Need some advice on copper fittings

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jan 18, 2024
Messages
15
Reaction score
10
Location
Indianapolis
When my house was originally built it was on a well. They plumbed in the well and then split the service into what I think of as systems. One 3/4 copper system fed the 4 outside hose bibs and the other 3/4 copper system fed the appliances in the house. When we switched to city water I, and the plumber I hired, thought this is easy, keep the hose bibs system on the well and tie the new city service into the other system. I realized after some water issues in my basement that our kitchen cold water and the water for the refrigerator ice and water were tied into the well water line instead of the cold water line. When the whole house was on a well this didn't really matter, but now I need to switch some things around to get the kitchen off the well. My plan is this:
IMG_3608.jpeg

I'm going to cap the well system just past the 3rd of 4 hose bibs and jump the cold water to the old well line. This will feed the Sink, fridge, and one hose bib with city water. I figure to T out of the cold water down to an elbow the across and elbow back up. My problem is this:
Image 1-19-24 at 10.33 PM.jpg
Looking up from below there is very little access to the pipes. My copper sweating skills are meh to begin with and with the confined areas, and my luck, I would probably catch something on fire, electrocute myself while trying to put the fire out, and pull down the main sewer run as I fell off the ladder. Not to mention the gas line. I would like to use compression fittings If possible but I am having a hard time finding any locally. I really dont want to use Sharkbite fittings but just running up to the depot and picking some up is starting to sound appealing. We're planning on a significant remodel sometime in the next 5-10 years these water lines would need to be moved, so 10yrs would probably be the max they'd be in place. The area is accessible in my basement so a leak would be easy to spot. Are there any other alternatives that I'm overlooking? Thanks for any advice you can provide.
 
Last edited:
I was in a similar situation as yours, needing to re-pipe the cold water line in my basement and knowing a re-do of all the lines would need to be done in the next 2-3 years. I dislike sharkbite as well but figured it was the least amount of hassle and would be temporary. Did the sharkbite, and short term turned out to be 4-5 years till all the old copper lines were replaced with new, and the sharkbite connectors held up perfectly fine.
I made sure I followed instructions, ensured the replacement pipe was perfectly round (as best I could, and cut off the ends if I was in doubt), and installed the sharkbite once. They can be removed and reused but I believe it weakens them.
Good luck
 
Thanks for everyone's advice. @breplum I ended top going PEX as you suggested, but with shark bite fittings. It's all working, but I want to replace it with true PEX fittings asap. I just don't trust the shark bites after using them.
 
I don't use sharkbite fittings unless it is an emergency.
Believe me, I really didn’t want to use them either but It’s hard for me to justify the cost of PEX tools to the wife for this one small project. Once we start doing some more remodeling to the house and some of our properties, I will definitely be tooling up most likely for PEX A. As it stands now, I have a water sensor directly underneath the connectors, and I’m going down there four or five times a day making sure there’s no leak. After about a week if it hasn’t leaked, I think I’ll feel a little better. I should know pretty quickly if they start to leak.
 
Back
Top