As you can likely imagine, a complete plumbing system consists of a number of different fixtures and pipes intertwined throughout. While you are probably familiar with the various fixtures included (such as faucets, toilets, etc), how well do you know the types of plumbing pipes used? To take it one step further, are you aware of the advantages and disadvantages associated with these different materials? Having a general understanding of the benefits and shortcomings of piping materials can definitely be useful. For instance, say you’re in the homebuying process and touring houses around town, do you know which piping materials should instantly raise red flags, in comparison to ones that you can feel confident in? The last thing you want is to find the perfect house and then a year or two down the road, be faced with significant plumbing issues, right?
As a plumbing business serving the Kansas City area, pipes are something we work with on a daily basis. Whether it be repairing cracks in existing lines or running new lines altogether, you’ll see plenty of examples of this across our social media pages. In today’s blog post though, we’ll be breaking down the different types of piping material and helping you with differentiating the good from the bad. No matter if you’re curious about your home’s current water and drain lines or if you’re trying to determine if plumbing is an issue in a home you’re thinking about purchasing, hopefully this blog post provides you with some useful insight!
Copper – Without a doubt, one of the oldest and most well-known materials used in the plumbing world is copper. In fact, there is a strong possibility that you even have copper pipes somewhere in your home! What makes copper so popular in the plumbing world? Well…for one, it’s reliable and durable. When it comes to plumbing, this is extremely important. After all, as a homeowner, I’m guessing the last thing you want to be worrying about is whether or not your plumbing system can withstand the daily wear and tear. For this reason, you’ll find plenty of copper pipes used for water transportation purposes. Considering its widespread use as water lines, it’s extremely important to ensure safety is emphasized and that’s the case with copper. For one, you don’t have to worry about copper pipes suffering from rust. To add to it, they’re also long-lasting, which makes it no surprise as to why they’ve continued to be so popular!
PVC – Another common material that most people are familiar with is PVC, which stands for polyvinyl chloride. Just as we mentioned with copper pipes, there’s also a good chance that you may find some PVC pipes in your home’s plumbing system, including as part of the drain lines or sewer lines. PVC pipes are incredibly durable and can last for quite awhile without breaking. Another major advantage of PVC piping is their resistance to corrosion. All in all, if you have PVC installed in your home, you’re in good shape!
PEX – Next up on our list of quality piping materials is PEX (cross-linked polyethylene). PEX is commonly used as water lines. PEX has become extremely popular thanks to a number of different advantages. Before discussing some of those benefits though, you’ll also notice that PEX pipes come in different colors. Red PEX pipes generally signify being a hot water line and blue PEX pipes would be cold water lines. Then, there is also white pipe, which can be used however. Keep in mind that each of the types of PEX pipe are technically the same, but the color differences make it easier to decipher which is which. Like the two materials mentioned above, PEX is also certainly a durable and reliable material to utilize. Another instant advantage associated with PEX piping is the flexibility it provides. This makes the installation process easier and also requires less fittings, thus a decreased concern for leaks occurring at the connections. In addition, PEX is less expensive than alternatives like copper. In the end, it’s no surprise why PEX has continued to grow in popularity.
Polybutylene – To this point of the blog post, we’ve highlighted a few piping materials that are popular and reliable. However, as you can likely guess, not all materials are built the same and some are better than others. No surprise there, right? Well…it wouldn’t be a complete blog post without mentioning the materials that you want to avoid. One material falling under the not-so-reliable category would be polybutylene. Polybutylene was primarily used from the late-1970’s through the mid-1990’s. They were used as water lines and at the time, were seen as a cheaper alternative to copper. Unfortunately, they didn’t end up being nearly as reliable and led to many leaks, before resulting in legal troubles. If your home does have polybutylene pipes throughout, it would likely be a good idea to have an experienced plumber examine the layout to determine if it would make sense to do some re-piping.
Lead – While not everyone will be necessarily familiar with polybutylene, I’m guessing you probably know about some of the dangers associated with lead pipes. Lead was used for years as water pipes, but was banned by the EPA in 1986. The biggest reason why this happened was because of the health concerns associated with lead pipes and potential lead poisoning. To sum it up, lead pipes are the perfect example of a material you would want to replace ASAP. If you have a home built before 1986, it’s worth confirming that you no longer have any lead pipes in your home. Furthermore, there are actually still water service lines in the US built out of lead too. All in all, while lead pipes are banned, there are still instances of them being in use here in the US today.
Cast Iron – Before we wrap up this blog post, the final piping material that we wanted to discuss today is cast iron, which dates back a few hundred years. While it was once widely popular and is something we still come across on projects at older homes, PVC and ABS has since been proven to be the better option. A major reason behind why it used to be so popular is because of its strength and ability to last a long time. In the plumbing world, you’ll likely find cast iron used in sewer and drain lines. The biggest downside to cast iron pipes is their susceptibility to rust and corrosion, which can easily lead to serious issues!
Reliable Plumbing Services in Kansas City
As you can likely tell from this blog post, the particular material in which your plumbing pipes are made of can have a significant impact on actual plumbing problems occurring. While there are several other factors that come into play, including the quality and professionalism of the original installation, the material used is something worth taking into consideration. Even though we didn’t cover every single plumbing pipe material on this blog post, we did highlight a few on both ends of the spectrum.
Here at Stine-Nichols Plumbing, our team makes sure to recommend and install materials that we feel confident in. We understand plumbing problems are no fun for homeowners and facility owners to deal with. As such, we take pride in utilizing reliable and long-lasting materials on projects we work on! If you live in or near the Kansas City area and are interested in getting a free estimate on an upcoming plumbing project, we would be happy to do just that. Feel free to give us a call at (816) 348-3481 to learn more about our available services!