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What are your thoughts on Fostapex? I never knew about it till yesterday. So to answer Chances’ question, I do know there is a Viega Fostapax under the slab.
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Btw I love learning about the Pex. At 62 I’m not sure I want to venture over from copper but if it’s easy to learn how to do I may make the move
Other then that, I’d sweat the copper.
There’s heat shields you can use in tight quarters while sweating copper to avoid using a shark bite.
Oatey or, Turbo Torch make these. There’s a few different styles.
You also want to wrap them if you put them in the ground. They make a silicone sealing tape meant for it.
I remember using it for the first time. Back then it was copper and, CPVC for water supply. I hated pex. I worked myself into a corner the tool wouldn’t fit in. Like a dumb ass I supported the line going up through wall, through the top plate of the framing and, directly above the wall was the roof line. It was a kitchen sink wall. I couldn’t get the tool in to expand it. Lack of pre planning on my part. I should’ve ran the line from the top, installed the 90 then, pulled it down the wall and cut the excess pipe off down low.
The new tools like a Milwaukee M12 pex tool automatically rotated as its expanding the pipe and, ring. Eliminating one of the biggest causes for leaks on pex.
The other thing was there were no stops on the rings back then. It really sucked using pex in the rain. The ring and pipe would get wet, then when expanding, the ring would slide down the pipe away from the edge. Living in the PNW where it rains all the time, it was a real bitch to deal with. The rings have stops on one side now eliminating that problem.
Pex has come a long way from 98 when I first used it.
Every material has its short comings.
Pex, if not installed properly, like not rotating the head during the install can and, will leak.
Copper, if not sweated properly, will also leak. If there’s water in the line, good luck getting a solid joint. If you overheat and, burn the flux out, the solder won’t draw into the joint as well. Then, you have to pull it apart and, flux and sweat it again. The other issue is working in tight quarters with an open flame. I have several burn scars on my arms, hands and, even my face from over the years. Mostly from dripping flux while soldering or, bumping into a hot line after soldering.
Over the years I have been called to numerous houses to do drywall repair after leaks and to repair pipes (if I’m able)
Many of those leaks were coming from copper elbows or couplings in pipes that have been in place for 10-20 years. It seems off that a soldered fitting would hold for that long and then develop a pin hole leak. Plumbing is a bitch!
Not sure that I would trust them in a concealed location either.
They are probably fine for a quick fix for somebody that doesn't have a sweat kit or doesn't know how.
New contractor, was supposed to take off old looking trex, rebuild structure, reinstall trex. Unfortunately, the day they did it was rather cold. The front of the deck is arced and they broke one of the pieces. Now had had to buy all new perimeter Trex so it would match. The new Trex has PVC sleeve on top because the old Trex kept going bad. Now, when you try and heat the boards to make the bend the PVC blisters. We still don't have the front perimeter of the deck installed.
TM
Finally got it done. Was kind of an ordeal. I called one plumber who came out, checked out the job then went Mia for weeks, I called him back, crickets, texted a few times and got e reply that he needs to come out next week and look at again, next week comes and goes and nada, so over that guy. Call another plumber right down the street from me, comes out, checks it out, says repipe 1 might be cheaper than us but I’ll get you a bid. Over 2 weeks go by with no call back. Over that guy. Call repipe 1, a slick as snot salesman comes out with no less than 10 full color brochures telling me how great they are and pictures of the process etc. They seemed super professional, their bid was over 11 grand (2 bath 1200 sq. ft. House with a crawlspace and no drywall repairs. I told him as nicely as I could to gtfo of here. Called my old otmx nemesis plumber buddy who moved to Iowa to retire to see if he knew anyone that wanted to work and wasn’t on crack. Luckily he’s still winding down and had his crew finishing up some projects. Have a new 1” main from the meter and replumbed the house in PEX. My old shower valve had 2 handles which I learned is a no no now. No biggie except the escutcheon didn’t cover the 2 holes from the old valves. I had a couple sea themed tiles in my garage so I covered them with those. Kind of hokey but it’s an old beach house so.... good enough 😂. Outdoor shower next, then driveway and ADU rental in the back.
Your tile looks way cooler anyways.
Just for future reference, there are remodel cover plates available that are large enough to cover two holes. Home Depot carries then as well as, plumbing supply houses. I think Depot would most likely have them on hand though.
Thanks Chance, yeah the guys said they make remodel escutcheons but I liked the tile idea, plus I already had them and the grout. It seemed cheesy putting the new tiles on top of the other tile but the height was the same as the escutcheon so it almost looks planned lol
Pit Row
Had the same issues on my house and had the manufacturer rep out. By any chance does you daughter have a tanked hot water heater with a recirculating pump? My leaks were only in the hot water side and I had the set up I just mentioned. The rep said my leaks came because the plumber hooked up my recirculating pump up on the bottom of my water heater and the sediment was being pumped with it and it acted like sandpaper and caused my leaks. My hot side did have a whitish color on the inside. I personally find that explanation hard to believe since my leaks looked like you daughters each hole was about the diameter of a hair. He also recommended an expansion tank (was not code when I built) as they placed a pressure gauge on a hose bib for a week and found out my water pressure spiked to around 130 PSI at night.
Not an expert on pex, but what the rep said sounds "somewhat" feasible.
If your water pressure is above 80psi, you should have a pressure reducing valve and an expansion tank. An expansion tank should be installed at the water heater in any closed system (psi reducing valve, back flow prevention, etc.).
Best of luck with the leaking problems...so much damage can be caused.
I will say this pex to me is only a option ins small amounts. As someone who owns a Restoration company I see more water damages from pex then copper and galvanized. Most common cause of loss I see is mouse, rat ect eating the line and flooding the house. That's why I only allow copper on my jobs. It's takes longer, costs more but I don't see the issues I do with pex.
As far as shark bites. I know someone who's a plumber who back in 2010 or 11 that built his entire vacation house out in the wood with them on a bet with a supply house manager. Any connections that absolutely didn't need to be solder in his opinion got a bite on it. So far still no leaks from a single fitting and he paid the 500.00 bet a few years back.
I've done plenty of late night repairs with them cause I didn't want to be torching in the middle of the night and not one call back yet.
I would think too much pressure the Lexi would burst not have a very small pin hole. I put in an expansion tank and still have had several leaks.
I did hear there was a class action lawsuit against NIBCO the manufacturer of pex.
Well I don’t have a rat or mice problem, I don’t have a pressure regulator or an expansion tank on my water heater but my pressure has never gone above 50 in this old neighborhood in the 23 years we’ve been here, I don’t have a recirc pump, 90% of the pex is accessible from the crawl space so......on paper I’m looking good. They say pex lasts for “150 years” Pretty bold claim for a product that’s only been around what ? 20 years ? Lasts 150 years eh ? Might as well make it 500 I mean why the fuck not, 150 years, 500 years, what’s the difference ?
Our entire neighborhood has been PEX leaking. One neighbor a few houses down had 4 leaks in 1 year. Did you know insurance companies will not pay 4 times in a year for leaks? Neighbors on both sides have had many bandaid repaired leaks through 4 different home owners. Our 1st time we caught bit fairly early and repiped the whole house hot water side … or at least we thought. About 6 weeks ago the small part that we thought they didn't replace leaked. From a certain angle in the bathroom my wife saw a slight reflection of light from about 1/16 of water below the wall board. She thought maybe I had splashed water while washing my hands. The carpet on the other side of the wall had been sucking up the water for a while. After Sheetrock replaced and all walls connected with the same color on 2 floors gets repainted then the Whole carpet and linoleum get replaced. PVC hard wood is stupid expensive to have installed.
Contractor explained the why they fail part that makes sense. He said the shift in temperatures from hot cold and cold hot causes expansion and contraction flex in the pipe.
My daughter does not have a recirculating pump.
Someone, I think Chance said if the temp was too high even for a while it could cause this problem.
That’s that Home Depot bullshit.
that’s brittle to begin with and those crimp rings are garbage. Not all pex is the same. I’d blame the installer for using that nonsense.
Uponor is the only pex to use. The fittings require the pipe and, it’s rings to be expanded before being installed.
The contractor is full of shit. I’ve tossed pex (Uponor brand) in the freezer with both ends capped off and, full of water to test it. The fittings go before the pipe. Brass fittings.
Tell that contractor quit buying garbage to save a buck. Coming from a licensed plumber.
And, that fucking pipe isn’t even supported correctly. That install pisses me off.
If the contractor “THINKS” it’s because of expanding and, contracting, why fucking install that instead of copper. Because he’s full of shit.
Rant over.
Pex is rated 100 psi at 180*.
HePex is rated higher. It’s sometimes used in commercial kitchen settings which require higher temps.
The old original PEX company went bankrupt it was cheap shit that failed constantly enough there were massive lawsuits.
We also had one fail between the meter in the yard and the house where they had it going under the sewer pipe.
That sucks man. We’ve been seeing issues here in Washington and, Oregon with CPVC lately. It gets brittle over time due to chlorine in the water supply. Most of these installs were from the mid to late 90’s.
If you need a re-pipe, I know a guy 😉
I'm surprised to hear the chlorine in the water was the cause . We built some molds a few years back for chlorinated polyvinyl chloride CPVC. The stuff is incredibly damaging to the molds and cnc equipment used to perform second operation work after molding . Just the degassing from machining it will surface rust a lathe chuck over night . Just from that alone I jumped to the conclusion that nothing would ever break that shit down.
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