guess what this is

[Bruce A. King]

House built in 2001

Plumbing pipes are.....

[W. Michael Chris]

poly with staple electrical wiring?

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Electrical conduit

[Bruce A. King]

Its actually PEX, the opaque almost clear stuff that is on well water.

Looks like PB huh. 2nd time I have run across this discoloration from inside the pipe.

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

I have seen gray PEX a couple of times in my area. It comes in a lot more colors than people think.

[Bruce A. King]

This is not gray pex, it is (was) clear/milky white.

I have never seen gray pex in a house or any catalog's.

I don't think they would make it gray due to the known PB issues.
Have a link to the gray pex?

[David P. Valley]

I, too have never heard of gray PEX. It comes in white, red and blue.

Do you have a close-up of the labeling on that piping?

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Polybutylene is grey in color. PEX comes in white, blue, and red colors. This is advantageous in that cold water can be piped with blue tubing and hot water can be piped with red tubing. PEX can expand up to one-third of its own diameter before bursting when it is frozen. Compare this to copper tubing and you will see instant advantages.

http://www.plumbersdirectory.com/basics/pex-tubing

[Bruce A. King]

This pipe is Rehau Pex, it was hard to find a readable section of pipe.

The last house I found with this discoloration to the pex I put a picture in the report only to have the client call me and tell me their contractor told them it was PB.
I tried not to laugh but it was hard not to, the guy not only saw the report but went to the house to give estimates for other things and failed to look at the markings on the pipe to see that it was PEX.

This "clear" pex is not used as much around here as the red and blue. Lowes sells the white pex so more of that will be found too.

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Originally Posted by sgilligan1

I have seen gray PEX a couple of times in my area. It comes in a lot more colors than people think.

Agree. I see gray PEX all the time. Usually in the form of risers for sinks, dishwashers, ice makers. I have dozens of photos of gray PEX piping. Here is a brochure from Oakey that is full of gray PEX. One brand I see most of the time is "Merflex". I see different shades of gray as well, however, most of the time it is lighter in color than PB2110 but on occasion I have found PeX that is exactly the same gray color as PB. We had this discussion back in 2007 and got just about as far.

http://www.oatey.com/oateypex/pex_merflex_brochure.pdf

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Originally Posted by dedwards

Agree. I see gray PEX all the time. Usually in the form of risers for sinks, dishwashers, ice makers. I have dozens of photos of gray PEX piping. Here is a brochure from Oakey that is full of gray PEX. One brand I see most of the time is "Merflex". I see different shades of gray as well, however, most of the time it is lighter in color than PB2110 but on occasion I have found PeX that is exactly the same gray color as PB. We had this discussion back in 2007 and got just about as far.

http://www.oatey.com/oateypex/pex_merflex_brochure.pdf

That is one source for gray PEX that I have come across. I have also seen green, orange, yellow, and black. I have a PDF someplace with all the colors that this one manufacturer makes. As soon as I have time to dig for it I will post it. I always thought gray = PB until I came across a house that was done entirely in gray PEX and could get a real good look at the lettering on the tubing. I scratched my head for a good long time the first time I seen it.

You can't judge a book by it's cover.

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by sgilligan1

You can't judge a book by it's cover.

Obviously not.

You learn something every day.