Quote:
Originally Posted by NailsWI
Why is it such a big "IF" they ever leak. Wouldn't the same be true for all water sources then?
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No, PEX is different. It is a flexible water distribution system using "flexible" (to a point) piping, not a rigid pipe like PVC or copper. It also has this wonderful property that allows it to expand to almost double it's size when frozen solid with water inside and can also handle hi temp's and pressures. Most new homes around here are using it exclusively, the connectors and connections are foolproof, it is simpler to run and much more installation friendly. When we built our cabin I insisted upon it due to the fact that it is occupied generally only on the weekends, and didn't want frozen (subsequently broken)pipes during the winter to ruin a weekend or stuff. I had to have a plumber from Madison do the work because central WI plumbers had not used it and wanted to run PVC. When I did a demonstration by taking a 2' section of the pipe, filling it with water, capping both ends and freezing it solid and then asked the plumber to make it leak, did he come to my way of thinking. He beat it with a hammer, banged it against a tree, even rolled over it with his truck, no leak's. That frozen section was almost double is overall width of the pipe and as it thawed shrunk back to it's original size.
For anyone building a cabin, or redoing the plumbing in a dwelling that you are going to use part time or full time for that matter PEX is the way to go. My father would have put it in our family cabin had it been around at the time, 4 busted pipes in 4 years back when I was a kid due to the loss of electrical heat. He cured it by putting in a drain line and taking out the P traps and draining the toilet every fall. But that meant not using the cabin during the winter.