Yeah, I hear you—crawling under the house every couple years is nobody’s idea of a good time. PEX has its quirks, but at least you’re not chasing leaks all the time. Stainless flex is solid, but like you said, it’s not cheap and can be a pain to snake through tight spots. Sometimes just not having to deal with constant repairs feels like the most sustainable choice, even if it’s not the “greenest” on paper.
PEX has its quirks, but at least you’re not chasing leaks all the time. Stainless flex is solid, but like you said, it’s not cheap and can be a pain to snake through tight spots.
Not sure I’d agree that “just not having to deal with constant repairs feels like the most sustainable choice, even if it’s not the ‘greenest’ on paper.” In my experience, the up-front hassle of a more sustainable system can pay off in the long run—especially if you’re managing multiple properties. Copper, for example, is a pain to install and costs more, but I’ve had 30-year-old copper lines that never needed a single fix. PEX is convenient, but I’ve seen it degrade faster than expected in some crawlspaces, especially where rodents are an issue.
I get the appeal of stainless flex, but honestly, it’s overkill for most residential setups unless you’re dealing with seismic zones or something really unusual. Sometimes the “set it and forget it” approach just means kicking the can down the road for someone else. If you’re thinking long-term—like decades, not just a few years—sometimes biting the bullet on a more durable material actually is the greener move, even if it doesn’t look that way on a spreadsheet. Just my two cents from too many late-night leak calls...
Copper’s been the only thing that’s truly “set and forget” for me. PEX is fine if you’re flipping or holding short-term, but I’ve had mice chew through it more than once—total headache. Stainless flex is nice, but like you said, not worth the cost unless you’ve got a real reason. Long-term, copper just wins out, even if it stings at install. I’d rather pay once and not be back under the house in five years.
Copper’s got that old-school reliability, for sure. I’ve been on a few jobs where we had to fix PEX that’d been gnawed by mice—one of those things you don’t really think about until you’re crawling around in the dark with water dripping down your neck. It’s wild how persistent those little guys are. One customer swore up and down she never had mice, but there was a chunk missing from the PEX right behind her washing machine... guess the mice didn’t get the memo.
I see what you mean about copper being more of a “pay now, relax later” deal. The upfront cost hurts, especially if you’re doing a whole house, but I’d rather sweat pipes than stress about plastic lines getting chewed or popping loose. That said, I’ve seen some folks go with PEX and just armor it up in the crawlspace—run it through conduit or even old garden hose as a sleeve. Not perfect, but better than nothing.
Stainless flex always feels fancy to me—like putting chrome rims on your plumbing. Looks cool, but unless you’ve got some weird bends or vibrations going on, probably overkill.
I’ve heard about some folks trying out recycled materials or even bamboo piping for “sustainable” setups, but honestly… haven’t seen any of that hold up long-term yet. Maybe one day? For now, copper still seems to be the safe bet if you want to avoid headaches down the line. Plus there’s something satisfying about knowing it’ll probably outlast me under there.
I’ve looked into some of the “green” alternatives, but most of them seem more like experiments than real solutions right now. Bamboo pipes sound cool in theory, but I can’t imagine trusting them behind drywall where you can’t see what’s going on. Even recycled plastics make me a bit uneasy—who knows how they’ll hold up after 10 or 20 years? Has anyone actually seen a sustainable setup last more than a couple seasons without issues, or is it still too early to tell?
