Shoes
New Member
I am very grateful for the advice and resource that this community provided. The great re-pipe and basement insulation project of 2015 is complete. I no longer have any Polybutylene anywhere . The new PEX system is excellent. And If I may say so, it is far better engineered then if I had paid someone by the hour to simply replace the pipes. I was able to take the time to build in good function. I also took the opportunity to insulate the rim joists, air seal and encapsulate the crawl spaces and insulate the exterior facing walls for the basement walkout. I also insulated my hot water pipes and built a recirc line from the master bath/kitchen (its 80ft away). Pics below.
It took a while - about 8 weeks in all - to run the new system in parallel then cut off the old system and cut in the new. I had three zones in the new system (valves valves everywhere valves), so I could bring new sections online one at a time.
While I had all the sheetrock pulled, I had a company come out to spray closed cell foam in the crawl spaces and rim joist. The crawl spaces were buried behind drywall from when the previous owner finished the basement. Those crawlspaces were vented to the outside and wide open to the inside basement behind the drywall. It was terrible. That explains why it was always so cold and damp down there. Now that they are air sealed, they are warm and dry. Closed cell foam is cool stuff.
Anyway, since folks here were helpful I wanted to say thank you. Im sure PB -> PEX conversion questions are supper common, so Im glad people took the time to help. Here are some pics.
P.S. spools of PEX suck. Never again. Straight pieces or bust.
It took a while - about 8 weeks in all - to run the new system in parallel then cut off the old system and cut in the new. I had three zones in the new system (valves valves everywhere valves), so I could bring new sections online one at a time.
While I had all the sheetrock pulled, I had a company come out to spray closed cell foam in the crawl spaces and rim joist. The crawl spaces were buried behind drywall from when the previous owner finished the basement. Those crawlspaces were vented to the outside and wide open to the inside basement behind the drywall. It was terrible. That explains why it was always so cold and damp down there. Now that they are air sealed, they are warm and dry. Closed cell foam is cool stuff.
Anyway, since folks here were helpful I wanted to say thank you. Im sure PB -> PEX conversion questions are supper common, so Im glad people took the time to help. Here are some pics.
P.S. spools of PEX suck. Never again. Straight pieces or bust.
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