On Mar 2, 10:32 am, "Andrew" wrote:
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 replaced the entire galvanized system in this house with CPVC back
in the mid 80s, have run 1" water line to the community wall for 1/4
mile in PVC, have run probably 1000 ft or more of PVC irrigation line
over the years. Have never had but 2 leaks. One was my fault, I used
a female PVC to iron adapter (it split on the casting line), the other
was a _very_ slow drip on a hot water line that was in an awkward
place to fit it up. It sealed itself in a week or two.

Copper - most expensive and hardest to work with.

PEX - cheaper but the fittings are a bit expensive and special tools
are required.

PVC/CPVC - cheapest, simplest and all fittings are available
everywhere, no special tool required. A hacksaw, small pipe wrench
(for iron to pvc adapters) and a can of glue is all that is required.
You can chop out many feet of line and fittings and just toss it at a
cost of only a few dollars for replacement material.