PEX Pipes

[tonyp1]

Should I re-plumb my house in PEX. I was told its best for old houses with large unheated basements as it and can swell 4xs its original size before it bursts. Is this a good Idea?

[Greg (WavyGlass)]

I say Yes. Anytime I need to update plumbing it is and will be in pex. Cheaper, faster, easier, and like you say it can last a freeze.

[mattswabb]

Yes. I've been using it in my house since we bought it. It's so easy to work with. The only suggestion is to buy it in the 10' straight lengths. I bought a coil and it had that coiled bend "set" in it. It was more difficult to run.

Buy a good crimper. I think mine was $30-40 at Home Depot.

I have a main 3/4 copper run that runs down the center of the basement. From there I use pex on everything.

[Gothichome]

Well this is a timely question, I to have to replum our summer kitchen. Was planning to use per as well. I have used it our Calgary home to replace the first gen grey sh#t plastic. Was at the hardware store they now Cary crimpless connectors for pix. Just push the hose into the connector job done. I believe they call the system shark tooth. My question has any one used the system and what was your general feeling of the connection system?

[Greg (WavyGlass)]

The sharkbite connectors are sweet, but very pricey. Best thing though is that they can be removed and used again over and over and on any material, copper, pex, etc. I used them on a small apartment.

[chooseopen (WavyGlass)]

I like pex too. I slowly replaced almost all the old pipe in my house. I wasn't in a position to replumb the house all at once so I just retrofit it in when/where I could. All the old galvanized has been removed and I am now left with copper and pex. It is a nice feeling to not have to worry about delicate old pipes springing a leak. My crimp tool was about $90 from Menards.

My Pex Tool

[Superbeetle]

I just had the PVC lines to my washer and dryer replumbed with pex after they froze during the polar vortex. I got really lucky that they cracked but were only leaking a little. So far, no problem now that they've been replaced and insulated. I only have two more small runs that haven't been replaced in the entire house. It's been nice because my plumber can run the pex through wall cavities, so we haven't had todo a lot of demo.

[csnyder (WavyGlass)]

We just had all of our basement pipes replaced with PEX, and are quite pleased. It was somewhat of an impromptu decision - one of the main drain stacks was leaking (the cast iron has rusted through!), and so it was a "while you're at it..." sort of job - they already had to have two plumbers there, and tear down some ceiling in the basement den (the ceiling boards were already in bad shape from previous water issues).

For the vertical runs through the walls, we left the old galvanized as-is. We'll replace them if we need to, but so far we're in good shape - according to the plumber, most of the issues you see with old pipes are in the horizontal sections, where sediment settles.

The amount of crud that was flushed out was amazing - we continued to see sediment a week after the work was done. Water pressure is so much better now - this morning, I was able to shower while the washer was filling. Previously, if the shower was running when there was a demand for cold water, the pressure would drop to the point where the water heater (on-demand, part of the boiler) would cut out, as it has a 0.5 GPM minimum.

[Daniel Meyer]

We replumbed using PEX and a manifold...so there are NO joints in the pipes under the house or in the walls. Everything is a home run using the 100' rolls of pipe. The manifold is in a heated area. We did it this way because the only place PEX is really vulnerable to freezing is at the joints. Also pretty cool to have a "breaker box" for the plumbing.

Want to cut the water off to the kitchen sink? Go to the manifold and turn it off. TaDaa!

We also, of course, insulated the pipes very well. No sense risking any possible damage.

We are LOVING it.

http://theoldvictorian.com/?s=manifold

[Eperot]

Call me old fashioned but I'm a copper guy. I keep thinking in ten more years they will realize PEX leaches bad chemicals into the water.

As long as pipes are run on interior walls, freezing should not be an issue.

That said, even though I will continue to use copper, I can't really find anything wrong with the stuff. It is certainly easier to install.