Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

crunchybaguette t1_iy5tssh wrote

Reply to comment by blahblahrasputan in This is the first house 3D-printed from bio-based materials - The new technology could come in at a key moment. by speckz

It’s like the poly butylene pipes from the 70s. People claim Pex is better and without those problems but who knows what we’ll find out in another 15 years.

Edit because people think I’m saying it’s as bad as poly b - I’m not. I’m just wondering if there will be additional longevity problems with pex that will keep it from being in century homes.

2

f_crick t1_iy7y5y8 wrote

Except pex has already outlasted polyb by a long time, and just observationally is a much tougher material. Fittings also clearly better as well.

2

crunchybaguette t1_iy903m6 wrote

Not arguing that pex is better than polyb but it’s a question whether pex will last the life of copper/pvc. I’ve always seen pex with a stated 50 year life but what happens afterwards? Are houses going to need a gut job to replace the pipes?

0

chuker34 t1_iy9k6kt wrote

Pex has been in use in Europe since the 70’s. The US used it for underfloor hearing starting in the 80’s.

I’ve removed 25 year old pex that was just as good as what I replaced it with. A inch and a half section of that same house on a hot water circ loop attached to a water softener had a nail shot through it when the piping was originally installed, it didn’t appear to have ever leaked and wasn’t at the time I repaired that.

It’s proven.

Side note, PVC is garbage for water. My state doesn’t even allow it for hot water.

1

crunchybaguette t1_iy9xbxt wrote

Yeah I meant pvc as waste piping. Maybe not the best example of longevity.

1

chuker34 t1_iyaigh3 wrote

Haven’t used much PVC myself so I can’t really comment, but in most ways it seems better than the ABS I do use. Everything other than installation that is, which is my career. I do like material that’s easy to work with but also stands up, if only ABS didn’t bow in the sun like PCV doesn’t the stuff would be damn near perfect.

1