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dpb

wrote:
I plan to replace a good portion of galvanized Pipe with PEX. I've
read a few articles on the subject, and it looks fairly straight
forward... unscrew the old pipe, put on a threaded plastic connector
and attach PEX to it.

How likely is it that my 1965 built house's pipes will break under me
trying to unscrew them? If one breaks I'll have to buy a set of dies
and rethread the darned thing, and I really don't want to do that.

Also, is this a job a fella can really do himself? Or should I just
pay the $2,000 to have a plumber do it?

If you're talking of interior plumbing only, not buried, 40 yr
galvanized is pretty unlikely to be so bad as to be unworkable unless
you have extremely bad water conditions or other reasons for galvanic
corrosion. Signs to look out for would be if you're already having
random pinhole leaks, etc., frequently. If not, I'd say your chances
are quite good.

Of course, if it's that bad, rethreading really isn't likely going to
be an option anyway, as there isn't going to be enough left to thread
and have a sufficient wall thickness/strength to make a seal when you
try to thread on a new fitting.

It's doable. Whether you'll feel it was worth the money will probably
depend on how good access you have to what you need to get to and just
a general level of comfort w/ doing repair work...if it seems a stretch
to consider, chances are you may regret it. OTOH, if it's just not
being familiar w/ PEX itself and you do stuff routinely, it's just a
new skill to learn...