Pex Questions

[rosky]

Hi ya'll, I'm new to major plumbing jobs and brand new to this forum. I realized yesterday that I need to replace the plumbing in my 23 yr old home. I'm sick and tired of patching random pinholes in the current copper, then having to replace more drywall and carpet in different rooms (it's gonna look like a multi-colored leopard before long). I'm planning on going with pex tubing rather than messing with the copper pipe that's in my foundation. Having said all that, I have some questions.
1. PEX tubing comes in different sizes: Which one is right for a single family home?
2. I've seen on a couple other posts that there is a variance in quality: What should I look for quality wise?
3. I plan on tying in to the water line outside the house and runing PVC up to the attic to supply water to the manifold: Is this normal? or should I go another route?
That's all I can think of for now. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[havasu]

I would not run PVC anywhere in my home. You can pick up heavy duty PEX 3/4" and run these lines up to the manifolds, provided you want to run home runs. It will cost a few dollars more, but you will have no couplings or tees at all to deal with. Once you get to your manifold(s) then run out with 1/2" in blue and red colors, so you will be certain to hook up cold to cold and hot to hot.

 

[AllAces777]

We ran pex piping here in Las Vegas for over 15 years with companies using Wirsbo, Vangaurd (Viega) and Zurn (RTS). They are all good and have different connection methods. Wirsbo uses an expansion joint, Viega uses a standard crimp joint and RTS uses a hose clamp style joint. Personally I'm found of Wirsbo and the expansion joint, the tool is pretty expensive, but I feel the joint system is the best. As for sizing, you would size it normally using recommended procedures in the code book or look at the website for recommendations.

I also would not use PVC for water distribution inside the house, it is a UPC violation, don't know about IPC though.

 

[rosky]

Thanks for the input.
I had no idea that the different brands would require different tools/techniques (I'm still in research mode).
As far as the PVC, I was just going to use that to run up the outside of my house, then connect to 3/4 in pex to run through the attic to the manifold. Does that make any sense?

 

[rosky]

I've been pricing supplies, and I'm thinking that I should buy a combo (tubing, tool, fittings, couplings etc) plus a couple hundred extra feet of tubing. What are ya'lls thoughts?
I was looking at pexsupply.com and they had a couple of options for packages. Three different companies were Vieaga, Wirsbo and HydroPex.
I now know what AllAces meant about the expensive tool from Wirsbo. Viega's tools are also a little spendy as well.
I'm guessing that the really affordable (seeming) set-up from HydroPex is "really affordable for a reason"? Any/all opinions welcome.
I don't have a problem with spending $$$ on tools to do the job right, I'm just trying to keep this little adventure
as affordable as possible. I'd hate to spend several hundred dollars on a tool I'll use one time. However, the end result is my goal, I don't want to use cheap stuff just to have to re-do everything in a few years. Again...thoughts/comments welcome. Thanks

 

[SlowDrip]

Although I am not familiar with the HydroPex brand, the tool appears to be a fairly standard ring crimper. I would want to handle one before making a final judgement call, but the price seems about right for a retail grade tool.

I have never used the Wirsbo expansion style clamps, so I can't say much there but I vastly prefer the more common crimp ring style of fasteners to the clamp style The crimp rings, once crimped, are solid as hell. The clamps are...not.

 

[rosky]

After much number crunching and discussion with my wife (who operates a day care in the home) I hired pros to come in and do the job. I'm really glad I did! I didn't realize how much actually went into a re-pipe. I'd still be messing with this 2 weeks from now and we'd probably be living in a hotel.
I have to go behind them and fix the drywall, and was initially really PO'd about that, but that's a better than being without water for however long it would've taken me to figure out I was in over my head.
Thanks for everybody's assistance.

 

[havasu]

Sometimes it's better to bite the bullet and pay to have something done quick and correct. At least now if a problem pops up, you can just give them a call to fix it. Thanks for the follow up!

 

[Will]

Wirsbo is the best, but cost the most too. Crimp PEX works just as well as the Wirsbo system, but you lose alittle pressure and the PEX-A(Wirsbo) is of higher quality than PEX-B(crimp) IMO. Personally I use the crimp style with SS cinch rings. Never had a problem with Wirsbo expansion, copper crimp rings or the SS cinch rings.