"Andrew" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 2, 3:41 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:
"Andrew" wrote in message

ups.com...

I'm rehabbing a bathroom on the second floor of my old house in
Philadelphia, and I'm running all new supply lines. I'll be tapping
into copper in the basement, and I have a wide open chase to get to
the second floor. What should I run? Copper is getting awfully
expensive these days, and I'm curious about the cpvc and pex. The
simplicity really appeals to me. What's the word on the reliability
of the plastics? Are they really easier to work with? What about
durability? Am I going to have to make sure that all the connections
are easily accessible? I'm just curious about general opinions people
have and what to watch out for. Thanks,

Andrew

I just finished re-plumbing my old galvanized pipes and I used PEX. If
you
search a little on this group you'll probably find a few of my old posts
on
this very topic. I waver back and forth between PEX and copper,
reliability
is a big question in my mind, the issues with Polybutalene are too real
and
in my mind PEX MIGHT possibly have the same problems??? I still went
with
it, it's a snap to install, can be very wasteful when it comes to the
tubing, but the tubing is very cheap. Common fittings are available
locally
and are reasonably inexpensive. Personally I think copper and PEX are a
wash when it comes to small jobs, but that's just me.

PEX looks very messy, so if the tubing is exposed it will look dangerous
and
half-assed to the casual observer - but that's just what it looks like.

Yeah, everything will be concealed, so it won't be that big a deal.
Having nearly set my house on fire several times sweating copper, the
snap connections really appeal to me. As long as they're reliable,
the cost almost doesn't even matter. The manifolds seem really
convenient too. One other thing, since you've been living with PEX
for awhile, is there any taste or smell to the water that comes
through it? I was wondering if maybe the hot water lines in
particular might be noticeable.

Maybe at first, but after about 2 days that's all gone.

One thing, PEX expands when it gets hot - make sure none of your connections
are confined.