Good call on leaving extra space—I learned that lesson the hard way. Initially, I tried to keep everything compact to save on materials (and money), but ended up having to redo sections because fittings wouldn't line up properly. Now, I always factor in a bit of wiggle room during dry-fit. It might feel wasteful at first, but it's cheaper than buying replacement parts and saves a ton of frustration down the road...
Same here—tried squeezing everything tight to save a few bucks, ended up costing me double in fittings and frustration. Now I leave some slack...lesson learned the pricey way.
"tried squeezing everything tight to save a few bucks, ended up costing me double in fittings and frustration."
Yeah, I get the frustration part for sure...been there myself. But I'm curious—does leaving extra slack actually help in the long run or could it create other issues down the road, like sagging pipes or difficulty insulating? I've been trying to find that sweet spot between tight and slack, but honestly, it still feels like guesswork half the time.
I've found leaving a bit of slack helps if you ever need to tweak or replace something later—nothing worse than cutting into a pipe and realizing you're short by half an inch. But yeah, too much slack can get messy. Anyone tried adjustable brackets or hangers to manage sagging?
Yeah, adjustable brackets have been pretty handy in my experience—especially the ones with rubber inserts to keep things snug without damaging the pipes. Another thing I've found helpful is marking out the pipe layout beforehand with painter's tape or chalk. Helps visualize how much slack you really need and prevents going overboard. Learned that the hard way after leaving too much slack once... ended up looking like spaghetti under my boiler. Live and learn, right?
