Alan D Miller
When we last met, I told you about the leak in daughter #2’s house that led to completely new plumbing from the basement to the second floor and throughout the upstairs bathroom.
This project continues with the motto “One thing leads to another, and next you rip everything out but the studs.”
To get to the plumbing, we had to rip open the floor and drill through the walls. Once the walls and floor were wide open, it seemed logical to redo everything – plumbing, wiring, insulation, and even some strengthening of the structural system.
Craftsman in the old house:Meet the group working to preserve Ohio’s historic barns
That means I’ve spent a lot of time in the bathroom — and in the attic and basement.
I am pleased to report that the plumber my daughter hired removed and replaced all of the old cast iron and galvanized steel plumbing in the house. It is now a mix of copper, plastic and a completely modern system. The copper is from a previous upgrade. Some of the PVC waste pipes are also from the previous owner, others are brand new.
The new umbilicals are PEX, which stands for “cross-linked polyethylene”. One of my favorite magazines, Family Handyman, describes PEX as “the biggest revolution since the flush toilet.” In an article published in May, the magazine stated that PEX “costs less than half the price of copper and is much quicker to install.”
The flexible, color-coded plastic tubing (red for hot, blue for cold) requires no soldering, which is required to join sections of copper tubing, or the glue used with PVC tubing and fittings. PEX is cut with a special scissor-like tool and the connections are crimped with another special tool. Kits that include these two tools start at around $25.
I have to admit I was skeptical and strongly advised my daughter to consider copper plumbing, but her plumber made a good case for PEX. The Family Handyman story is full of details for those interested in learning more about this form of modern plumbing.
Benefits include that its flexibility means it is less prone to cracking when frozen and will not corrode like copper or galvanized tubing.
Craftsman in the old house:Whatever it’s worth, the pet hair removal device works
Another plus is the possibility of installing a manifold to manage your plumbing system. The manifold is a series of valves that allows a homeowner to control each individual supply line to each plumbing fixture in the home. It looks like an electrical breaker box for water.
And it came in handy for my daughter because she had asked the plumber to run sewer and utility lines to her attic for a future project to finish the attic and add a bathroom. The plumber could have just tapped the lines from the second floor bathroom to supply the attic. However, with the PEX system, he installed separate lines from the basement manifold to the attic, so each line had its own on/off valve.
It was inexpensive and easy to do all of this work while exposing the wall and floor voids rather than starting from scratch with an attic project later. And it allows her to keep water out of the attic plumbing until it’s needed there.
The Family Handyman article notes that rodents may chew into a PEX pipe. So keep that in mind when considering whether to use it.
Otherwise, it says, “PEX has been used for decades in other countries where there are thousands of homes with 30-year-old, leak-free PEX.” Most problems with PEX systems in the United States and elsewhere have tended to be due to poor installation or failure connections than due to the hoses themselves.”
Three other things my daughter decided to do while the walls and floor were open: rewire the electrical wiring, insulate the exterior walls, and replace the old patched and newly touched-up plaster with new drywall.
Craftsman in the old house:The family tradition of renovating old buildings will continue in 2023
You and I are both grateful for our neighbor Rick, a retired engineer who is always looking for ways to help people. He’s done numerous remodeling jobs in his and other homes, so he brings years of experience, strong arms, and plenty of encouragement.
He’s also very good at looking ahead and often saying, “You know, while we’re doing this work, we might add this or fix that as well.”
He’s right, of course, and so one thing leads to another, and next you’ve ripped everything out down to the bolts.
Alan D. Miller is a former Dispatch editor who teaches journalism at Denison University and writes about old home repair and conservation based on personal experiences and questions from readers.
youroldhouse1@gmail.com
@youroldhouse
www.dispatch.com
https://www.dispatch.com/story/lifestyle/home-garden/how-to/2023/07/09/old-house-handyman-daughter-number-2s-home-gets-new-plumbing-system/70382278007/
