PEX plumbing

[paulg]

Has anyone here used PEX plumbing? This is the sorta rubber tubing that you can lengthen / shorten or use a manifold for distribution.
Sounds like the answer for me with my washer, dishwasher etc needing water in the basement. Literally and figuratively a very flexible solution for plumbing.
My ex-boss (an appliance expert in his own right) just did his basement in this stuff and likes it.
All comments welcome!

 

[whirlcool]

I have seen homes built with that. It's made out Kevlar, the same material bullet proof vests are made out of. Contractors like it because it is so easy to install.
Homeowners like it because it is resistant to freezing.

Kevlar feels hard as a rock when you handle it, yet it is flexible. Usually when contractors install it they use blue Kevlar for cold water and red Kevlar for hot water.

A couple we know built their dream house and they took photos of all the walls before the wallboard was put up. They put those photos on a CD so if they ever need to know where items are within the wall they have a photograph showing them the exact locations. Great idea!

 

[wayupnorth]

I personally do not have it because it was not available when I rebuilt my place in 1995, mine is all plastic piping and have had absolutely no problems. But a few of my neighbors have used it and say it is the best thing since sliced bread. No elbows around corners, not subject to freezing and splitting like copper. I understand it is color coded with red/hot and blue/cold. I faithfully follow the Mike Holmes show every Sunday evening on HGTV and he uses it all the time. Far as I am concerned, if Mike uses it, its done right the first time.

 

[sudsmaster]

I'm not sure but I don't think PEX is legal under local code here. I'll have to check.

I need to add supply plumbing to the washer area in my workshop (right now it's being served by a long high quality garden hose, of all things) so PEX might be a good solution out there. I was planning on using copper but perhaps PEX would be a quicker solution.

 

[sudsmaster]

I read up a bit on PEX and apparently mice and rats seem to have an affinity for it. There has been a roof rat issue in the workshop. They chewed up some pipe insulation I had stored from the rafters. So I'll be sticking to copper there - esp since the supply runs will be at ceiling level. I don't think the rodents will bother copper.

 

[mattl]

I'm totally sold on PEX--- at least for the moment.  It's VERY easy to use, can do things copper can't, and is quite affordable.  Of course down the road we always here of risks associated with items, don't know if that will be the case with PEX, but for the time being if I am doing any major plumbing that is what I"ll use.

 

One thing I did do regarding PEX is to go up a size.  If you look at the 1/2" elbows you will note that the inner diameter is really quite small, no where near the size of copper, and I believe the flow is controlled by the narrowest item in the line, so I use 3/4 for general stuff and 1" for feed lines.  Might be over kill, but I like good flow rates.

 

[dj-gabriele]

PEX Tubing

Here in Italy it's not allowed for domestic fresh water piping and it's only used for low temperature heating (radiant floor), with dubious life expectancy, it's only used if somebody wants something cheap, otherwise copper or poliurethane or compound piping is used.
A great alternative to it is Aquatherm by Fusiotherm, my home has piping made in that material and since 1992 we had zero problems, even it's outdoor performance has been great without a single problem.

http://www.aquatherm.de/

 

[retro-man]

I have it in my new house and there is probably 2 miles of the stuff in here. It seems to be problem free. No soldering goes around corners easy and is able to be snaked through walls easily. Have the color coded blue for cold and red for hot. I did the same and took pictures of all inside walls for plumbing and wiring before sheet rock went up so incase any problems in the future or renovations I know exactly where everything is. I do have a circulating pump for the hot water that runs 24/7 and no problems there either. I think its a good alternative for copper and you can put manifolds on it easily.
Jon

 

[countryguy]

Pex was used when I had my hot water heating system installed in 2009. It saved a lot of time and effort on installation since the heating system was installed in an existing house. A friend of mine had a house built about 4 years ago, about 1200 sq. feet on each of the main floor and basement and with a double car garage, all heated by in floor heating. Pex was used for all the hot/cold water supplies also.

Gary

 

[MrX]

We used PEX-type plumbing (it was called Qual-PEX) in our house here in Ireland to do some renovation work and it's working as well as the copper pipes that are in the rest of the house.

It definitely made the installation a lot easier as there were far fewer compression joints and welds required and obviously it bends.

It looks and is handled far more like electrical wiring than plumbing.

The only problem I've ever seen with it is where someone had done DIY work.

If you're installing any kind of plastic or PEX pipes you need to make sure that there are sufficient support clips and that you don't have strain on joints. The pipe itself won't giveway, but if you force them into a shape, they can eventually spring off the joints / valves.

Obviously you cannot mount heavy items like circulation pumps using only the plumbing for support either, where as with typical 1/2" heating copper pipes that isn't a problem.

You also need to follow the guidelines for exapansion / contraction of pipes and allow for that in clipping, particularly for heating systems!

It's definitely in the regs here and seems to have both an EN (EuroNorm) (European Standards) and IS (Irish Standards) approval number.

The only rules were that you had to have a run of copper pipe between Qual-PEX and any water heater / central heating boiler (furnace) and were not allowed ot make direct plastic connections to those.

 

[firedome]

We used it exclusively

in our summer house, it is GREAT stuff, easy to install. Life expectancy is as good as any other material IF kept out of UV rays ie sunlight, and usually this is not a problem as it's inside walls or in a basement. We could not use it outside where the house piping connects to the seasonally installed water meter. It's great advantage in seasonal houses is that it can expand when it freezes, so if you do a sub-par job of winterizing it can usually take it. No leaks so far after 4 winters - and only 30 mi from Canada!

 

[cadman]

I've also had extremely good luck with PEX- Have run all my plumbing with it. Easy to reconfigure and if you're going with a "home-run" setup, you can switch out circuits without shutting off water to the entire house. But make sure you use a good quality crimping tool, solid rings and a go/no-go gauge. As with most things these days, I'm seeing a lot of cost reduced variations on the fittings and crimp rings. Buyer beware!

The stuff used in radiant heating applications is actually 'oxygen barrier' PEX with a metal core. Very sturdy (and expensive) stuff. -Cory

 

[paulg]

Avalanche of replies

Thanks all for the ton of information.
It sure looks well worth considering. Although I think (not sure though) that copper pipe is code here, I think PEX may be the way to go for temporarily permanent installations for my machines. If I sell the house I can just remove it.
Much obliged to all!