Question about new Uponor PEX Plumbing Install

[Johndoejohndoes]

I had a few questions about a new Uponor PEX plumbing install for my new construction home.

I’m building in Florida and the plumbing is under the slab (one story house).

Here’s how everything looked before the slab was laid.



1. As you can see above, most of the Uponor AquaPex is the white type with red/blue text and that is at some type of “splitter” going to all the appliances. But the main 1” line going into the house is a solid blue Uponor AquaPex. How concerned should I be about this? Especially considering the lawsuit and them not making it anymore?

The slab was just poured a few days ago and this is how everything looks now.



As you can see above, they taped the PEX to the Rebar and poured the slab.

2. How concerned should I be that the only taped it to rebar, and didn’t put it in some type of sleeve?

3. How does the fitting/connection look in the second rebar picture with the top piece of red tape removed? Does it look like a good connection? Could that have loosened the connection when they removed the tape?

Here’s one more angle of it going into the slab.



4. Does this look like there’s too much stress or tension on the line? It slightly wiggles if you move it.

Any feedback would be appreciated. I know there’s certain things I can’t change, but I wanted to see if everything passes the “smell” test and there aren’t any major issues.

 

[Breplum]

That is one horror show of pics. Very sorry for you. A terrible situation on your hands. You have no warranty under these conditions because it is not conforming to Uponor specifications. I suggest it be removed.

First: Colored Uponor PEX has been found to be defective due to heat process in applying the color. https://www.classaction.org/news/di...agued-by-cracking-defect-class-action-alleges
Second: Under no circumstances does Uponor allow joints to be under slab. Neither do plumbing codes.
Third: The PEX tubing is required to be run through protective sleeve, ideally preformed PVC Sch 40 or other compatible tube. We use electrical PVC sweeps even though the plumbing code requires that the tube be rated for potable contact.

The water supply coming in with white PVC. UPC does not allow PVC anywhere inside a dwelling and never exposed to sunlight for residential water that is not irrigation. It should be all copper or other allowed material until it goes into the ground.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Johndoejohndoes]

That is one horror show of pics. Very sorry for you. A terrible situation on your hands. You have no warranty under these conditions because it is not conforming to Uponor specifications. I suggest it be removed.

First: Colored Uponor PEX has been found to be defective due to heat process in applying the color. https://www.classaction.org/news/di...agued-by-cracking-defect-class-action-alleges
Second: Under no circumstances does Uponor allow joints to be under slab. Neither do plumbing codes.
Third: The PEX tubing is required to be run through protective sleeve, ideally preformed PVC Sch 40 or other compatible tube. We use electrical PVC sweeps even though the plumbing code requires that the tube be rated for potable contact.

The water supply coming in with white PVC. UPC does not allow PVC anywhere inside a dwelling and never exposed to sunlight for residential water that is not irrigation. It should be all copper or other allowed material until it goes into the ground.

Funny enough, I emailed Uponor because their wasn’t a sleeve around the PEX coming out of the slab and they said everything looked fine (I have that in writing).

In regards to your first concern, that is also my concern. But I spoke with Uponor and they said it’s safe to use. From my research, I’ve seen more cases in the red (vs the blue) so my fingers are crossed that I won’t have any issues.

In regards to the “joints” they covered all this up with dirt, then a tarp, then poured the slab. Not sure if that changes anything? It passed inspection too.


I asked Uponor about the red “tape” and they said it was fine. It even shows them doing that around 20 seconds in this video.

In regards to the white pipe going into the house, my old house had this and all the homes in the area do too? I can’t imagine their breaking all these rules and still passing inspections, right?

 

[Reach4]

UPC still allows PVC for non-pressure/non-potable. In much of the country people use PVC instead of ABS for DWV.

PVC used to be allowed for pressurized water in the codes. In practice, I think it is probably used today a lot for well systems, even the in-house piping. The CPVC is supposed to be better for hot water, but logic says that the incoming water service or the pipe from the well will not be hot. But the code people somehow decided to make a broad rule, possibly better to inspect without worrying about whether this is a hot water run or cold water run. It is not just UPC that turned against PVC for the indoor potable piping. IPC did too, and probably some other codes. I wish they would relent on that.

So from a functional supply line for the incoming cold, I suspect PVC is better that CPVC. We know PVC is bigger for a given nominal pipe size. I am not a plumber. Nobody uses CPVC for a well drop pipe, but PVC is most common. Similarly, I don't know that anybody runs CPVC the whole distance as as service pipe. Under new codes they probably transition from polyetheline that is not PEX, or PVC to copper or PEX to enter the living space while meeting code. Or they somehow continue into the house with poly or PVC due to local custom the inspectors go along with, or maybe some jurisdictions write an exception-- which seems very logical to me.

So the under-slab colored pex... I don't know what to think. The deterioration seems to be more in hot areas and hot water, but of course I have very limited info. I am saying I would worry about a pipe run thru a Phoenix attic.

I have some red and blue pex installed, and it is accessible in the basement. What I bought is a roll of 3/4 un-colored (motivated by not needing two rolls of 3/4), a roll of red 1/2 and a roll of blue 1/2 inch. I installed myself, so I presume no warranty.

One thing to act on: don't leave your PVC or other plastics out in the sun for years. Cover it or paint it. Same for an outdoor softener; cover that. An exception I think is gray pvc electrical conduit, which I think is made with UV inhibitors.