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Which seems odd because it's way more earthquake resistant than any thing I can bring to mind. Ridgid, non flexible lines don't do earthquakes well. PEX is damn near earthquake proof.
The CA pipe materials rules are/were all about the unions...
same as Chicago requiring conduit for wiring.
Which seems odd because it's way more earthquake resistant than any thing I can bring to mind. Ridgid, non flexible lines don't do earthquakes well. PEX is damn near earthquake proof.
I like copper plumbing. The big bad issue with copper plumbing is copper theft.
Nobody steals PEX out of a vacant house. PEX also has the huge advantage that it does not split when it freezes.
However, I will not give my final blessing to PEX until 45 years have passed. I've got 2 houses with polybutal plumbing that the the best thing ever, until 45 years later when it is crumbling to dust and getting constant pinholes. PEX is plastic and plastic degrades. So, time will tell.
Copper pipes also degrade from the inside out under constant hard water conditions. I installed a water softener system when I bought my house in 2012 but the prior 43 years without any water softener system did its damage. I now have mostly PEX in the house.
I like copper plumbing. The big bad issue with copper plumbing is copper theft.
Nobody steals PEX out of a vacant house. PEX also has the huge advantage that it does not split when it freezes.
However, I will not give my final blessing to PEX until 45 years have passed. I've got 2 houses with polybutal plumbing that the the best thing ever, until 45 years later when it is crumbling to dust and getting constant pinholes. PEX is plastic and plastic degrades. So, time will tell.
PEX has been used in Europe for many years and here for a little more than 20 years. Plastic does tend to degrade when exposed to UV but that doesn't happen much with plumbing systems. High levels of chlorine doesn't impact Pex. Quite frankly, in my opinion it is better than copper for the following reasons: 1)It doesn't care about the PH of the water. If water is acidic copper can fail within a few short years....I've seen it many, many times. 2) It can expand significantly without bursting, what happens to copper when it freezes? 3) It is easy to install....very little skill necessary. 4) Fewer joints decrease the chance of failure. 5) It can be color coded to denote hot/cold. 5) resistant to corrosion. For some reason, plumbers seem to be adverse to removing the flux.
Pex does have some issue with certain fittings, however, overall it tends to be less problematic than copper. Also keep in mind that copper comes in 3 different thicknesses, k,l.m and builders rarely use the best copper (k). Type "m" is the thinnest and doesn't always last long.
PEX is the king for hacks and diyers because it's quicker and easy. Nothing quick and easy lasts. I'm using copper when i build my house. Plus i bet in a few decades we will see rise in cancer cases because of pex plastic. Who knows really if that plastic is safe in the long run because it hasn't been in the market that long.
our copper pipe wore thin and eventually broke under the front porch where it endered the house . it cost us many thousands to fix .
they had to open up the street , they bored a hole in the wall under the porch . ran a pvc pipe sleeve through than ran a new copper line entering the house in another spot . it was a major job .
on the other hand the house we had in the poconos was all pex and no issues .
Galvanized here often dates from the 1920's here with Copper being the norm post WWII including copper up to 2" for DVW...
Both have been very long lived and just in the past 10 years have I started replacing the galvanized from the street to the homes...
Soft Copper L in coils is what goes in to replace 85+ year old galvanized.
I have had more leaks with copper but it is always at a joint with lots of "Green" from flux... and always type M...
Not too far away one of my Farmer friends had PEX installed... all was good but the downside has been critters gnawing through it in two placed... the runs of exposed galvanized never had any issues in the out buildings except after the first hard freeze the area had after decades with no hard freezes...
I love pex for water lines. PVC for sewer and drains.
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