COREdevelopments
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| posted on 20/6/10 at 09:24 PM |
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OT House plumbing
Hi Guys, I recently bought my first house and have spent the last 3 weeks wrecking it! I am after some advice from any plumbers on here. I need to
replace some, Ok alot of pipe work. And am a bit un-decided what pipe to go for either copper or speedfit plastic. copper is quite expensive for the
pipe but fittings are resonable. I am leaning towards speedfit as its simpler but connectors are bit pricey. I know you can get cheaper ones but i
have only ever heard good things of JG speedfit. However the floplast pipe is alot cheaper over speedfit so are the 2 compatible, IE Can i use
speedfit connectors with the cheaper floplast pipe?
as this will reduce the cost a fairbit.
Any advice is appreciated
Thanks
Rob
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tegwin
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| posted on 20/6/10 at 09:33 PM |
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I have tried both plastic and copper recently on some projects in an older house...
I hate plastic with a passion, it just doesnt look "right" somehow. I consider it a bodge! (especially if the rest of the house is plumbed
with copper)...
Get yourself a simple pipe bender, some copper pipe, tub of flux and some yorkshire 'solder ring' connections and your good to go.... the
end result can be something you are proud of 
If you are really on a budget, the plain connectors are ok provided you practice on a few to get the right amount of solder wicking into the joints!
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www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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COREdevelopments
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| posted on 20/6/10 at 09:40 PM |
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tbh tegwin i have all the tools to do the copper from my old man and would love to see the end results, I would get him to do it but he has just had a
triple heart by-pass so he out of action for a while. but i am trying to weigh the both option up. copper does look alot neater though. just a shame
it so expensive especially 22mm!
Rob
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BenB
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| posted on 20/6/10 at 09:49 PM |
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I'd go end feed personally rather than Yorkshire. Had too many Yorkshires leak whereas end feed I'm on 100% water tight. But yes,
personally I'd go copper. I only go plastic when I need the pipe to take a rather wiggly route and I can get to it when it leaks. In the same
way I only trust soldered copper below floorboards (ie I'd only use compression copper above floor level) for me it's plastic when
it's easy to access (but not visable)....
I've just totally re-plumbed my house and it's 90% copper.
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 20/6/10 at 10:05 PM |
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I had a house replumbed 15 years ago, all the non-visible stuff was done in plastic. When the combi boiler had a fit a couple of years ago the
pressure went virtually off the scale. The only joints that weeped? the above-floor ones on a couple of rads (and I did check carefully)
I have used both, and reckon overall little difference in price when youi allow for time. And the only leaks I have had have been on compression
fittings. Hate them.....
If you use plastic DO get a proper cutter. Currently use copper-push fit for minor repairs on letting properties, so easy/quick even when access is a
pain.
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skinned knuckles
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| posted on 21/6/10 at 07:38 AM |
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I'm old school and only ever use copper with old style soldered joints. never had a leak in over 10 years. have seen some really bad work done
in plastic as any bodger can do this. my parents had their entire house redone in plastic and every time the CH is turned on all the caps get pushed
off the conduits as the plastic expands and tries to go back to its spooled up shape. by the time you shell out for JG fittings compared with end feed
copper joints you dont get much of a saving. also I dont like not earth bonding my pipework which is a bit of a problem with plastic.
[Edited on 21/6/10 by skinned knuckles]
A man isn't complete until he's married, then he's finished
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hughpinder
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| posted on 21/6/10 at 09:23 AM |
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I'm not sure if you can officially mix and match the different makes of pipe and fitting although I have used the Hep, BandQ and wickes fittings
and tube all mixed with no problems due to the fittings so far.
I had some problems with the first joints (actually installed by a plumber), but this was just that they werent pushed in properly! In most you get an
increase in insertion pressure as you push in the pipe - its a 2 stage thing. I find the pipe inserts much easier if you slacken the joint (just a
part turn/0.5mm gap, before pushing in the pipe then tighten after - the're just hand tight.
I also had one unexpected problem - some mice that fancied a drink nibbled through one of the plastic pipes.
My system has been in 15 years, and no other problems, despite sending actually boiling water round the system when I was commissioning my straw
burner, and freezing the lot solid as I was away this christmas.
Advantageds for plastic - much easier to install under floor if you are fitting to a house that never had heating before ( as in my case). You dont
get any expansion/contraction nosies as you can with copper.
I used copper for all the exposed stuff as the plastic sags. Standard copper pipe just pushes in as long as you have used a tube cutter rather than a
hacksaw.
Regards
Hugh
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Liam
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| posted on 21/6/10 at 12:20 PM |
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When me and the wife bought our house, I ripped out all the old copper and redid the whole house water and CH in plastic (Hep2o). Weighing in the
copper paid for a lot of the plastic .
Great stuff to work with. I went for a manifold style system with manifolds for cold and hot water and CH flow and return all in the integrated garage
by the boiler, then individual runs to each fitting/rad. This means I have no joints at all under floors and can individually isolate any fitting for
maintenance from the garage.
Only bits visible are radiator legs but they look no better or worse than copper - just straight bits of pipe that nobody ever looks at anyway. Dont
really understand Skinned knuckles' point about earth bonding. It's actually safer to not go around your house introducing earthed
bits of metal all over the place if you dont have to! A plastic installation eliminates the need to supplementary bond every rad, tap, plug and bit of
pipe and results in a safer installation.
Liam
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