White Plastic Water Service Piping

[North Witcher]

Haven't run into this before -- in-construction house, phase inspection, plumbing is 3/4-1 inch white plastic-looking piping; easy to install, etc. Builder claims plumber says it's "better than copper", "I'll attach copper fittings to it at each extension from the wall," "nobody steals this [as they do the copper]".
I have a call in to both the city and the county for the code information (I know, I don't do code!). The 'red flags' for me comes from our discussions of polybutylene, which this is not. However, the elbows and other fittings look a lot those of the poly, but not crimped. I'll try to attach a photo.
Thanks, in advance, for any light you can shed; direction to go to determine its suitability.
North Witcher
Omaha

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

PEX. Good stuff. . .

[mnahrgang]

It's not PB. It's pex. It comes in several colors, red and blue are common, as well as white. From what I hear it's good stuff. Watch for the copper connectors though.

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

PEX. Great stuff. From the connectors, it looks like WIRSBO brand (by Uponor). For more info, go here.

[North Witcher]

Thanks, guys!!!

[Jon Randolph]

Wirsbo PEX, not good stuff, Great stuff.

This DOES NOT come in blue and red. Opaque white is all that I have seen. They do make red and blue PEX that you can buy at the big orange box down at the corner, but it is not like this.

Mark said to watch out for the copper connectors. That is true with the red and blue, but not with this. As you can see from the photo, there are no copper connectors. They utilize a PEX sleeve that fits on the outside of the PEX pipe. This is installed by expanding the PEX end and slipping a fitting into it before it contracts. There are no crimp rings and the fittings do not come apart. If a mistake was made, the PEX has to be cut off. Very good stuff.

A drawback to this is that you have to have an expander to work with it. Any repairs will require a PEX professional. Sharkbites do and will work, but they detract from the quality of the installation, in my opinion.

There are 2 different types of fittings, brass and plastic. Watch out for the plastic fittings like you have in that home. Watch out for kinks at bends and ensure that it is adequately supported and protected from nails like any other.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Some helpul information here for you.

PEX


Marcel

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Originally Posted by Jon Randolph

Wirsbo PEX, not good stuff, Great stuff.

This DOES NOT come in blue and red. Opaque white is all that I have seen. They do make red and blue PEX that you can buy at the big orange box down at the corner, but it is not like this.

Sorry to disagree but Wirsbo PEX by Uponor (aquapex) does come in Red and Blue. I do not believe that the Wirsbo PEX is sold in the big box stores. You have to get it through a supplier. There are other brands in the box stores and after looking at them, I paid the slightly higher price for the Wirsbo at a supplier.

Mark said to watch out for the copper connectors. That is true with the red and blue, but not with this. As you can see from the photo, there are no copper connectors. They utilize a PEX sleeve that fits on the outside of the PEX pipe. This is installed by expanding the PEX end and slipping a fitting into it before it contracts. There are no crimp rings and the fittings do not come apart. If a mistake was made, the PEX has to be cut off. Very good stuff.

A drawback to this is that you have to have an expander to work with it. Any repairs will require a PEX professional. Sharkbites do and will work, but they detract from the quality of the installation, in my opinion.

Agree. Sharkbites will be a point of potential problems and I wouldn't use them. If joining with copper, I would use the transition piece that Wirsbo has available.

There are 2 different types of fittings, brass and plastic. Watch out for the plastic fittings like you have in that home. Watch out for kinks at bends and ensure that it is adequately supported and protected from nails like any other.

Wirsbo PEX of course recommends their plastic propex ring. I feel they are greatly superior to the metal crimps. The metal crimps are the ones that actually had the problems. The propex rings are very easy to use with the proper tool that costs about $250-$350.

The Wirsbo Pex is top of the line when it comes to the pex family. They have a smaller bend radius than the other brands. This product and the fittings have a 100% memory so when the rings are applied over the tubing and larger fittings, they hold great. No glues, no soldering and fast.

[Jon Randolph]

Thank you for the correction. I had not seen the red and blue in use without the metal crimp rings.

[Frank J. Carey]

The plumbers that we deal with will only use the expander tool...much better than the crimp rings.