I hear you on the “rite of passage”—my knees still ache thinking about the last time I had to sweat copper under a rental. PEX does feel like cheating, but honestly, I’ve had fewer callbacks since switching over. The plastic waste nags at me too, but the time saved is hard to ignore. Has anyone actually had long-term issues with PEX fittings or connections? I keep hearing about potential failures, but in practice, I haven’t seen much. Wondering if it’s just internet horror stories or if I’m due for a rude awakening down the line...
Has anyone actually had long-term issues with PEX fittings or connections? I keep hearing about potential failures, but in practice, I haven’t seen much. Wondering if it’s just internet horror stories or if I’m due for a rude awakening down the line...
I get where you’re coming from. The first time I swapped out copper for PEX on a job, I kept checking the joints every week like I was waiting for something to go wrong. Old habits die hard, I guess. In my experience, most of the issues with PEX seem to come down to installation—if someone gets lazy with the crimp rings or doesn’t seat the pipe all the way, that’s when you see leaks. But honestly, I’ve seen more pinhole leaks in old copper than actual PEX failures.
That said, I did run into a weird one last year: a house where the PEX had been exposed to sunlight during storage before install. Couple years later, some of those lines started getting brittle and cracking near the fittings. Not catastrophic, but enough to make me double-check how my supplier stores their stock now. Makes me wonder how many of those “PEX horror stories” are really about bad handling or shortcuts.
I do still worry about rodents chewing through it, though. Haven’t had it happen myself (knock on wood), but a buddy of mine had to redo a crawlspace after mice got into the lines. Copper’s not immune either, but at least they don’t seem to like it as much.
Curious if anyone’s had issues with those push-to-connect fittings over time? I’ve used them in tight spots but always feel a little uneasy leaving them buried behind tile... Maybe that’s just me being paranoid after too many years chasing leaks in walls.
I’m right there with you on the paranoia front—every time I hear a weird drip in the walls, I picture a geyser shooting out of a PEX joint. But honestly, I haven’t had any real trouble (yet). Did my shower swap last winter, used PEX since I figured if it’s good enough for half the new builds around here, it’s probably fine for my place.
The only drama I had was convincing my dad it wasn’t “cheap plastic junk.” He still swears copper is the only thing that’ll last, but I think he just likes soldering. My main worry is those push-to-connect fittings too—used one behind tile and now I get nervous every time I take a hot shower. Guess we’ll find out in a few years if that was a mistake...
