# Pex



## Plumbbum0203 (Dec 14, 2011)

Does anyone bundle their pex like this. It just seems lazy

I saw this the other day. 
The hack plumber must be proud of his work.


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## alberteh (Feb 26, 2012)

lools like there will be a lot of heat leakage between hot and cold


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## Jon59901 (Dec 8, 2013)

That's just sad. The worst part is that the homeowner probably thinks it's great.


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

Pex is all hack anyways, doesn't matter who installs it. While I will agree it is a fine material and speeds up the job, it has taken away the craftsmanship aspect of our trade.so at this point whoever is installing Pex, your all as equal as the next plumber in your craft.😆😆👍👍


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

they will have complaints due to the hot water heat leaching into the cold water pipes.... It should be separated cold with cold and hot with hot

I was involved in a mistake a long time ago on a job with copper lines running through a tight space.......I turned the water on upstairs and luke warm water came out of all the cold pipes.. took a good while to cool down..

. I knew it was gonna be trouble but the boss said to leave it alone and say nothing... ok..and I moved on out of there


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## SW Florida (Jan 10, 2015)

.........wow........


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## Dpeckplb (Sep 20, 2013)

We had to do it once, the contractor complained about our 15 holes across the bottom of the joists. He told us to bundle them as much as we dis agreed that it was better. He said I'm paying that's how I want it. So we did it, and he was surprised when the heating guy was pissed off at him. It was also a pita to pull through the joists. It was the only time we did that. 
In my opinion if you take the time to set up a nice neat manifold that is balanced looks just as professional as running main and branch. I have never seen a hack take the time to set up a balanced neat and symmetrical Pex system.


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## Catlin987987 (Nov 12, 2010)

I bet 95% of the pex installs that use the home run system do it in bundles like that, except they always have a space between the hot and cold


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## CaptainBob (Jan 3, 2011)

The shop I worked for for 12 years from 2000 to 2012 we did a lot of home run pex runs, just like that. At one time we were doing 500-600 houses a year with that same method. Manifolds in utility room, ran pex in bundles across the house to each fixture.


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## CaptainBob (Jan 3, 2011)

Just looked through my pictures and found an example of the piping we would do in a utility room most of the time. Manifolds near the water heater and water main and home run to the fixtures.


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

Just add meatballs and sauce👍


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

Plumbbum0203 said:


> Does anyone bundle their pex like this. It just seems lazy
> 
> I saw this the other day.
> The hack plumber must be proud of his work.


 That looks like so Richard Twetheway's.. all neat and bundled..


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## CaptainBob (Jan 3, 2011)

plumbdrum said:


> Pex is all hack anyways, doesn't matter who installs it. While I will agree it is a fine material and speeds up the job, it has taken away the craftsmanship aspect of our trade.so at this point whoever is installing Pex, your all as equal as the next plumber in your craft.😆😆👍👍


Here is a commercial project I did in pex last year. You trying to tell me this is hack work and there is no craftsmanship in this?


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## 50chevy (Dec 13, 2014)

CaptainBob said:


> Here is a commercial project I did in pex last year. You trying to tell me this is hack work and there is no craftsmanship in this?


Nice work. Like how your primed joints don't run down the PVC


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

And that's the best Pex will ever look


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## CaptainBob (Jan 3, 2011)

50chevy said:


> Nice work. Like how your primed joints don't run down the PVC


When you are priming a piece you need to hold it so it doesn't run down the pipe. Or not have so much on the dauber when you are priming it. Or wrap a rag around the pipe to catch whatever runs down.


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## CaptainBob (Jan 3, 2011)

plumbdrum said:


> And that's the best Pex will ever look


Pex is like working with a wet noodle and it is difficult to make it look good. However, if you know what you are doing and dare I say, use some "craftmanship" you can make it look good. I have seen pex jobs that look very good, even better than I could do, and copper and even galvanized jobs that look like ****. It just depends on how much of a "craftsman" the installer was.


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

Agree , but let's see how straight the hot line stays after it's activated. Look I've used the stuff when I was in business to stay competitive, to me it's a good material, just to suits satisfaction of trying to make it look like a professional install, I found myself spending to much time over supporting the material. Do I either used copper or cpvc


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## SW Florida (Jan 10, 2015)

CaptainBob said:


> Here is a commercial project I did in pex last year. You trying to tell me this is hack work and there is no craftsmanship in this?


Fine work and venting!! 
Do u have to use the plastic pex bend where it 90s?(black pieces) If so are they cheaper then electrical plastic conduit 90s? Ive been using those lately when pex is requested by the contractor. They are cheaper then the pex bends around here. They cost pennies... And yes the inspector passes the jobs.


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## CaptainBob (Jan 3, 2011)

SW Florida said:


> Fine work and venting!!
> Do u have to use the plastic pex bend where it 90s?(black pieces) If so are they cheaper then electrical plastic conduit 90s? Ive been using those lately when pex is requested by the contractor. They are cheaper then the pex bends around here. They cost pennies... And yes the inspector passes the jobs.


You don't have to use the 90 degree bend supports, but I like using them to make a job look good and it's faster than using an elbow fitting and 2 pex rings. Not sure on the price of the conduit 90's, but the bends I use are about $1.50.


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## CaptainBob (Jan 3, 2011)

plumbdrum said:


> Agree , but let's see how straight the hot line stays after it's activated. Look I've used the stuff when I was in business to stay competitive, to me it's a good material, just to suits satisfaction of trying to make it look like a professional install, I found myself spending to much time over supporting the material. Do I either used copper or cpvc


You are right, when the hot lines were hot they did start sagging more...You have to find a compromise on time it takes to make it look good verses spending too much time on it...An installer that doesn't care what the pex looks like isn't going to care what copper or any other job looks like either, believe me I've seen it...

I too have to use the stuff to stay competitive, or when it's spec...It costs twice as much to do a job in copper than in pex...

I use copper where I have to, and don't mind doing it. I've been plumbing 30 years and have plenty experience in it...

Same job, in the room with the tankless electric water heaters...


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

CaptainBob said:


> You are right, when the hot lines were hot they did start sagging more...You have to find a compromise on time it takes to make it look good verses spending too much time on it...An installer that doesn't care what the pex looks like isn't going to care what copper or any other job looks like either, believe me I've seen it...
> 
> I too have to use the stuff to stay competitive, or when it's spec...It costs twice as much to do a job in copper than in pex...
> 
> ...



Looks good👍👍


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## Jon59901 (Dec 8, 2013)

I've used pex almost exclusively for the last 10 years. While I will admit when installed with pride, copper looks fantastic. No one wants to see the pex so I always use copper stub outs. As long as it's installed correctly and well supported, no one sees it once the drywall is up. There are just too many benefits to not use pex. I know some nice old school plumbers who hate that I can get jobs they can't because I can under bid them. It's nothing personal I just prefer pex where I can.


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## paultheplumber1 (May 1, 2014)

We have to insulate all hot water pipes throughout the entire house. And get 20' straight lengths fore the basements.


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