PEX and mice?
#21
Had a mouse chew into the 1/4" plastic water line under the sink that feeds the icemaker in the fridge.
Had little gouges on one side, and it was spewing a barely detectable stream of water, hitting another hose connection, then dripping down onto the cabinet floor.
Luckily I had sprayed the interior of the sink cabinet with poly and had no water damage.
Steve

Missouri






 
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
WaterlooMark 02/9/2020








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#22
I wouldn't be surprised if copper supply pipe goes the way of the dodo real soon aside for being sold for repairs. It's very cost and labor prohibitive. I haven't seen it used in a new builds since I've been inspecting homes in 2016. I still see a lot more CPVC than Pex. CPVC is cheaper but labor is cheaper with Pex. I see Pex in bigger custom homes but not in production homes. Maybe Pex is more cost effective in long runs than CPVC. I've never seen leaking Pex or CPVC pipe or connections. I see leaking copper connections all the time. Even pin hole leaks in copper pipe. Saw one yesterday.

I did a phase inspection last year where the Pex was being pulled through a big 2 story house + basement. Maybe a 6000 sq ft house?. A basement and a 1st floor kitchen. There were 2 manifolds in the basement utility room near the main water pipe entrance (Black 1" Polyethylene). I was there an hour and all the pipe was pulled through while I was there. Connected to the manifolds in the basement and stubbed out in every bathroom and both kitchens. 2 guys drilling holes and one guy pulling pipe. There were no Ts splitting off any pipe. Every plumbing fixture had it's own pipe run back to the manifold. There is a valve in the manifold for each pipe.
Neil Summers Home Inspections




I came to a stop sign and a skanky tweaker chick in a tube top climbed out of the brush and propositioned me.  She looked like she didn't have any teeth so I counted that as a plus.


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#23
(02-28-2023, 05:35 AM)Snipe Hunter Wrote: I wouldn't be surprised if copper supply pipe goes the way of the dodo real soon aside for being sold for repairs. It's very cost and labor prohibitive. I haven't seen it used in a new builds since I've been inspecting homes in 2016. I still see a lot more CPVC than Pex. CPVC is cheaper but labor is cheaper with Pex. I see Pex in bigger custom homes but not in production homes. Maybe Pex is more cost effective in long runs than CPVC. I've never seen leaking Pex or CPVC pipe or connections. I see leaking copper connections all the time. Even pin hole leaks in copper pipe. Saw one yesterday.

I did a phase inspection last year where the Pex was being pulled through a big 2 story house + basement. Maybe a 6000 sq ft house?. A basement and a 1st floor kitchen. There were 2 manifolds in the basement utility room near the main water pipe entrance (Black 1" Polyethylene). I was there an hour and all the pipe was pulled through while I was there. Connected to the manifolds in the basement and stubbed out in every bathroom and both kitchens. 2 guys drilling holes and one guy pulling pipe. There were no Ts splitting off any pipe. Every plumbing fixture had it's own pipe run back to the manifold. There is a valve in the manifold for each pipe.

Agreed.

There are several of these fundamental changes in buildings. Another is the use of digital “smart switches”. Just learning about this, but it’s possible to wire a single smart switch, then use switch remotes in lieu of 3 ways and 4 ways, eliminating the “traveler” connecting wires.

Uponor is recommending, forget what they call it, a hybrid supply approach. Instead of a single manifold, they are recommending multiple small manifolds local to each set of fixtures/bathrooms. The advantage is if you use hot water to wash your hands, you run the water till it gets hot, then the shower will be instantly hot. Everything on that manifold will be hot. It’s less pipe and easier to insulate the hot supplies. Maybe more appropriate for larger homes than smaller.
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#24
Part of that trend is conservation based. Water wasted is expensive but home run manifolds don’t fit with hot water recirculating systems. Trend now is to recirc a couple local manifolds.
Blackhat

Bad experiences come from poor decisions. So do good stories. 


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#25
Doesn’t the WH run more on a recirculating system? Would the savings on water be less than the additional energy to run the WH?
VH07V  
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#26
When I worked for one of the national soft drink companies we used a Pex like product for fountain systems, I never saw any mouse damage to the lines. I did see mice chewing thru the plastic bags of syrup. The bags were in very sturdy cardboard boxes, but there were openings where the mice could get in the boxes.
I have heard that many wires had a soy based lubricant on them- which is very tasty to critters. As far as I know Pex does not have anything like that on it.

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#27
(03-01-2023, 03:25 PM)EightFingers Wrote: Doesn’t the WH run more on a recirculating system? Would the savings on water be less than the additional energy to run the WH?

That’s akin to asking how long is a piece of string. How much does water cost?  How much does sewage cost?  How efficient is your water heater?  How much does a unit of energy cost?  How smart a setup do you have. How long are the pipe runs?
Blackhat

Bad experiences come from poor decisions. So do good stories. 


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#28
(03-01-2023, 03:25 PM)EightFingers Wrote: Doesn’t the WH run more on a recirculating system? Would the savings on water be less than the additional energy to run the WH?

Good question. Not 100% sure. I think it goes something like this. If you want to wash your hands with warm water, you open the hot tap and warm water comes out immediately. You shut off the faucet and head for the door. Yes, this costs energy of the pump circulating, but I think it moves very slowly, nothing like water pressure.

Without a recirculator, you turn on the faucet and wait till that line is empty before you get any hot water. The water lost from the system is much greater, and the HWH refills with very cold city or well water.

The recirculator may be more energy efficient. I think it’s true that the greater the distance from the HWH, the more beneficial and convenient the circulator system becomes.
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#29
(03-01-2023, 08:25 PM)goaliedad Wrote: When I worked for one of the national soft drink companies we used a Pex like product for fountain systems, I never saw any mouse damage to the lines.  I did see mice chewing thru the plastic bags of syrup.  The bags were in very sturdy cardboard boxes, but there were openings where the mice could get in the boxes.
I have heard that many wires had a soy based lubricant on them- which is very tasty to critters. As far as I know Pex does not have anything like that on it.

I heard some Japanese car makers tried to make their cars more recyclable and came up with plant based wire insulation that rodents eat. I have a few friends who had it happen. In their case it was squirrels. One guy needed an $1800 harness replaced in his Mazda CX-5.

PEX is extruded(?) polyethylene
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#30
(03-01-2023, 08:55 PM)blackhat Wrote: That’s akin to asking how long is a piece of string. How much does water cost?  How much does sewage cost?  How efficient is your water heater?  How much does a unit of energy cost?  How smart a setup do you have. How long are the pipe runs?

All those questions are why I told my plumber I didn’t want to put that type of system in.
VH07V  
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