Shark Bites and basic plumbing

[sjgusmc21 850]

We purchased a 11 year old home on 1 June.  Yeah!  My first home...at least my home.  Anyway, here in central Texas (San Antonio) the water is freak'n hard....really hard.  So I installed a Fleck 7000 48K unit (should have gone 64K but whatever).  There were no hook ups and I was nervous about cutting into the main.  Old lady got the best of me, so I hired a plumber and had him do it.  I won't say he did a bad job, but it sure as hell isn't the best.  Whatever, will change it next summer when the family goes to the Philippines. 

 

So, all of my plumbing runs thru a manifold, using PEX.  Never heard of a manifold or pex before I purchased this house.  When he installed it, I forgot to ask him to re-route the outdoor spigots (we have a inground watering system that runs straight from the main) so we could water the plants, etc.  It is common knowledge that you should not use softened water for water the grass and plants. Plus, I don't want to waste it as well (the resin beads are freak'n expensive to replace).  So I decided to do it myself using some sharkbites and some pex. The main pipes are CPVC 1", the drain is 3/4", the pex is 1/2.  I think it turned out rather nice. 

 

So I have heard mostly good stories about pex, but have heard some bad ones as well.  I did ensure stuck them as far as I could inside of the shark bites, and they were cut clean, and even.  I don't see a drop of water anywhere (knocking on wood).  What are ya'lls experiences with using Sharkbites and pex?

 

What I have read is pex slipping off of copper pipes.  Not to say it is normal, just reading. 

[Sim_Player 1,939]

Good on ya. Don't be afraid of doing the work yourself, as long as you have some basic knowledge.

 

I worked for a water company for just three months (after 12 years in aerospace) and the boss had me installing whole house water filters, all by myself.

 

As far as copper and pex... Just check it for leaks, until you trust that it's going to be fine, IMHO.

[evlblkwpnz 3,418]

I'm not sure about the newer stuff but plastics have came a long way since the old PEX style piping proved to be problematic. As with most piping, just try not to let it freeze. Shark Bites are expensive, but I have never heard of anyone having issues with them when correctly installed. I have used them in very tight spots and never had any issues. 

Edited August 13, 2016 by evlblkwpnz

[montec 164]

I've used sharkbites on copper in my 100+ year old house, it's temp for me till I redue the plumbing correctly, it's been worked over so many times with different wall thickness and sizes. I recently used pex to put in 2 new outside spickets, as they had it all after the softner. So far so good but it was my first time so I am monitoring that for leaks.

Edited August 13, 2016 by montec

[sjgusmc21 850]

Thanks for the advice. Yes...monitoring every day with some paper towels down. So far so good.

Edited August 13, 2016 by sjgusmc21