Flexible Pex Pipe a Smart Cheaper Alternative for Your Home Plumbing Needs

Cost effective and proven perfect for home use. This is the reality for pex plumbing pipes. Made from a flexible plastic material, pex pipe is actually more like tubing. It is much cheaper than the stalwart copper piping and less expensive. Pex is easy to install and is proven to perform well in most any residence. New homes built will often use pex plastic tubing over traditional metal pipes. If you have an older home and have plumbing repairs or plan to replace all the plumbing in your home, pex piping is the best choice because of its cost efficiency, easy installation and functionality.

Pex Piping Most Cost Effective Choice Around

When it comes to plumbing home improvement, materials can be expensive whether you do the work yourself or hire a plumber. However, with pex pipes, any repair job is more affordable. Consider this: when you use metal pipes, you must purchase T-shaped fittings, 45 degree fittings, elbow joints and others in order to get around corners and other obstructions when laying pipe for plumbing. However, with the flexible, plastic pex pipe you don't have to worry about those extra fittings. The pex piping bends around those obstructions with ease, thereby reducing your materials cost and even labor costs because it takes less time to install.

Top Notch Performance

Pex pipe tubing beats other materials like copper and galvanized pipe hands down. It is great for piping that delivers your drinking water supply to the home because it is impervious to the different chemicals found in water supplies. In addition, there is less chance of corrosive build-up in plastic pex pipe from minerals and chemicals, unlike galvanized or copper pipe. Maintenance is a breeze with pex because it is easier to fix and replace than metal piping which would require a special saw and possible welding to seal joints. Best of all, this flexible pipe is more resistant to freezing temperatures than metal, incurring fewer instances of frozen pipes.

Pex for Indoor Use Only

Because pex pipe tubing is made from flexible plastic, it is not at its best in outdoor applications. PVC or metal pipe is best in this situation. Pex is vulnerable to UV light so it should not be exposed to the sun as it could break down the plastic material. Plus, outdoor freezing temperatures may cause pex to become brittle and damaged, even though it can withstand freezing temperatures with indoor plumbing use, mainly due to the warmth of the home's heater. Therefore, pex flexible plastic tubing should only be used for indoor plumbing.

Keep in mind that pex pipe tubing is quite different from the plastic piping from the 1980s. Pex uses a totally different technology than those old plastic pipes used a few decades ago. Plus, it has been proven time and again; otherwise new home builders would not trust pex in their construction needs. For your next indoor plumbing project or repair, look into pex pipe. You'll be amazed by the cost difference and quality.