Pex Question

Jayrek

Oh, and a HO cant F@@K up sweating pipes royally??

And those delivery guys that hook up ice makers never make mistakes that plumbers have to fix??

Plumbers should never feel threatened by technology, there are plenty of people out there that get a set of tools, and really dangerous at the same time, f**k up something and have to call a pro.

Haaser

ok.... i knew this was going to happen...

as for why in a mobile home, its easy PEX by design flexes a lot. so when you go to move one it is a lot less likely to break.

if your going to spend 200,000 dollars on a house u intend to live in for the rest of your life u might as well build it with the best, right?

i know not all HO can sweat a pipe much less drive a nail, but its STILL cheep to repair. and its not hard to learn, christ my wife did.

and im NOT talking about the retards that Lowe's or Home Depot sub all there out to. trust if you use them to install ANYTHING your taking your life into your own hands..

like i have said a few times, PEX has its place. just not on my jobs period(i MIGHT use it in up-fits, MIGHT)!

the reason is an easy one. i dont think there should EVER be a product that requires a special tool to install. PEX up until very recently was Proprietary. meaning only Pro Plumbers were Allowed to purchase the tools and parts needed to install or make repairs. for that reason i will NEVER use PEX.
come on guys think about it, its like making a new kind of nail and only selling the hammers to drive them to GC's... its retarded.

i know a lot of you like it and use it all the time. if you dont like my POV, im sorry. it just is what it is.

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Inner10

Haaser, maby I'm missing something why is it so much easyer to put an icemaker in with a copper line instead of a pex line?

BCConstruction

I have to agree with ya. I don't mind PEX and used to used BPEX on a lot on timber frames in the UK and it has it place but it def dont replace copper. I have never seen a copper fitting fail under normal circumstances. Both copper and PEX are affected the same by freezing so they both have to be insulated. Even BPEX does. But i have seen many a PEX fitting fail for zero reasons. Copper will last the life time of the building if installed correctly. Plastic can not. Your lucky if you will get 25 years from most Plastic/Polybutylene/polyethylene before it becomes brittle. I have seen company's say that pex can last over 300 years which I'm sure it can under very controlled conditions. I'm sure copper would last for 10's of thousands if under the correct conditions. It's a good system for when copper is not an option but i would never choose it over copper.

Jayrek

Yeah you take your copper and crow about it.

My pex manifold is in the 21st century, copper is not.

Copper flashing, gutters and roofs rock though.

Sir Plums Alot

I use the Rehau Everloc System, works great and looks real nice to, but it's a little more costly.

BCConstruction

Like i have said PEX has it's place. Clearly Copper is not a great laster under concrete floors so Pex is a must foor underfloor heating. I fitted Many a PEX manifold and love how easy it is to install compaired to copper but Copper would be my choice of material on a new build where it works well.

DetailHandyman

That might be true, BC...but I have replaced many copper pipes with pin hole leaks caused by weird stuff in the water.

(most people in my area have wells)

I don't think CPVC or PEX would have that problem.

PEX does have it's advantages. And as copper prices are creeping back up again...may see more of it soon.

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BCConstruction

The water should be tested to see if you need filters/softeners before any materials are choosen. As long as you fit the apropriate systems the water going into the pipes should be fine for any type of pipe used. But some people will not bother with filters of any kind and just run that hard/corrosive water through what ever they have.

I remember back when Pex used to be a lot more expensive than copper and then the prices jumped to crazy amounts and then pex looked cheap lol. Best thing though was we used to scrap about 300-500kgs of copper each year and used to have a lovely christmas bonus for our self lol.

DetailHandyman

Nothing in the way of water tests before materials are chosen. The only criteria seems to be what's cheap.

But of course, most of the older homes around here are copper...and few have even a basic whole house filter.

Yep, when it hits $4/lb again...

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The cat box ain't gonna clean itself.