"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
...
Ron wrote:
I need to repipe my house. I have plumbing running through slab and it
developed a leak. Rather than repair the pipe in the slab and risking
another leak, I'm going to abandon the slab plumbing and run pipe in the
walls and ceilings. I've heard some contractors tell me that I should
use
type 'L' pipe while others tell me type 'M' is fine. Can anyone tell me
the
advantages and disadvantages of either pipe and their experiences with
repiping a house.
any help appreciated.
Ron


Good scheme to go wall/ceiling. If you're where very cold weather
occurs, you'll need to pay attention to insulation in the ceiling.

Rather than rigid "pipe" (either L or M), consider using soft
copper tubing. That's available as Type "L" with the same OD (5/8")
as 1/2" pipe. Much, much easier to pull thru tight spaces and
avoids a lot of soldering/torch work inside spaces.

There is also PEX tubing, which is even easier to work with,
but requires special tooling.

If this house was built in the 50's/60's, there is an even
chance that the existing copper was used for electrical grounding
purposes (sw boxes, recepts, fixtures). When you abandon the
old connections, any grounds will be lost. If you know that
all the wiring was done with Romex w/ground (as an example),
then it's not an issue. Just a heads up.

Jim


I just did some plumbing with PEX for the first time. It is the way to go.
The plumbing supply house that I bought it and the fittings from rented me
the tool to expand the tubing and
pull the
fittings into it. For the difference in price from copper you could afford
to buy your own tool. I think the tool is around $175.
PEX is replacing copper in a lot of new construction because of the ease of
installation and cost.

CR