Which do you use more and why?

I had to replace the plumbing in my mobile home 15 years ago. The plumber wanted $5,000. He showed me how to work Pex A. I bought a manual expander tool and needed pipes and fittings at a cost of $500. I did the job by myself in 14 hours. When I turned the water on, I had zero leaks. I highly recommend Pex A.

plumber helper here, i just want to say thank you for these videos they are helping me in my plumbing journey.

Pex B is what I use when doing renovations. I used to do all renovations in copper; time consuming, but tried and true. It took many years of renovations to go to Pex B. initially using Pex B, I was concerned with it service lifetime. For what it's worth, never had a problem with any Pex B I've installed over the course of my 23 years as a contractor.

I repiped my whole house two months ago with pex b. The material was available at the home depot and the ryobi ring tool was only about $120. My flow is better then before because I upsized the pipes and designed it more effectively.

I am remodeling my home that was a flip house 12 years ago. The copper lines under the house were a mess. A friend told me about PEX and the differences. He said that PEX "A" was more expensive and the hand tool to put it together was difficult to use. After finding a Dewalt tool that matched my existing battery line up, I was sold on PEX "A". I have replaced the water lines in my my home with all PEX "A" now and have never had to re-do a fitting and had no leaks. I LOVE this stuff, and will not be going back to copper. Thank you so much for the great information. I hope folks watch this before making a rushed decision.

Since I will be saving almost $7,000 or more by doing my own Uponor upgrade, I decided to treat myself and buy a battery powered expansion tool.

If you upsize the hot water lines when using PEX B, you will also increase the amount of time it takes for hot water to reach the fixture - both annoying for the person in the home and less energy efficient. A 3/4" line holds 2.25 times as much water as a 1/2" line, so it will more than double the time it takes for water from the shower/faucet to get warm. Upsizing the lines, if not necessary, could be a very bad move. There are guides covering run distance, vertical height, and number of fittings to maintain pressure levels. The guides should be followed and upsizing done only if necessary after analyzing the system.

This is great information to me as I know a fair amount of plumbing but I'm not a professional, I retired from construction and now work at Lowe's. I get questions every day about PEX and I try to give the customer the very best information I can. Thanks for the video.

I misspelled Apex Legends and accidently searched PEX it was a good decision

Invested in the M12 expansion tool for a small job years ago and finally used Uponor to rough in three houses over the past couple months. It’s definitely going to take over.

I replumbed our entire stilt home in 2004 after Hurricane Charley badly damaged it. Being a stilt home, I was able to replumb from underneath the living space.I used Vanguard pex B runs off of a manifold in the garage to EVERY valve in the house. I could, for instance, shut off the water to the guest room cold sink valve if it needed to be replaced, without having to shut water off to the whole house. That installation It worked fine, though I did have a few problems crimping fittings in tight spaces. Because we had over sixty pounds of pressure from the city water, I never noticed any lack of pressure at any tap. When we moved to the current home in 2013, I did a major remodel which included pulling down the entire drywall ceiling to put in new ducts and insulation. I used that access to the entire attic space and the top plates of the stud walls to replumb with pex again, only this time I used Uponor pex. I even had an Uponor guy come out and answer questions I had. The $400 bucks I spent on the Milwaukee Pro Pex expansion tool kit was well worth it. The joints went together quickly and securely. We're on well water here, so our pressure, between the pump kicking on, can go down to about 30 psi, but with the joints not being reduced in diameter like with pex B, our pressure is fine at every fixture. And, one thing you didn't mention. When I tore out the old copper pipe from 1979 when the house was built, nearly half the inside diameter was blocked with mineral deposits. Pex, as you know, is extraordinary slick. Nothing will build up inside it like on copper and, even to a slight extent, pvc.

I’m an electrician, but I love learning new things from people who know what good work is and take the time to teach others. This man and others like him are national treasures.

I’m just a homeowner but do a lot of my own work and I bought the uponor pex expander tool and love the expander/pex A system. It looks professional and the simplicity and durability of the expansion system is great. The tool was expensive but compared to shark bite fittings (I know, I know.. lol) at $10+ each vs a couple bucks for the expansion fittings, after just a few jobs you’ve broken even. It really is an awesome system.

I refurbished a older home with all new plumbing using PEX a while ago. I laid it out so it had NO fittings or valves inside the house. Each fixture had its own line going to a manifold outside the house where each line had its own valve. This eliminated crawling under cabinets to turn the water off and on. Also it seems like the valve inside the houses always need replacing each time you tried to fix something. Totally eliminated that problem from ever occurring. It also eliminates leaks inside the wall.

Prefer PEX A as easier to work with, like the Milwaukee m12 ProPEX tool for making the connections, don’t have to worry as much about the flow restrictions when using PEX A, & just really like it; especially on jobs when have a lot of “turns/bends”.....PEX A just so much easier to work with👍🏻 Cheers✌🏼

Pex A all the way it's more easy to work with Less fittings Very rare The connections leak. Specially here in California with water restrictions pex B is hardly used in new construction. I have seen more issues with pex B leaks,kinks,and low water flow. You 100% right Roger great video!

I’m a pex A guy. I feel the connections are more reliable. Also the wall thickness of the fittings is thicker. I do wish the big box stores in my area would stock pex A. They all stock the pex B. It just would make it more convenient.

I got Polybutylene pipe in my mobile home and gradually upgrading to PEX B. I prefer the compression rings all over the crimping rings. PEX A is more ideal for a contractor than a homeowner, just because the tools are expensive.

I did a bunch of homework about 5 years ago (took about 6 mo's) to learn about all the updated residential plumbing line/supplies and came to the same conclusion as you that PEX A has the best characteristics and I would say better than copper in some ways as well. I've done a lot of remodeling on kitchens and bathrooms, so for me, I lean heavily toward PEX A even though I have the tools and know-how for all of them. When I did learn what looked like the best choice, I bought the Milwaukee expansion tool and have no regrets. In haste, before I got done with my learning session, I bought a PEX B crimper also made by Milwaukee and have only used it a couple times...oh well, live and learn.

I do think it is worth to mention, that while shrink-fit "quick and easy" joints are available here in Finland (the home of the Uponor system), it is common practice to use PEX-A with copper-style compression fittings with an insert, such as what is used with soft copper pipe. This is completely up to code here, as long as all connections are exposed or failure (leak) can be easily detected and repairs carried out. And the same code applies to copper pipe. For some reason, I have never seen this kind of combination used overseas. Furthermore, the reduced inside diametre of the pipe is usually not an issue, unless using something like 3/8" pipe, as sizes 1/2" and 1" are commonly used using this method. (and if you were wondering, PEX-B is not commonly seen at all)

Great video. Solid explanations of how and why they are different. When I was a young upstart in construction in the early 80's I watched the other trades go thru the same amount of changes in materials and methods as I was going thru as a carpenter. Once we all made it past the CPVC phase and into pex it seemed that all the plumbers that were already inclined to cut corners on a job for speed and money were the most likely to choose pex B or crimp pex as what they built and stocked their company around. The higher end guys went with pex A or expansion pex. When I built my own home years later i purchased all the stuff for pex A and still use it on my own stuff to this day. Not to say that pex B now is the same and has not been improved but rare was pex a system 30 years ago that leaked where as the pex B houses were hard to get thru the winter during construction without a leak. Someone spoke about what home depot sells and What home depot sells is availability without having to know the secret handshake and code talk of a lumberyard or plumbing supply house. You can walk up to all of it, pick it up and turn it over and decide on your own if you can make it work. You dont need to suffer thru condescending counter intelligence trying to make you look or sound stupid. Pick it up, buy it, install it and learn for yourself if it works or not. Doesn't mean its a good product, just means they sell it and usually have more of it if you need and you can get it without ever speaking a word to anyone at the store. In short, Pex A is my jam and I'll stick with it but full disclaimer, I own a few pex b tools as well because they are cheap and sometimes you have to match stuff on a job.

In 1989 I was lucky enough to go on holiday to florida and stayed with my aunt and uncle,, florida is flat but believe me they didn't have pressure issues in fact even at sixteen year's old the shower nearly knocked me to the floor,, sounds like water companies have lowered the pressure as they have here because on the road I live it's serviced in lead here in the UK and they've told us that they can't put the pressure up anymore because it will blow the lead,, I've gone off topic as usual,, love the USA tho,, hope you get your cities back under control,, to much right to much left of any fitting will cause a future problem,, it's so true in politics as well, be blessed master plumber ❤️👍

I moved my shutoff to the inside of my house from under a crawlspace and paid a plumber to plumb it in live, because my exterior shutoff (community well) didn't work at the time. I "had the materials" available for him (the system main was installed with 1" SCH40), but he used his own Pex B. Not only did we have flow restrictions with the fittings, he reduced it to 3/4" Pex. Add insult to injury, he plumbed it backwards even though I had my lines labeled, and said "It's hard to go behind someone else's work." I paid him and fixed it myself.

I agree Roger with all your points about A. I love it. I have cut a ring off (carefully) and heated the joint to pull the fitting out (with a heat gun..no flame). Heated it more till it turned clear..let cool again to room temp and re expanded it. Made the connection again and it's still going strong in my basement. Only thing you left out was that UV light degrades it but.... cover it near sunlight and it's fine. On long runs along joists I run it inside PVC (one size up) to act as a conduit and UV shield. Works great. PVC is cheap.. Uponor Pex rocks.

I did a hole house with 1/2 pex b water flow good.

After watching this, I'm using Pex A for a lot of reasons but mainly because on a big job, as you said, you can't assemble it and forget to make the connection since it'll be obvious. Thanks for your time to share your knowledge.

We use a lot of pex b however we don’t use any 90s with the exception of getting to the sinks or toilets etc. We’ll do our best to have the pipe undistrubed by fittings. If you try to make the pex “pretty” by 90ing every bend the pressure is insanely reduced !

Ive had my milwaukee uponor tool for 3 years now and I use it almost every day. Super awesome tool to have

I re-plummed a small lake house 2 different times. The first was after the CPVC froze and burst, the second was after the flexible copper was stolen. I went back with Pex A to solve both issues.

redid my moms plumbing with pex B, very fast and easy. I would say the one benefit of pex b is that the tools to do it are cheaper than pex-a, so it may be more viable for a DIY person. the crimper was like 15 or 20 bucks!

I love your videos! I am not a plumber. I am a DYI guy (over 50 years). I managed large senior assisted living and independent living complexes and learned a lot about plumbing when it failed. I found out that plumbing normally failed after 5PM on a Friday (when my maintenance man was gone for the weekend and before Monday when we had expert help again) I am an expert on using 50 gallon trash cans to catch leaks in leaking pipes; replacing expensive matteresses, and begging for emergency plumbing repairs. When someone recommends "Shark Bite" I know that my backside is where the bite is going to happen. Thanks for sharing!

I'm not into plumbing but these videos are interesting to watch

I took a certification class at the hall and am a Uponor Installer. Love it. My intention to build a new home keeps getting postponed, Covid19, etc. but when I build I will be using Uponor!

There are some PEX B pipes that can be expanded for F1960 fittings. SiouxChief power pex is a good example that can use expansion and compression fitting. Apollo has some as well, have to check the labeling on theirs though. The SiouxChief is ASTM F2023 rated 5306 meaning 24 hour recirc level 5 chlorine resistance, and 6 months uv exposure

I had a leak under my driveway. The pipe under ground was copper in a steel conduit. The steel rusted away as it came through my foundation then the copper sprung a small leak. I cut out about a 3 foot square patch of my driveway. I soldered a conversion to pex b then ran pex b under ground into the house. I also put a new piece of conduit over the pipe. Then I poured a new patch into my driveway smoothed it out nicely. DIY for the win. Its been a repair for about 8 months now and still rocking and rolling I did call a coworker who was a former pro plumber for advise which was helpful. He did say I should replace the entire line all the way to the city if I wanted a permanent repair but I went cheap and simple because that would have required to dig up across my entire driveway.

Nice video, I own a campground and marina and when I bought it 18 years ago cpvc was everywhere and quite problematic , when asking a plumbing supplier I'd used for years as to what to do he pointed me to NIBCO brand pex (pex b) because of it's UV resistance and underground capability, 18 years later we have had virtually no failures in approximately 6000 ft with 20% exposed to full UV , I'm in the midwest so we get both hot and cold weather, we do winterize by blowing compressed air thru the system but its not full proof and the pex takes freeze/expansion quite well, after a tour of the NIBCO facility we learned they used the product for the plant air lines as well so we've been doing the same, 16 years of 175 psi and not a single failure, sadly what led me to your video is NIBCO having left the tubing market and I'm searching for a pex product that will give us UV and below grade capability for that eventual day that I need to overhaul our system

Hi Roger, thanks for the videos. You're really good at explaining this stuff, your video style and pacing is also really great and easy to follow

Thanks for explaining the difference between Pex A and B. I used B when I was redoing some of the plumbing in a house I used to own. I'm having a new one built now, and will definitely be talking to my plumber about Pex A.

Around 2015, I had a little plumbing to do. At the time, no supply houses or Lowes or Home Depot in the area(Columbia SC) carried any Pex A. So, I went with Pex B. 7 years later, not 1 leak or failure. While I do like a few features of Pex A, better flow, and you know a fitting is per say crimped if it is on and that you can fix a kink is great, but the fact that the fitting are 2x more expensive is a con for Pex A. By the way, recently, Lowes, Home Depot and the local supply houses have started carrying Pex A. Now for my take on the better flow of Pex A, I use low flow showerheads and faucets, so I don't have a flow issue with Pex B, Amazing how much money is saved on a monthly basis with a low flow showerhead, although most low flow showerheads suck, Niagara make some that are amazing. I have seen people with showerheads flowing 10 GPM, they were running out of hot water in 10 minutes with an 80 gallon tank, and they had to wait about 45 minutes between showers. They had an extremely high water and electric bill. I know many people would say, just install an on-demand water heater! Nope, switched to a 1.5 GPM head, now all 3 can take a shower back to back without waiting, and the water/sewer/electric bill dropped tremendously! Just think, each day, 3 were taking a shower, that was 240 gallons of hot water, with the new head, now 3 showers use 45 gallons!

Totally agree with your conclusion. I'm watching this video because my plumber uses PEX B and I have had doubts about it for years, particularly about the restriction in flow. He's got 45 years more experience in plumbing than I do, so I want to be respectful, but I think he puts way too many fittings in my houses where a bend would suffice.

Definitely recommend an experienced plumber. That said, this stuff is *nearly* idiot proof. I re-piped my entire house (removed 100% old galvanized) with PEX A when the hardest plumbing job I had done prior was replacing a toilet wax seal. Also, for anyone who decides to DIY, screw the manual expansion tool. Spend the extra coin, save yourself time, and get the battery operated one. The auto rotate feature alone makes it worth it.

I brought up the reduction in PEX b in a plumber's Facebook group you can tell a lot about their integrity from guys that say wgaf. I also pointed out that the water heaters from the big box stores have 3/4 nipples with 3/8 ID heat traps trying to explain to the customer why they have a reduction in flow through their water heater I tell them stick with the supply house brands like Bradford White and again I get raked over the coals by all these Facebook plumbers for caring about the flow.

Came here to learn about pex-a. I'm a carpenter that does remodels and I'm Leary of stretching the pipe so i wanted a professional opinion. I have only used pex-b and i have had one flow restriction problem but that was my fault for using only 1/2" directly from the water heater. I did as i was told by my boss at the time.

Thank you for this video , my wife and i recently bought a home that has the polybetaine piping a will eventually need to be replumbed. When we talk to a plumbing company ,we will as a consumer will have an understanding of our options.

I like the pex a for all the reasons you listed and on top of that, you can use pex b fittings with pex a piping.

Great vid. My mind is spinning as I need to repipe my home and Pex A vs. Pex B is confusing. One plumber even wants to do CPVC. I see that Pex-A may have some issues after years with chlorine in municipal water more than Pex B? Then the hot water degradation of both is a concern as I run my hot water at 140F.

Just cutting my teeth in residential plumbing after 5 years of pool equipment/pvc plumbing. This stuff excites me.

Thanks, just what I wanted to know. I'm a do it yourself home owner. Just moved across country, built a new house for me and my wife (that also does it all) in SC. I did copper when I was in Ca. but this new house has pex. Just built a huge barn that I need to plumb. My wife is doing the drains and I am learning pex since the house has pex. From the well I was going with 1" and thinking about 3/4" for the horse wash rack, washer and tankless heater. And you told me what I was looking for. Pex A is the answer.

I switched my house and two neighbors to pex b because it was what they had at the big box store. I have never used pex a. The pex b worked great it improved the flow to distant show

8:44 This isn't really an issue anymore. Modern copper crimpers have a safety hash mark indentation which shows when the ring has been crimped. So visual inspection is easy (Like Pex-A). Great, thoughtful video. Thanks.

I used Pex-B when I installed my lawn sprinkler system years ago. It was so quick and easy. Later on I dug up a section to add another sprinkler head. I cut the pex added a T crimped the lines on returned the sod. No problem No leaks and each year during the summer I drive my car across the lawn to flatten the ground. Never hurt a thing.

I had a plumber by pass my water softener to supply a sill cock. The original pipe was 3/4 copper. I got home and found 1/2" pex B with 3 90 degree fittings in 10ft. This connected to the the remaining 40 ft of 3/4 pipe supplying sill cock. When I called to complain they said code only requires 1/2. They came out and replaced the run with 3/4. It increased the flow by 35% at the sill cock. I was not happy, might be the last time hire a plumber. I like your videos they are down to earth and informative.

I install crimp pex using a manifold system in utility room (zero fittings from manifold to fixture). 1” service line. Home owners are amazed with volume they get at each fixture. I’ve been licensed plumber for 20+ years

I'm a regular homeowner and had to repipe my entire house. We're on extremely hard well water and the copper in the slab developed pin hole leaks. I used PEX A and routed all the lines through the attic following uponor logic method. I insulated all the lines as well and used pipe straps to secure it. Was very easy to do and saved me about $20k

The plumbers just replaced our supply line from poly-b to PEX-A. The plumber was in the crawl space and I couldn’t figure out what the drill sound was. The Upanor tool. Very cool. It was also amazing how deep they had to dig down into the driveway. They worked so hard I bought them lunch and gave them a tip. By their reaction it seemed like this was the first tip they got

Viega (pex B) Pros -faster (insert and pinch). -not affected by cold when installing. -easier to assemble pipe and fittings (built in stops in the fittings). Cons -doesn’t bend as easily -fittings are not full flow Uponor (pex A) Pros -full flow fittings -bends easily Cons -slower to work with (expanding every joint and making sure the fitting is fully inserted before the pipe starts shrinking again). -not easy to install in cold weather (pipe doesn’t want to shrink back without a heat gun) I feel for service work I would rather use viega because there’s no wait time. I can pinch a fitting and have the water back on instantly. With uponor you should wait for the pipe to set up before turning the water on. For new construction or remodel I would use uponor.

Video should have just been labeled "Use PEX-A"

Well I prefer Pex A now. Starting a new build soon and your vid sold me on the A. I've never used pex before, but been around it for years as a mechanical insulator and have seen the benefits in both material and labor costs. Thanks for sharing your time and expertise, much appreciated.

I'm in the process of ridding my house of poorly run CPVC. Using PEX A. The only downside side is having to wait for ordered parts to show up. You can make do with what Home Depot has on the shelf (Tampa FL) but I'd rather have the specific fittings and colored pipe I want. (Red for hot, blue for cold). I still use copper or iron for some places. (Showers and exterior bibs last foot or two.) I bought the dewalt battery tool. It was worth every penny. It takes of all of five minutes to learn how to use it. Loving it so far. Not a single leak after a year.

Not a plumber by trade but with the advice of friends who are and videos like yours i did my own new house. I did a year of research before starting and went with PEXa with a hand built copper manifold system. Used PEXa oxygen barrier for my in slab and under floor Radiant Heating. The two biggest reasons for PEXa would be the lack of flow restrictions and usability (bends, kink repair, etc)

I've used both A and B and I prefer A for the reasons you stated plus when you're using PEX B in those tight spots it can be difficult to get your crimping tool in proper position and at the end of the day an overhead crimp in a tight spot is not an enjoyable experience.

As a plumber it’s awesome seeing these videos, I like both pex a and b and both are great and easy to work with, definitely pros and cons, but the same goes for copper and pvc.

I’m not a plumber by trade, just a handy home rehabbed/flip/rental landlord. I used both at different homes. PEX B mostly with a central manifold distribution shut off point, and PEX A not as often (once if I recall), but still have all the tools in the garage. Can you tell me (or better yet make a follow up video) if PEX A fittings can connect to which materials (ie pvc, copper, galvanized, etc) and how? This video is awesome. I should have found it sooner.

Probably the most complete video on the difference between Pex A and B. I use the A version, because IMHO it is easier to install. Also, since you should up-size Pex B, don't you need to drill pass-through holes a bit bigger (I don't know). Thank you

An awesome thing you can do with Pex when you have the space is use PEX Bend Supports brackets which require no cutting of the pipe or fittings. Really slick way to make sure the pipe won’t rattle around with water hammer and no need for a fitting.

Thanks for the information. I just replaced frost-damaged copper with PEX B. I wish I had oversized it - it's an off-grid owner-built home, with gravity feed water system. The flow is now very weak, as you mentioned.

I work at Home Depot and no one at the store really knows that difference in PEX....! Now I know everything about it...! Thanks. Al Sautner.

Educational, BUT… your end point (shower head, faucet,etc) creates the large pressure drop. Unless it’s an open pipe at the end or you have 50 elbows on a line, you will not notice the pressure drops you are describing…

Hands down Pex-A all the way. I even use it for low grade vacuum chambers too. I made a dual propane tank vacuum chamber with all pex expansion fittings. I could pull to -29hg and it held for a while. It was still at -27hg even 3 days later. The expansion fittings make it amazing for vacuum as they just get stronger the deeper you pull. You can’t do this with crimp fittings or shark bite. I have very specialized needs for what I’m using it for so I’m not sure if this information will be helpful for anyone else though lol

I've been using pex b... honestly I want to start using pex A so i can buy new tools 😂🤣😂. Can't wait to use pex A, to me seems a lot simpler and faster than pex b. Pex a, expand and put together.

One of the problems when using pex is that it was originally designed to be used in a home run installation where you run individual runs to each fixture from a central manifold thus giving you constant pressure and volume coming off the manifold. However to save money plumbers do the same branch and tee system used when installing copper, with even a slight reduction in the pex pipe and compounding it by using a bunch of tees, it is a problem just waiting to happen. Installed properly with home run system using either pex A or pex B you will not have a problem with volume or pressure.

Pex (A or B) encourages lazy plumbing, especially in routing of pipes. I am replacing a shower unit today (after removing the old unit yesterday). What I found was 3 pex pipes (two for the shower and another routing to an adjacent bath) that are routed around the studs on the side of the shower wall. Since I'm installing tile over a previous one-piece shower unit, this will all have to be re-routed. Sadly this is a very common occurrence. Lazy plumbers grab at any chance to cut corners (no pun intended) and Pex is an enabler. The other problem is that I'm finding that older Pex, in the Arizona heat, is becoming brittle. Especially inside the perimeter walls. This results in leaks which usually go undetected for a long time. When you come to sell a house here in Arizona, if the house is built using Pex you can expect to take a hit on the value of the home.

I still prefer copper. But the PEX is probably also good in places prone to earthquakes because of it's flexibility. It might be less likely to break while the ground is shaking.

Hi Roger, Thank you for posting. I've never used either. Not sure what the plumbing cost in NYC requires for new construction. I'm pretty much a dinasour with all new plumbing technology. When I heard about shark bite and pro press fittings I was pretty amazed. On the commercial side of plumbing and if your working on pipe size over 2" I think most plumber will be using copper. All good stuff all around. Keep that watet flowing where it needs to go. Stay safe stay clean.!!

I just used PEX-A to install a hose spigot on the back of my house since we only had a spigot on the side of the house before. I was able to cut into a cold water line, pro-press on a tee, and add the PEX line from there across the basement to the back of the house to add the spigot. Awesome stuff! Definitely better than PEX-B.

I just had a bathroom remodel. I have copper thru out my house and the new shower valve and related parts were installed with a red colored plastic pipe and metal squeeze rings PEX B. I left the pipe trades 38 years ago- this was totally foreign to me. Thank You for the great video, it’s just enough information to satisfy my curiosity. Well Done Sir.

I've not used PEX-A before, though I replumbed my house with PEX-B. Haven't really noticed a pressure issue; just be mindful of the number of fixtures tied to a specific pipe size.

Come on Rodger, You know the PEX A system installed correctly is the sweetest residential system out there! That's coming from a copper guy!

Now I'm a plumber california and people b will return back to its shape with the same as pex a and if it is under pressure It will never kink I love your videos but some things are not what you say they are I have been a plumber for 40 years and to tell u the truth I hate all pex because any homeowner can do pex a,b,c a real plumber uses copper and I hate the way it looks I co.e from led and ocome and I live at 6500 feet and I have had problems with mice and rats eating through the pipe to get to the water so for me pex will never take off like copper did in the 70s and 80s but I really enjoy your channel have a great day to everyone and to u sir

I do fixit work, which includes plumbing. I have use pex-B due to parts and tool access (most of the time).. I now have a DeWalt pex expander and plan to use it on my next job. The flow is the reason I am going to pex-A. I have not always been able to get the upsize parts at the local box stores. Great explanation of the two types.

you said you could bury this in concrete. Could I bury it in the ground running from my pump to where it enters the house? I live on the central Florida East coast.

As a person working in mobile homes this is hella helpful. Polybutylene was the work of the devil.

I bought almost everything in Pex A, besides the tub / shower manifold. I have a pier and beam home and have a couple of questions 1. Where can someone buy Pex A shutoff valves to make a, make shift shutoff manifold out of 3/4 pex. Question 2. What is the best solution to keep mice, rats, squirrels and etc from chewing through pex. 3. is it better to anchor Pex on the bottom of the floor joist or is it better to bury it under the house and if so, how deep ??

Best part of both is they can be "fished" like wiring. That said here in the Northeast we don't see that much of the Upinor Pex A mostly Pex B in my area, and of course copper as well. Also you can put in a manifold that acts much like a circuit breaker panel for water.

@3:21 You know, now that I'm getting older I have reduced flow too. Love this video BTW. I am getting ready to replace/replumb all my PolyB in my house. I'm not a plumber. I'm stuck on Uponor AquaPex.

Pex ”A” is the shiznic!!! I use the the DeWalt expansion tool as it has a 20 amp battery.

i'm a new apprentice in my first year out here in Oregon, and have just started working with Pex A!

Keep in mind 3/4" copper piping has an inside diameter of 3 /4" or better (Type K=.745", Type L=.785, Type M=.811, all have 7/8" outside diameter. The 3/4" Pex piping (both Pex A & B) have inside diameters of .671 (basically 5/8") & outside diameters of 7/8". So we are already getting a flow drop restriction going from 3/4" copper to 3/4" Pex (3/4" to 5/8"). The fittings for Pex B do drop that a little bit more to slightly less than 5/8" based on my measurements but I could be wrong. Based on my very limited experience Pex B does offer a significant labor savings advantage, obviously over copper, but also over Pex A. Now I was using a manual Pex A expansion tool, not the battery powered Milwaukee one. But I still think for Pex B (1) placing a band on the pipe (2) putting a fitting inside the pipe (3) compressing or crimping the band is quicker than using Pex A where you have to (1) place a band on the pipe (2) expand the pipe/band (takes about 9 expansions for 3/4" pipe using the manual process) & then placing the pipe on the next piece. Plus it takes 2 to 5 minutes for the Pex A band & pipe to shrink back fully not that anyone is going to stand around waiting for that to happen before going to the next joint. I just do stuff around mine & my friends homes, I'm semi-retired. So not high-volume jobs. I like Pex A but still up-size the piping when going from copper to Pex. If I did high volume I'd probably switch to Pex B & still up-size the piping. For my small volumes jobs up-sizing the pipe or the fittings from a price perspective is inconsequential, doesn't matter. But it does keep the customers & myself happy...

Im sorry Roger I have to Disagree with you and I hope you read this. You started off great by talking about PEX A, B & C (there is a D). The letter designation has nothing to do with the quality or fitting type that the PEX can use to attach. The process in which they Cross Link(X) the Polyethylene (PE) to make PEX (Polyethylene Cross Linked) is where the designation A, B & C comes into play. Type A was the first chemical process that was patented to make PEX, then PEX B and so on... The ASTM ratings that are stamped on the PEX is what they have been certified to handle for fitting connections: Copper Crimp (ASTM 1807), Cold Expansion with PEX Compression rings (ASTM 1960), Cold Expansion with Metal Compression Sleeve (ASTM 2080) and Stainless Steel Clamps (ASTM 2098) Uponor/Wirsbo is not the only PEX that can use expansion fittings!!!! ASTM 1807, 1960, 2080, 2098 are what that PEX is rated for. There are many PEX brands that can do COLD EXPANSION ASTM 1960. Please update your knowledge and please be conscious of putting bad info out into the world. I have watched many of your videos. Keep on making great content but please do fact check tech info it has a huge impact on the industry. Thank you!

How do you feel about the other type of crimp rings? I’ve switched to them solely because of the smaller tool and it seems like you never accidentally have those rings cocked and crooked the way that the copper rings will

My last house. retired carpenter. PEX A sounds like the way to go. Thank You. The guy at the store had no idea why there are two different pex.

I re-plumbed my house with Pex-A. Spend the money and buy the Milwaukee expansion tool, the manual one is too much of a hassle. One disadvantage to Pex A, your fittings can't much closer than about 3". The problem... when you put the expansion tool in the pipe on the second fitting, if too close to the first, it will jam and freeze inside the first fitting. I found out the hard way.

The price of expanding tool prohibits wide use of pex a. Otherwise I would use a

We used viega pex B when I was an apprentice and a new tech. I switched companies and now used uponoor. I love the uponor pex/copper adapters. They take solder so much easier. I thought to myself where has this been all my life?

I’m not a plumber. I’m what plumbers hate. A licensed Water Utility employee. I absolutely love PEX-A. In the utility we only use 1” American made copper- so I love some copper. I remodeled my house a year ago. I used 1” PEX-A from meter to inside house. Took it to a manifold, I installed a Rinnai RL75eN tankless water Heater ( I live in Central Arkansas) taking a calculated risk on that one. (Fingers crossed) The PEX-A was so quick and easy. I was sold. It was very time efficient.

I'm not a plumber, rather one of the home handymen who does SOME of his own plumbing. I installed a water softener/filter on the side of my house (in a shed) and decided to do it Pex b for the fun of it. It turned out ok, definately not pretty as the only "training" I got was on sites like this. If it leaks, oh well it's out side and easy to fix. 2 1/2 years, no issues yet. It would have been much more difficult to do it in copper but It would have looked better. The Pex installed nicely, now as for the 30' run from the main back to the house and the rinse line drain going under a wall... Had a pro do that part and install a pressure regulator.

Who is the electrician version of Rodger?

Been using PEX A almost exclusively for 20 years. Bizarre that some places it's "new"

I work for two different plumbing companys here in San Diego. I've installed, using only pex A on a new construction 4 unit three story building in downtown S.D. Did the entire building using pex A, and using the Milwaukee tool for all of the couplings. Great and flexible stuff, loved working with it. While I do repiping on houses with the other plumbing company. He only! uses copper for every plumbing project we come across. Because he doesn't trust pex in the long run. And he doesn't want call backs for leaks in the future. So I guess its all personal preference.