Seeking advice on pipe/fitting options

[D4v30]

Hi Guys,

I'm replacing a shower and tub valve and was hoping to get some advice on which type of pipe to go with pex or copper.

I would like to get the best pressure and flow rate possible but the valve is also in a tight and awkward area to access. My initial thought, just to make life easier, was to go with 1/2" pex but after I did some research it seems the ID on 1/2" pex is smaller then that of copper. Not wanting to buy any special tools for crimping or expanding I was thinking of doing sharkbite the whole way through. I know the majority of the flow loss with pex occurs because of the crimp fittings being so much smaller so I was wondering if using the sharkbite fittings would negate much of that loss.

I could also go with copper but that will be a bit more of a pain. I have to replace the pipes down to the basement because the way they did it is terrible and I think it's part of why we have such poor flow at the tub. The hot water line goes through 6 elbows and 2 couplings in between the main line and the valve. Using copper I could knock that down to just 3 elbows and 1 coupling by re-routing the pipe. With pex I could eliminate them all together.

So I guess the question is, which would yield the best results, copper or pex with sharkbite?

 

[D4v30]

Anyone?

 

[Helper Dave]

Copper would obviously give you the best results. Shortening the run, if that's what you can do, would be the biggest boost.

In new construction, we go Pex to the shower valve, copper to the tub spout (a must), and to the shower head (not absolutely necessary, but it helps keep it all sturdy).

It depends on what you're branching off from, too. If it's just a long, lone run of 1/2, copper would be smart; but if there's 3/4 or larger nearby, it doesn't make much of a difference.

 

[D4v30]

Hi Dave,

Yes it's just a 1/2" copper run that it comes off of, really poorly thought out one. There's tons of T's and elbows everywhere, I should be able to cut a T and 3 elbows out of the run to the shower valve on the hot valve so I'm hoping that makes a difference.

I had planned to do copper to the spout but I was thinking of just doing pex to the shower as the port to the shower is very restricted anyways. It looks like the port to the shower is restricted down to 3/8, is this how they all are? I don't want a trickle of a shower.

I'm starting to think just doing copper would be the best even though it would be a massive pain. I could do 3/4 pex but I cant find any 1/2" FIP to 3/4" push fittings to attach it to the valve and I don't want to spend all the money on a crimping or expanding tool.

 

[arctic bill]

I find that water flow through pex fittings slows things down. shark bit fitings cost a bit usually $7 and up SharkBite - Pipe & Fittings - Plumbing - The Home Depot
I like copper

 

[D4v30]

Skarkbite is quite expensive here, about $12-$24 CAD. But it's cheaper then buying a crimping tool for a small job like this and I think they aren't as restrictive?

I'm weiging the cost with copper, if I can use type M it's not so bad but type L is nearly twice the price. I'm in Ontario Canada where I believe code says type M is fine but there seems to be a lot of debate online.