In Floor Pex Tubing Problems

The pipe and the fitting.

In floor pex tubing problems.

The new plastic fashioned into flexible pex pipe also known as pex tubing arrived in the us in the 1980s initially for radiant floor heating systems. Polyethylene including pex has dimensional stability problems i e it shrinks back over time. No single pipe tubing system used in the us has been 100 problem free and pex is no exception. As more and more people are using pex tubing over the past few years failures are being reported.

It s not a good choice for water pipe under pressure. It cannot be recycled. Pex piping was invented in the 1950s and refined during the 1960s for use in for radiant floor heating systems. The reasons for this are twofold.

Here are some of the pex pipe problems you ll want to know about before making any decisions. Pex tubing or piping is used for water supply lines as well as radiant floor heating. The flexible tubing is embedded in a. However if pex pipe is incorrectly installed leaks kinks and other common challenges can easily occur.

When i built my last home in 2005 the plumber tried to pull a switch and substitute pex for the copper pipe he had quoted saying pex was superior. While pex is generally considered a safe product and accepted by building codes the materials and components that comprise the system have several vulnerabilities and several defective fittings and systems produced by various manufacturers have resulted in leaks and system failures. For example by increasing the flow through 1 2 pex tubing by only 0 1 gpm floor output will increase at 5 btu sq. I fired him on the spot.

It can be buried underground in concrete in radiant floor heating installations but it is not meant for external piping applications. Unconfirmed estimates say there are approximately 200 000 homes in bc with poly b water systems and some 700 000 homes across canada. Poly b is a flexible grey pipe used in residential plumbing and hot water heating systems from the mid 70s through the 80s and into the mid 90s. At plastic expert group our experts in pex analysis will determine if the pipe failed due to defective installation or because of a manufacturing defect.

Pex piping is not meant for external use. Some of the disadvantages of pex include. Most of the failures can be tied to 2 specific areas. Pex tubing is easier and faster to install than most other types of plumbing pipe which makes it a popular choice for beginning plumbers.

Before opting for pex plumbing you might want to know about the problems associated with it. It cannot be used outside.