John/Charleston
Junior Member
I have a customer who has a ~1990 era house that was plumbed with Polybutylene with plastic fittings. The first fitting just failed and it fortunately was in the basement bath so damages weren't as bad as they could have been. It's a finished basement though and it's still a lot of damages and has given the owner an idea of what it would be like to have this happen in an upper floor bath. It's a 5 bdrm, 4.5 ba house and they're talking to me about replumbing the whole house. (I hold a residential builders license but not a plumbing license).
As a good contractor I'm trying to research the best way to go about this. First plumber I talked to mentioned he uses Dura-pex. Looking up pex here and online in general, I see lots of nightmare stories including lots with Dura-pex. I've learned that there are different grades of pex (a,b,c) but don't know if that's the best gauge to decide which if any pex to use. Copper in a job like this would drive the cost up considerably, I think.
So, is ANY pex safe or is the jury out on that?
Also, I'm figuring the sheetrock/wall surfacing repairs are likely to cost more than the actual plumbing work what with the owners propensity for Ralph Lauren paints, wallpaper, etc. Any tips on how to minimize those damages? I'm wondering if I got a decent inspection camera would it help minimize the necessary holes? No offense to the plumbers here but usually I see plumbers make much more of a mess than necessary when creating access behind sheetrock. I'm thinking that if I can pre-map out the system, I might be able to make the wall cuts ahead and make a neater, easier to repair job of it.
Finally, I'm unclear from research as to whether the pb is a problem or is it just the plastic fittings? I'd always heard that the pipe was fine as long as brass fittings were used but online research results are unclear on that score. I'm wondering if it would be possible to just replace the fittings. I'm assuming not, or I'd have come across this idea but just checking...
Thanks!
As a good contractor I'm trying to research the best way to go about this. First plumber I talked to mentioned he uses Dura-pex. Looking up pex here and online in general, I see lots of nightmare stories including lots with Dura-pex. I've learned that there are different grades of pex (a,b,c) but don't know if that's the best gauge to decide which if any pex to use. Copper in a job like this would drive the cost up considerably, I think.
So, is ANY pex safe or is the jury out on that?
Also, I'm figuring the sheetrock/wall surfacing repairs are likely to cost more than the actual plumbing work what with the owners propensity for Ralph Lauren paints, wallpaper, etc. Any tips on how to minimize those damages? I'm wondering if I got a decent inspection camera would it help minimize the necessary holes? No offense to the plumbers here but usually I see plumbers make much more of a mess than necessary when creating access behind sheetrock. I'm thinking that if I can pre-map out the system, I might be able to make the wall cuts ahead and make a neater, easier to repair job of it.
Finally, I'm unclear from research as to whether the pb is a problem or is it just the plastic fittings? I'd always heard that the pipe was fine as long as brass fittings were used but online research results are unclear on that score. I'm wondering if it would be possible to just replace the fittings. I'm assuming not, or I'd have come across this idea but just checking...
Thanks!