I've had decent luck with SharkBites too, but I switched to John Guest fittings a couple years back when redoing my kitchen plumbing. They're a bit pricier, but I liked that they're reusable and seemed more eco-friendly overall. Totally agree about prepping the pipe ends though—my first attempt was a disaster because I rushed it and didn't smooth out the edges properly. Ended up with a tiny trickle that drove me nuts until I redid it carefully. Patience definitely pays off with plumbing...
I was pretty skeptical about push-fit fittings initially, seemed too easy to be reliable... but I gave SharkBites a shot last summer when replacing my bathroom faucet. Honestly surprised by how well they held up. Definitely second the pipe prep though—learned the hard way myself.
Yeah, I was skeptical too at first—felt like cheating somehow, haha. But I've had SharkBites holding strong for a few years now in one of my rental units. One thing I'd add is to make sure there's no tension or sideways pressure on the fitting. Had a tenant shove a bunch of cleaning supplies under the sink once, pushed the pipe slightly out of alignment, and boom... slow drip city. Lesson learned: give 'em some breathing room.
Good point about the sideways pressure—seen that happen more than once. I'd also suggest double-checking the pipe ends for burrs or rough edges before pushing them into SharkBites. A clean, smooth cut makes a huge difference in preventing leaks down the road... learned that one the hard way, haha.
Yeah, good call on checking for burrs—I overlooked that once and ended up with a slow drip that drove me crazy for days. Quick question though, do you guys usually use one of those deburring tools, or just sandpaper/file it down? I've been using sandpaper since it's cheaper, but wondering if the actual tool makes a noticeable difference or if it's just marketing hype...
