pex tubing for plumbing?

[John Daugherty]

Has anyone ever plumbed a house or had a house plumbed with pex tubing for the potable water? If so what did you think of it?

I have been looking at a manifold system using pex for the water supply.

[Frank Hagan]

As long as it meets ANSI/NSF Standard 61 for potable water, it works. I don't have it in my house, but I have talked to customers with it, and they don't see any difference between it and copper in terms of water taste, etc. I think its approved for both hot and cold water, up to about 200 F.

[Jim Becker]

I would use it in a second! We have acid water and PEX would be oh-so-much-more-better than being constantly on patrol for pin-holes in the older copper. A few years ago, I wanted to do a major replacement when things were opened up, but couldn't find a local plumber familiar with the material. That will not happen again when we do the addition...all new plumbing will be PEX...and maybe some of the old will get replaced, too.

[Matt Meiser]

I don't have it either, but looked at it when we lived in an old house with iron pipe. In existing construction, it can be pulled in just like electrical cable. Repairs and changes are also a snap--just cut the line and crimp in a new fitting.

[Justin Peters]

I've also heard it's very quiet. As in, if someone's running the water upstairs or in an adjacent room, you can't hear it through the walls.

[Jerry Clark]

My daughter just bought a new house in a new track and all the homes have a manifold in the garage and are piped throughout the house with PEX. seems strange a separate shut-off for each line, but I assume they used it is because it is cheaper and easier than copper. :cool:

[Rob Russell]

John,

If you're building a new house or an addition, remember to use cast iron for the waste drain where it passes through living areas. The cast iron is far quieter than PVC, so an upstairs flush doesn't whoosh through the rest of the house.

Rob

[Dan Mages]

My daughter just bought a new house in a new track and all the homes have a manifold in the garage and are piped throughout the house with PEX. seems strange a separate shut-off for each line, but I assume they used it is because it is cheaper and easier than copper. :cool:

Not too strange to have a shut off for each line. Why shut off the water to the whole house when all you need to do is replace the faucet in the kitchen?

Dan

[Jim Becker]

seems strange a separate shut-off for each line,

I have the same with my current copper distribution system...but it wasn't that way when we moved in six years ago!

[Michael Perata]

The biggest problem with PEX is the plumbing unions. Since most of the homes built in Northern California are built with non-union labor, most of the houses currently built in Northern California use PEX.

Jim's complaints about pin-holing copper are very accurate. In the 70's the builder I worked for had to replace every 90d elbow in a 340 unit townhouse project because the local water impurities interacted with the copper alloy used in the elbows causing them to fail in less than 2 years.

[Frank Hagan]

The biggest problem with PEX is the plumbing unions. Since most of the homes built in Northern California are built with non-union labor, most of the houses currently built in Northern California use PEX.

Jim's complaints about pin-holing copper are very accurate. In the 70's the builder I worked for had to replace every 90d elbow in a 340 unit townhouse project because the local water impurities interacted with the copper alloy used in the elbows causing them to fail in less than 2 years.

I did some research on copper corrosion, and one of the things that affects it is the method of sanitation, and the amount of organic compounds in the source water (before treatment). There are case histories where the municipality changed to ozone water treatment, and when combined with the byproducts of the oxidized organic compounds the water became corrosive.

I know that some older houses here use the metal water pipes for the ground connection, so make sure you look for that if you are swapping out metal for pex piping. The NEC has the current recommendations for grounding rods that replace the metal pipe as a ground source.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

My neighbor is a union plumber and they are going to all pex for residential plumbing. It is really a great system. Every pipe is run from a central manifold so nothing is shared. This is the reason it is quiet, everything isn't interconnected, so the manifold deadends any sound...

He has nothing but good things to say about it.

[Jim Becker]

PEX (or other plastic) is almost essential in many areas now...in fact, parts of Maryland don't allow copper due to acidic water issues. That's our water situation. Our well water is soft and acidic due to the local geology. We could treat it for that condition, but that in itself does things to the water that we don't like. (many processes add sodium, etc) We also like the taste of our water "as is". So considering PEX is a justifiable alternative to "doctoring" the water... ;)

[Michael Perata]

My neighbor is a union plumber...

He is not a California union plumber.

In the next to last year of exGov. Gray Davis' term, the plumbers gave Davis $350,000 as a campaign contribution and in turn Davis stopped a re-writing of the California version of the Uniform Plumbing Code to include the predecessor plastic pipe.

One of the few good reasons to have Ahnold is he backtracked on a lot of the political giveaways from the Davis administration. (One of the very few good reasons.)

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Nope, he is my neighbor in Wisconsin. There are enough changes to the code as is!