Ask the Builder: DIY-friendly water lines in your home

I am blessed to be able to use this column to share my knowledge. It enables me to enable you to do many tasks that you might never have thought of yourself.

In the past, working with water pipes required a certain level of experience. You had to know how to solder copper pipes. I recorded a step-by-step video of this process over 20 years ago and it is still on my website. The good news is you can solder with a simple torch you buy at a big store. Or you buy an expensive tool that eliminates the need for soldering. You can use copper press fittings that seal the connection with a rubber O-ring.

However, the advent of plastic tubing has revolutionized the way plumbing is installed in homes. You have many options today. CPVC hoses are an option, and they’re decades old. When it first came out, it was the absolute highlight. Not like that anymore.

In my opinion, the paradigm shift in plumbing in private households happened with PEX hoses. Previously, a fitting was required every time you change direction with copper or CPVC. Installation took time and expertise, and each fitting became a potential leak point.

PEX hoses can be installed in the same way as Romex electrical cables. Imagine running a 50 foot garden hose through the joists of your home from the utility room to the second floor bathroom. PEX is flexible and you can design your system like mine where you just have one fitting on the manifold in your plant room and the other fitting on the shut off valve under the faucet. Bitches, cats and other mammals have distributors on their chests to allow many small animals to eat at the same time. Manifolds are wonderful things in a plumbing system.

While I’ve never done an actual parallel test, I would say that PEX saves about 95% of the work I would have done installing typical copper tubing from a plant room to a faucet.

What would you say if I told you you could buy the hand tool to install PEX for less than $100? That’s the price a plumber would charge you just to start their truck and drive to your house!

Would you believe me if I told you I could teach you how to install PEX fittings in less than a minute? You would probably think I fell off a ladder and hit my head. To be honest, it’s extremely easy. I made this video for you too and it is also available on AsktheBuilder.com.

PEX can be installed much like an existing daisy chain setup, as is often done with copper or CPVC. In this setup you do not use a distributor. Instead, there are numerous fixtures throughout the house, from which a larger pipe branches off that runs through the house. Think of how branches stick out from a tree trunk or how your blood vessels are located in your own body.

I prefer installing PEX through a distribution system. This requires more PEX tubing but eliminates all the fittings hidden in the walls and ceiling of your home. Every hot and cold water line that feeds a faucet originates in the utility room. There is a separate shut-off valve for each line on the distributor. This allows you to turn off the water to a specific faucet while the water goes to all other faucets in the house. It’s a great feature, believe me.

If you wish, you can mix and match these. Let’s say you need to add a bathroom or kitchen. If you have copper tubing at home and want to use PEX, just solder in a tee with a PEX adapter. The PEX attaches to the brass fitting and you’re good to go!

Should you decide to install PEX yourself, make sure you always attach a strong piece of tape to the cut end of the PEX. This prevents dirt, sawdust, wood shavings, etc. from entering the tube when you pull the tube through your frame.

You can purchase all kinds of metal and plastic accessories that will allow you to cap off the PEX under all your sinks. Be sure to read the installation instructions that came with the PEX and pay attention to the hole sizes.

If you plan to run PEX to a bathroom rain shower, make sure you run two hot and cold lines to ensure adequate water flow. The same also applies to large tubs. Don’t forget to insulate all tubs so the bath water stays nice and hot long enough for you to fully relax!

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