Qwest PB repiping question

[weaverinva]

Hello there,

I have an 4 plex apartment building with circa 1984 qwest grey polybutylene piping in it. I have had 2 leaks in the last 2 years and many more minor ones in the past. Of course I changed out the piping around the hot water heaters to PEX long ago. However with the age of the building and two leaks in the actual piping itself. I wonder if it is time for a repiping job. I am talking to several plumbers.

CPVC, PEX, and Copper seem to be the options but from what I can tell PEX is by far the preferred method especially for replumbs. Copper might be the best but would take more drywall work and higher price.

Is PEX the best option for this kind of job? And how long will PEX last? Some northern virginia companies say they will only install CPVC because it has a proven 50 year track record with chlorinated pipes. However I have read that CPVC can get brittle over time and then instead of a small leak, a crack opens quickly.

Any comments appreciated. Thank you.

 

[hj]

At one time most of those repipes were done with CPVC, but now PEX is the preferred material. It is faster and cheaper to install.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[FullySprinklered]

CPVC may well be the Quest of the future. I've done a lot of new houses in CPVC, but I just don't trust it anymore. I've had it break in my hands several times while just moving it out of the way or cutting it with rachet cutters. I'm doing Pex with the expansion tool these days.

 

[weaverinva]

Thank you hj and fullysprinklered. Fast and cost effective is important but what about longevity? If you were doing this on a 30 year old property that was your own would you use PEX. Do you have any idea how long PEX will last? I guess no one knows for sure.

Also I see some people wanting to only use Uponor. Not sure what fittings. Seems that there can be some differences. Some say to use stainless fittings with PEX or perhaps other newer harder plastic ones. It seems there can be some dezincification of some fittings.

Perhaps I should just wait it out and not replace but I'll be looking at the same decision 4-5 years from now. I don't want to though. I would sleep better.

I notice that I accidentially did not post this but had it written....

 

[weaverinva]

CPVC may well be the Quest of the future. I've done a lot of new houses in CPVC, but I just don't trust it anymore. I've had it break in my hands several times while just moving it out of the way or cutting it with rachet cutters. I'm doing Pex with the expansion tool these days.

Thank you very much...Hmm expansion tool. My local guy likes to use the crimp rings. I just saw a video at

on the different connector systems. In you experience, is one of the connector systems better than others?

And what type of alloy/metal/plastic is the best?

Do you favor Uponor or some other total system?

 

[weaverinva]

CPVC may well be the Quest of the future. I've done a lot of new houses in CPVC, but I just don't trust it anymore. I've had it break in my hands several times while just moving it out of the way or cutting it with rachet cutters. I'm doing Pex with the expansion tool these days.

I see what ProPEX tool and connectors are and the Uponor ProPEX system. Again are crimp rings that inferior to the ProPEX expansion connectors? I have pressure regulators on all the inbound lines.

 

[CountryBumkin]

I like the ProPEX Expansion style because you can expand the pipe while the pipe is "off the fitting" (where you have room to work) then you have 5 or so seconds to stick the pipe on the fitting. It's nice to be able to do this where there is room to work the tool, rather than to have to assemble everything then get the crimp tool on the fitting when working in a tight space.
Also the Expander style is "fool proof" you can't over or under expand it like with a crimp ring.
The downside is that the Expander tool is $$$ whereas the Crimp tool is $.

 

[Craigpump]

Buy a used manual expansion tool then sell it when you're done

 

[FullySprinklered]

I'm into my first one and a half propex repipes. Waiting on the master bath demo on the half done repipe. Haven't used an elbow yet. Instead, I'm using the 90 degree braces that grab and hold the pipe in a maybe 5" radius. Other hard changes are made from the manifolds which are located in bath or kitchen groups. The type A pipe will take a much tighter turn that the other grades, and it's the only one that works with the expansion tool/system.
The tool makes the connections easy, the fittings have a larger inside diameter than the crimp system, and the pipe has a much tighter turn radius and uses fewer fittings than the other ways of doing it.

There's always a down side, so here it is. The tool is expensive, the fittings are, right now to my knowledge, available only online. You have to plan and order ahead on the fittings. Getting the right adapters to the fixtures and such in the right sizes is where one could blow it. Not that it's happened to me or anything.

The crimp ring system is ok under the right circumstances. My biggest issue is getting the tool into tight corners to make some of the awkward crimps. Often, you can crimp-up subassemblies out in the air and push them back into the tight spots. Sometimes not.