jimmie

Reply to
JIMMIE

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 :-)

Reply to
Zootal

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