Painting Uponor Pex?

jjohanson

jjohanson

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Is is acceptable to paint Uponor Pex?

What are the reasons for or against?
If I will paint the piping, any suggestions on the best type of paint and/or application method?


I have read elsewhere online that Uponor frowns on the practice but said it would be acceptable to spray coat the pipe; however, I couldn't find anything in Uponors literature to confirm this.

I'm asking because I will be installing pex exposed in a daylight basement. The piping will receive no direct sunlight, however, because it will receive minimal reflected sunlight, I thought a coat of paint or covering would be beneficial. Painting would also have some aesthetic value.

Any comments?
 
PEX isn't meant to be used in an exposed installation setting, the risk of damage is too great, and the tubing can deteriorate from UV exposure as you know. And I believe all manufacturers do no recommend painting the tubing.
 
I would ask the manufacturer, but I suspect that since they cannot confirm the chemical content of any paint you might use, even so-called latex, that they would not allow it.
 
I had never read that before

So it says somewhere that painting voids the warranty

I know a fellow that is not going to be happy,
but I don't think he really cares..

I had a couple where we put in about a 500 feet of the
Wirsbo / Uponor PEX and then they sprayed foam insulation into and over all the PEX pipes.....

I asked them about doing that and
they claimed it was OK with
the manufacturer to do this...


I would like to read that information myself , because it does not seem that a mild latex would hurt anything.....

perhaps an oil based paint could have an adverse reaction with the stuff in 15 years or so.....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Interesting about paint voiding the warranty, I'll have to contact Uponor on that.

Re exposed pipe: in my application, the pipe would be well protected from any mechanical damage - it would be mounted to the ceiling, behind insulated heating piping. The location is definitely out of direct sunlight, but the room has a few windows, so the piping would receive some indirect sunlight. I've seen talk on other message boards saying that direct sunlight is the only issue.
I'll contact Uponor on this and report back.
 
master plumber mark said:
I had a couple where we put in about a 500 feet of the
Wirsbo / Uponor PEX and then they sprayed foam insulation into and over all the PEX pipes.....

I had to think back to the house that had spray foam in the walls and remember what came up in regards to the PEX and it wasn't an issue because that spray foam was sprayed in the exterior walls. Pretty heavy duty 2 pound stuff.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I called Uponor this morning and their answers we as follows:

They said that a 100% latex or acrylic exterior house paint would be fine to use on the piping, however, they recommended against an oil based paint.

As for daylight exposure, they said that any exposure to sunlight was unacceptable, indirect or direct. Covering it with a black poly or insulation was an acceptable way to combat this. If follows then that two coats of latex paint should do fine to protect it against indirect sunlight in my application.

Thanks for the responses!
 
As long as it never peels or cracks.

Chances are If it does crack the UV rays will have done their work before you find it.
 
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