Copper or PEX?

[daves87rs]

Okay, my first order of business with my house....

Due to some druggie/thief, I'm going to have to do a bit of re-piping in the basement. I'm up in the air on which I should use. I know copper is good stuff, and it can add resale value. On the other hand, PEX is cheaper, won't be affected by the weather (hot/cold), and much less likely to get taken again. I've done a bit of research, but it didn't come up with what I wanted. So, I come to you guys. What would you use?

Please be kind, since I'm still more in the learning stage here..

 

[SHOPete]

Copper. If you live there a long time, the cost difference per year will be small. If you move soon, you will lose on the re-sale value. Maybe even lose some buyer(s). PEX only if you flat out don't have the money for copper, or you have a really squirrelly routing issue. PEX may be "just as good", but it's not the same. Good luck!

 

[Rand]

pex because it wont be stolen again.

it happened once right?

 

[tomcat27]

are you doing the work yourself? how long will you live there? I'd probably use PEX. no reason not to - unless you are selling soon.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Pex is fairly standard today, especially with new homes. I don't think you are giving up anything by using pex.

 

[Win]

I'm gutting and restoring a commercial building I have and I've used PEX everywhere I can for the new water lines.

Some of the runs would be really difficult (expensive) with copper, and I don't worry about thieves taking the PEX. There's still plenty of new copper wire, though.

I don't know that it would make any difference to me one way or the other whether a house had copper or PEX water lines.

 

[Quest]

PEX all the way.

PEX can easily lasts 50+yrs, chemically stable and will not "thin" out over time like rigid copper piping in service over the years.

Make sure you buy the right crimping tool and bags of crimps.

Q.

 

[JOD]

I would absolutely go PEX. I used it for my heat, but was nervous about using it for my whole house plumbing. It was my one regret during my massive house restoration. Water chemistry has changed, and so has the quality of copper pipe, so strictly from a durability standpoint, I think it has an edge. I'm not saying copper is "bad" by any means, but I prefer PEX. It's also more flexible in terms of how you route things, given the nature of the pipe. You can have fewer unions, and it's more practical to just do home runs to one big manifold vs. teeing off a bunch of stuff (that's the other thing I regret!).

If you're redoing all of your plumbing, you should do it so you can turn off each room individually. You'll be thankful later.

Lastly, as far as resale value, I've never seen this as an issue with PEX.

 

[callbay]

I have sold houses for 27 years and not one buyer or prospective buyer ever asked what kind of plumbimng a house had or commented on that they noticed it.

Go with pex. Copper is not better. Copper is a pain in the you know what to install and repair yourself and expensive to have it instaalled.

Check out these "Shark Bite" fittings. http://www.sharkbiteplumbing.com/

They are more expensive but easy to use in hard to get to spots that are hard to solder or join Pex to copper. The Shark bites can be used for Pex, copper, or CPVC plastic pipe in any combination. Lowes carries them.

Have fun.

 

[JustinH]

I just remodeled a bath here in my old house. I needed 2 feet of copper pipe for the new shower fixtures, I just stayed with copper since I don't own a tool to crimp the PEX fittings.

If I were plumbing a whole house, I would use PEX absolutely.

 

[Smokescreen]

Pex. It has progressed a bit over the past couple of years. You can do it all yourself with minimal tools or expertise. Sharkbite connectors almost rids the need for tools..almost.

 

[expat]

Pex!

Buy or rent the proper crimping tool.

Copper is as good as the weakest elbow of the poorest joint.

 

[IanInCalgary]

PEX. Water flowing through PEX piping is a lot quieter than through copper.

Ian

 

[IndyIan]

I see crimpers for both 1/2" and 3/4" for $90 on sale these days. The code up here was no hidden crimped connections for some reason. I put some 90's in the wall to get a good straight exit for some of the fixtures. Anyways I have a zillion crimps in the basement for plumbing and heating and no leaks in 8 years.
Also I hear pex can stand some freezing, but I haven't tested that yet thankfully.

 

[dishdude]

My house built in 2007 has PEX. No issues so far!

 

[MNgopher]

You had the copper stolen once right? Then go with PEX. Really not a lot of drawbacks, other than not having a very, very long track record to point to. I've got both in my home now, and prefer the PEX.

 

[daves87rs]

Wow...at the moment, it looks like pex would be the winner by far. And for all the right reasons too.


Though I am surprised that copper did not get as many votes. I really think it has to do with the issues that come with it....

 

[bigmike]

PEX must be popular up north. I rarely see it down here. Everything is PVC and CPVC.

 

[Smoky14]

Locally we are having problems with the fittings leaking and bursting. They have just come out with pex fittings which they hope will cure the problem. It seems to be an electrosis problem of some kind. Water just won't stay in the pipes.

Most pipe runs are in the attic, slab foundations, and it really makes a mess.

 

[Blaze]

Originally Posted By: Smoky14
Locally we are having problems with the fittings leaking and bursting. They have just come out with pex fittings which they hope will cure the problem. It seems to be an electrosis problem of some kind. Water just won't stay in the pipes.

Most pipe runs are in the attic, slab foundations, and it really makes a mess.
Some of the Pex fittings burst in my mothers house in Calif. It did have something to do with the reaction of the water eroding the fittings. Its been resolved since with new updated fittings. I'm up north and was going to run Pex in my barn to the auto-waters for the horse stalls then someone told me mice will chew through the tubing if they are common in your barn... Not sure if thats true or not.