Bill wrote:
They say for plumbing, you only need to know two things. Poop does not
flow uphill and the water valve is out front... Not so I am finding
with old construction major plumbing replacement work!

I've only done limited plumbing work before, replace a water line, add
a new line, replace a valve, etc. But now I am ripping out an entire
water system and replacing it in an old 2 x 4 wall house...

And I'm learning this stuff is not easy! Lots of thinking ahead as to
how you can and can't route the lines.

The running of plumbing lines (including large drain and vent lines)
is quite contrary to 2 x 4 structural support and wood framing! There
are bearing and sheer walls which can't have large holes cut in them.
Or 2 x 4 floor joists which simply can't have large holes cut in them
(no room to add additional support). Seems to do plumbing work, you
need to be a bit of a structural engineer!

And you don't want to run a water line on an outside wall because it
might freeze in winter.

Or maybe if you run a hot water line up in the ceiling, it will retain
its heat longer...

...And the pipe can easily be run up that wall, and across that
ceiling, BUT you can't cut a large hole in the top plate at the corner
because it is a major structural support!

Adding a whole house water filter, you need to leave room below the
filter so it can be removed for cleaning.

And thinking of maintenance/replacement in future years, how would
someone disassemble a section of pipe? Humm... Should add a union
there!

And on and on... I can't imagine how they did this with galvanized
pipe way back when. (I'm using PVC/CPVC. I don't like PEX because I've
heard too many tales of leaks.)

I think I like electrical work much better. Small holes you can drill
almost anywhere and does not need to go in a straight line. And
electric lines do not freeze...

Use PEX. Dealing with whatever leak that might pop up will be far easier
than replumbing with conventional pipe.

In the best case, PEX can only leak at one of two places: The manifold or
the terminus. Standard piping has a dozen places, from the main supply to
the faucet, it could leak.

On Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:04:18 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Use PEX. Dealing with whatever leak that might pop up will be far easier
than replumbing with conventional pipe.

In the best case, PEX can only leak at one of two places: The manifold or
the terminus. Standard piping has a dozen places, from the main supply to
the faucet, it could leak.


OP: "... I don't like PEX because I've heard too many tales of
leaks.."

My PEX has minimal connections and less chance of leaks. My water
fixtures don't even have stop/shut off valves. All done at the
manifold. This eliminates another potential leak point.