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copper or PVC? The house has all copper in it..new construction..3/4 lines?
i have 65 feet to reach inside house..1 in copper is like 5.00 a ft & 3/4 is like 4.00 a ft PVC is .34 a ft but what are the pros & cons? weve never had a problem in old house with copper..moved to a temperary house (after selling ours) with cpvc & PVC main water line & now wife gets bladder infections all the time..just coincendence or is there something to it..most places sale 60 or 100ft soft copper only..so is 4-5 a ft for 100ft woth it i guess or not? also would 3/4 from water meter be suffient enought to do the house with 3/4 throughout it now or do i need to adapt up to 1 inch?

MechanicalDVR

If it was my house I would put in 1'' copper but, most people use poly pipe for water service, I just don't like it.

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The plumber

Copper is so yesterday for yard services. If you leave the ditch open for inspection you'll come back to an empty ditch. I got tired of copper getting ripped off. Pex is what most people use now. It's easy and the cost is low.

mickeyco

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Teetorbilt

Go copper, it's been proven for a century. Today the major cost is digging the trench.

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shed-n-deck

I am no plumber, but from what I understand(and I don't really understand much), it is against code to have 3/4" plumbing except from hook up to hot water heater....The rest, as I have been told, is required to be 1/2"......Maybe it's a local thing, I don't know...

My unknowledgeable preference would be copper...I have worked with copper, and cpvc, and I have to say...I would rather burn myself working with copper, than to run cpvc....I don't know the difference, not even if there is one...But copper sure is a lot prettier....

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Shed

Bill

Me? in VA I always use 180 psi black plastic pipe, comes in a roll, just roll it out, no leaks, never rots, never had any troubles

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Ron The Plumber

Go Pex 1" you won't have to worry about pin hole leaks a few years down the line.

MechanicalDVR

It might be "so yesterday" but it will see many more tomorrows than plastic will. I am in a house 20 years old right now that has a leaking in the poly water service. Wouldn't be leaking after 20 with copper and I wouldn't be cutting up my kitchen floor to run a new line in, copper can be fixed, plastic needs to go end to end. Plastic pipe for potable water is cheap, it was made popular because it's cheap, by plumbers that don't care about being the best.

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Leo G

Very likely there is something to it. Copper has antibacterial properties. Copper is toxic to a lot of bacteria. The plastic has no such abilities.

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KillerToiletSpider

My house is old, I have an 1-1/4 lead service, it took me a couple hours to find my wiping tools when I had to replace the valve before the meter a few years back.

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Ron The Plumber

Go Pex 1" you won't have to worry about pin hole leaks a few years down the line.

The plumber

You are talking to a guy that has fixed thousands of leaks on copper. Everyone knows quest was worthless, plus I'll bet they bedded it in with rocky dirt. If properly installed and bedded with sand I'll choose pex anyday. There is no feeling like coming back to a job to find an empty ditch where your copper was yesterday. Lose $300.00+ of copper and you'll be swearing by pex too! I refuse to feed someones crack habit

POOLMANinCT

i run pools on copper & zink, w/ less chlorine than drinking water.
romans kept copper & silver slugs in H20 barrels, to curb bacteria

ray

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MechanicalDVR

I can't give you a number on how many copper leaks I have fixed, I started in this filed in a family business way too long ago. I have never had a copper line stolen from a trench. I have been on jobs where the copper piping was stolen nightly and replaced daily. In my opinion copper just holds up longer than any plastic.

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The plumber

Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning the quality of copper, but if there is a more cost effective product that holds up just as well then I'm all for it. Every pipe has its pros and cons, and it boils down to personal preference. I prefer pex, and my next choice would be copper. I never use cpvc or pvc for water though because it just feels unprofessional to me.