Attaching PEX pipe inside a finished wall

[Paul Coburn]

I am selling this home and the home inspector complains that the stub outs under the bathroom sinks are not strapped inside the wall. The house is plumed with PEX or some equivalent. It has been that way for 12 years since new with no noises or problems, but the buyer wants it secured. Is there some device that will secure this, short of cutting into the back of the cabinet, sheet rock and strapping it to the stud, which may or may not be in the right position any way, the patching and replacing the cabinet skin? I envision some device that will clamp around the pipe and screw to the cabinet skin and hide behind the escutcheon.

 

[Reach4]

A tie-wrap?

What access do you have?

How about looping the tie-wrap over and behind the pex elbow. Add something inside the cabinet into the loop, and draw the wrap tight.

I don't guess you have another buyer who you had to turn away because you were under contract.

I am not a plumber.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

Why?.........................................Is the home inspector deciding how we plumb now? That's pretty much how a lot of PEX is being installed now. Not that I run it loose like that, I like to secure my stuff, but I also can't say it's wrong to run it loose. I see that a lot. If every inspector were to challenge the way it's being done now, he must be writing a lot of change orders.

There are entire repipes and new homes done, with permits and inspections where nothing is solid. It's all PEX.

 

[Michael Young]

I am selling this home and the home inspector complains that the stub outs under the bathroom sinks are not strapped inside the wall. The house is plumed with PEX or some equivalent. It has been that way for 12 years since new with no noises or problems, but the buyer wants it secured. Is there some device that will secure this, short of cutting into the back of the cabinet, sheet rock and strapping it to the stud, which may or may not be in the right position any way, the patching and replacing the cabinet skin? I envision some device that will clamp around the pipe and screw to the cabinet skin and hide behind the escutcheon.

Hand the home inspector a code book and tell him "show me"

The house was inspected when it was built and it PASSED INSPECTION. If they want custom work done that exceeds code requirements, then they can freakin’ PAY FOR THAT SHIT!

but buy something like this. pipe it around the pipe. zip in two screws. hide it with escutcheon. Tell the inspector he's a freakin’ twat and charge the homeowner $1200 for the inconvenience. cocksuckers

 

[MKS]

Tell them when they buy the house they can invite the inspector over to help make it right.

 

[Jadnashua]

What some people do during construction is to terminate the PEX with one of these

, it's nice, but overkill for most applications. It's nice when the shutoff is rigid verses moving around when you need it. But, since most people rarely need to shut things off, during that time, you just need to be a little careful. Not worth it, IMHO to retrofit.

 

[Reach4]

I screwed brass adapters into 3/8" FIP x 3/8" OD Compression Angle Stop Valves.

I got split escutcheons that were made for 3/8 IPS.

I made some wooden pieces to fit behind those to prevent crushing when I tightened the screws. I put the escutcheons around the exposed threaded part of the adapters, and screwed each escutcheon in place through the two holes. That held the valves in place.

One of the brass adapters was to copper tubing, which I adapted to PEX a few feet later. The other was connected to expansion pex. I don't remember if I had an intermediate adapter to connect between the valve and the pex or if I found a 3/8 MIP to 1/2 pex adapter. The same mounting method could be used with stop valves with 1/2 FIP threads, and using an escutcheon made for 1/2 inch IPS.

I had attached the old semi-rigid tubing connecting the faucet to the new stop valves before fixing the escutcheons in place, because that is what I was able to do. Otherwise I would have used flex lines.