On Jul 9, 7:09*am, Jay Hanig wrote:
On 7/8/2010 10:31 PM, wrote:
OK, here's my scenario. *I have a typical ranch/rambler with the attached
garage on the front in an L-shape. *Previously a small part of the
garage-to-house entry was boxed in to create a laundry room, and this is
where the water heater also lives.
What I want to do is add an outside water spigot on the front of the garage.
The simplest way is to tap the cold water line in the laundry room, go up
into the garage roof framing, over and then down the front wall. *The
laundry room is heated space, but the garage has been known to freeze in the
winter, so I'll add a cutoff inside the heated space.
Mainly my question is one of material. *The obvious best is rigid copper,
but that's a buttload of work, expensive, and I'm lousy at sweating. *Plus I
have a semi-enclosed bit of framing where I have to make a 90-degree turn
and can't really get in to lay pipe.
CPVC? *Affordable and not hard to use, but the same problem with getting
through that boxed-in bit of framing.
PEX? *I like it, but have never worked with it, and I don't have the right
tools.
PEX is easier than you think and you don't have to pay a fortune for the
tools. *Here's a PEX cinch clamp crimper for $31 shipped:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=290407071641
The only other stuff you need are some stainless steel cinch clamps.
Here's a kit from the same seller that has the crimping tool, 100 clamps
(of 1/2" and 3/4" size) and a tubing cutter for $65.
Another alternative is to rent from Home Depot or Lowes. *They've got
these available.
My girlfriend asked me to install an outdoor spicket for her to use
watering her flowers. I agreed to do it thinking I would be working with
copper. *When I got under her house, imagine my horror when I saw PEX!
I didn't know anything about it.
A little research initially suggested that the tools ran $150 on up to
about $300. *My horror increased. *But then I found there is more than
one type of PEX clamp and the cinch type use a much cheaper tool. *Then
I watched a youtube video on how to make PEX connections.
It's really easy... much easier than working with copper. *You just make
a 90° cut in your tubing, stuff the fitting into the tube and then apply
the clamp. *You have to put a little ass on the clamp to make it go but
it's very positive; you'll know when it's right. *After you've done a
couple of them it gets very quick and easy.
The fittings and the PEX itself are available at any plumbing supply
department... once again Lowes or HD.
Jay- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
I'd find an alternative location. That much exposed pipe is going to
get frozen by someone forgetting eventually.