PEX and mice?

[sleepy hollow]

All,

In replumbing my master bath, I was planning to use PEX to complete the final supply runs to the vanities and shower until I started to read about the possibility of mice chewing the PEX pipe.  Does anoyone have an opinion or experience with this?

We live in a rural area with lots of critters including field mice.  They get into our house routinely and I always have traps set in the areas where I think thay are entering.  I have had many fewer over the past couple of years but I cannot be sure I have eliminated the problem.  There was lots of evidence of past incursions under the master bath flooring as I have been pulling it up.  But nothing recent as far as I can tell.  I have also been working to eliminate the entry "holes" as I find them.  

Alyway, was wondering what you all thought about this?  PEX would be cheaper, easier and quicker, but I'm very compfortable with copper as well. 

Thank you.

[Roly]

All,

In replumbing my master bath, I was planning to use PEX to complete the final supply runs to the vanities and shower until I started to read about the possibility of mice chewing the PEX pipe.  Does anoyone have an opinion or experience with this?

We live in a rural area with lots of critters including field mice.  They get into our house routinely and I always have traps set in the areas where I think thay are entering.  I have had many fewer over the past couple of years but I cannot be sure I have eliminated the problem.  There was lots of evidence of past incursions under the master bath flooring as I have been pulling it up.  But nothing recent as far as I can tell.  I have also been working to eliminate the entry "holes" as I find them.  

Alyway, was wondering what you all thought about this?  PEX would be cheaper, easier and quicker, but I'm very compfortable with copper as well. 

Thank you.

 If you are good with copper I would go with it.   I am sure rodents will eat pex or any plastic but I haven't seen it as far as pex.    It would be costly repair if they chewed it in a area you couldn't see and leaked for a while .    Most new faucets seem to use pex as connecting lines so it must not be too big of a problem.   Very hard to keep mice out if they want in. Roly

[EatenByLimestone]

We have never run across it in my business, and I have never heard of it. I own a pest control company, so if it was a common thing, I’d probably have come across it. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, just that I’ve never heard of it.


Edit:
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/rodents-chew-pex-pipe/

[Snipe Hunter]

Haven't run across it or heared about it in the home inspection business. I have heard of mice chewing on Romex but have never seen it. Mice in the winter are pretty typical here.

[brianwelch]

We had mice chew thru the dishwasher discharge hose. Very different than pex in many ways

[sleepy hollow]

Thanks for the responses, all.  

My daughter and son-in-law have a home in WIlliamsburg, VA, tht is all PEX and never an issue since it was built in 2005-ish as far as we know.  

I have not seen any signs of chewing on the "miles" of romex under the floor sheathing despite my cleaning up lots of mice droppings and a couple of old nests in the fiberglass batting.  So, that is comforting.  Since I will be removing probably more copper than I need to add back based on how the design will work out, I may just re-use the copper.  No need to tempt fate.  The copper has worked just fine since 1985, and I still have plenty of gas and solder left from the last job of adding a whole house filter system (well water).  

Amazing how much more expensive copper tubing is now though.  Obscene.  Thanks, Brandon. 

[jteneyck]

When I remodeled one room and tore out the sheetrock on an exterior wall, I found that mice had chewed the 40 year old jacketed wire down to bare wires on a section nearly a foot long.  The fiberglass insulation was all balled up below it, feces and urine smell just awful.  Thankfully, the wires never touched each other or anything else.  I have no clue how long it had been like that.  

This wire is not like modern Romex, it has a braided silver thread jacket and paper around typical plastic covered copper wire.  Modern Romex with a plastic outer jacket may not be attractive to mice, and comments from others suggest that's the case.  Just thought I'd pass this along in case anyone has wiring that's 60 years old, like mine.  

John

[Snipe Hunter]

Thanks for the responses, all.  
 (well water).  

Amazing how much more expensive copper tubing is now though.  Obscene.   

That's why there's PEX.. and half the labor cost.

[adamcherubini]

I had copper in my apartment spring leaks in pin holes. Place is maybe 20th s old. Some sort of corrosion? I think for freak eventualities, I’d rather have PEX. And I suspect the folks starting that rumor about mice, may be plumbers. PEX is SO easy to install.

I use the PEX-a stuff and have that Milwaukee tool. It’s nuts how easy that is.

[Snipe Hunter]

I had copper in my apartment spring leaks in pin holes. Place is maybe 20th s old. Some sort of corrosion? I think for freak eventualities, I’d rather have PEX. And I suspect the folks starting that rumor about mice, may be plumbers. PEX is SO easy to install.

I use the PEX-a stuff and have that Milwaukee tool. It’s nuts how easy that is.

Built around 1980? Maybe '79?

Copper went sky high, Thin wall copper got approved in the IBC. It didn't last long. Had to replace it in the last house. I could slam a door at the other end of the house and spring a leak in it. Finally replaced all of it.