Type M vs.Type L copper for repipe

Hi all -

Found out about this site from the good folks at johnbridge.com.

I am in the midst of relocating a bathroom. As long as I had the floor ripped out and the majority of the plumbing entry points exposed, I decided to repipe the entire house (two story). Existing pipe was galvanized from the 60's and in pretty bad shape. Having grown up around critters that eat through plastic irrigation lines, I opted to use copper for the repipe. 1" for the primary, 3/4" for branches, and 1/2" for terminals.

I have two questions:

1) After getting back from my day at work, I noticed my plumber (a really good guy, btw) had used Type M rigid to begin the repipe. Type M meets the code here, but I am the type to overbuild ...so I would have used Type L out of hand. But is it the consensus here that type M is just fine? Or do I tell him to start over and/or continue with type L? (Like I said, he is a good guy who has done other work for me, so I am having this done T&M; any additonal cost will all be on me. I am ok with spending the money if it will make an actual difference in performance or longevity).

2) When doing the connection at the outside of the house, it was discovered that the old galvy had completely deteriorated - it literally fell apart in his hands. Amazing the it held together at all. So he is going to replace the line to the meter with 1 1/4" schedule 80. Is this more than sufficent, or should I be pressing for Type K copper?

Thanks for any help guys!

- Darren

If you want L and will pay him to redo the job, go for it. M is fine. Both should out live you.

How many feet from curb to house?

pipe

! 1/4" sch 80 what? PVC or steel? If it is PVC, then the opening is not much larger than 1" copper so you might as well use that and avoid the connections every 20 feet.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

If you are all of the opinion that Type M will outlive me, then I'll just let it be. This is a very mild climate with non-aqggressive water, so....

1 1/4" Schedule 80 PVC from meter to main, about 30 foot length. There is some old-school resistance to using copper underground around here - it's not the first time I have encountered a plumber and/or old timer who wouldn't use it under ground ....could that be due to local soil conditions? Not a problem with the grounding, I can just drive a spike.

If it were me I would use copper for a 30' run. Ask why they wouldn't use copper.

I agree with Cass. Unless there are soil conditions that would adversely affect copper, I'd go with type K copper.

three times more

the type K will cost probably 3 times more than the
sch 80 plastic......

either one will work fine


I am not sure what stuff you are talking about
but at my home the sch80 3/4 came in a 500 foot roll
and very cheap

I got the crestline sch 80 black stuff comming into my home all 350 feet of it.


The K-- SOFT copper roll is probably worth doing for a short run....
and it also gives you an extra

"ground" for your electtical and plumbing system in general...

The man only needs 30 feet for gosh sake, let's not get carried away with cost difference for that amount. Yeah, if he was looking a 500 feet, it would be a valid concern, but not 30 feet.

!!!

Gary, sorry If I get carried away.........

I type faster than I can speak so I have a tendency to ramble on......

Boy! I'm sure glad I'm not the only one.

Thanks for all the info, guys!