Q about manibloc plumbing system - good?

Hi, we are looking at purchasing a house and it has a Manibloc modular manifold plumbing system. What is this and is it better than a regular system? Are there any known problems/issues with the system? If I want to replace fixtures or do routine maintenance do I need special items/more $$?

Thanks for your expert advice and opinions!

A traditional plumbing system is sort of like a tree with branches. If you need to shut something off, it may not have an individual shutoff and you might end up shutting down the whole house.

With a manifold (generic name) system, they typically run a line from that to each fixture separately (home run). This gives you much easier control, since they (usually) have an individual shut off for each run. It usually is plumbed with pex, and doesn't require any fittings except at the start and the end, so there is less chance for leaks. You can size each individual run for it's load, and because it is smoother without angles and various fittings in between, can often flow more water (but, the inside is smaller than the equivalent sized pipe).

they are ok

they work ok....

i dont care for them that much, but
they seem to hold up ok....

the shut offs to each fixture are sort of cheap, but
they are not supposed to be turned on and off
every day. so they should work good with seldom use
for decades...


how well they will function in 30 years from now is
not going to be my problem/.....

manifold

My main experience with them is that the valves tend to fail if used too frequently, so a manifold with unused valves is preferable so the failed one can be discontinued and the line switched to one of the unused ones.

HJ thats a good idea

I never thought of that.....

you could add on an extra 5 hot and cold valves to the bottom of the
manifold that are left dormant....

then when the cheap stops begin to fail, just cap them off

and move them to the new ports.....


I worry about the o-rings beginning to leak and fail in the actual
mainblock itself.... thats the worst thing that could happen

I am very much an amatuer. My husband & I started building a house in December. My dad, who was a builder all his life was in charge. He passed away in January, so Tommy & I are now doing it all solo. We went with a Vanguard Manabloc system. We installed it this past weekend. It went great. I couldn't believe how easy it was. We haven't tested it yet, but everything looks great. We added an apartment for my mom after Dadddy dies, so we plumbed 2 kitchens, 2 washers, & 3 1/2 baths! We went with two separate manablocs & 2 water heaters. I really like the fact that there are no fittings in the walls. I ordered a whole house package, I wish I had known more about how exactly it worked, & I could have saved money by buying my parts I needed individually. But I was clueless until it came in & I actually started seeing it all fit together. I think for a DIYer it is a good system. I am glad that I overbought on the manabloc & have 6 unused ports after reading the last few messages.

that should work fine

considering that usually you only turn off and on

the main valves once in a blue moon anyway, it should work out

good for 30 + years..