PEX hookup for basement finish

[Djarchow]

I am finishing my basement. I will be adding a bathroom (toilet, sink, shower) and a bar area with a sink and dishwasher.

Our house is 14 years old and was plumbed with Wirsbo PEX-A. My main copper manifold only has one hot and one cold unused fitting. Our master bath is directly above the basement bathroom and the plumbers ran about two 70' runs of 3/4" PEX to the master bath and used two copper tees/sub manifolds to branch off to all the fixtures. I have at least one open fitting on each sub manifold. The plumbers added about 4" of PEX to each unused fitting and capped them.

It would be most cost effective to connect into the existing sub manifolds in that area for the basement bath rather than having to add an additional manifold in the mechanical room and home-run the 70' to the basement bath. However, the sub manifolds are tucked up under the master bath whirlpool tub right by the access panel for the motor. Working on them in that spot would be tight. I could also unscrew the manifolds from the framing and either pull them out some or down some through the subfloor into the basement. I know PEX expansion fittings/connections are strong but not sure how much pulling and bending they would take before the existing connections could leak, especially after 14 years.

The other option is to add a couple extra tees in the mechanical room and then branch off those for the bar and bathroom.

The inspector stopped over to check some venting I was doing and said I should just cut in some tees on the existing PEX lines for all the fixtures using Sharkbites and not even mess with the Wirsbo connectors. This seemed sketchy to me, especially once everything was drywalled.

Which do you suggest? I do have access to a Wirsbo expansion tool and rings.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Dennis

 

[Terry]

I prefer using the expansion fittings whenever I can. No plumber likes leaving a Sharkbite in a covered space, though they are used that way too. It's nice to have that option.
The 3/4" on the hot and cold is plenty for two bathrooms.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Djarchow]

I prefer using the expansion fittings whenever I can. No plumber likes leaving a Sharkbite in a covered space, though they are used that way too. It's nice to have that option.
The 3/4" on the hot and cold is plenty for two bathrooms.

Terry,

Thanks for the quick reply; I appreciate it very much. I wasn't too worried about the amount of water available since the basement bath will get used a lot less than the master. What about trying to hook into the existing tees/manifolds? Will the existing connections withstand some pulling wiggling if I have to move the tees to have room to work. I am attaching a photo of the sub-manifold.

Thanks again!

Dennis