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Comment by jessaustin | Hacker News Reader

That's true for houses of a particular age and value. New stuff is all PEX, and has been for some time. Old enough houses would have been cast iron. Cheaper houses (mobile homes, for example) were all PVC for a long time.

I had to dig up and repair a sewer pipe yesterday, and was somewhat surprised to find that it was made of clay tile.

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in Los Angeles county (and, I believe, LA City), clay pipe is still an approved material for sewer pipe laterals

http://dpw.lacounty.gov/general/faq/index.cfm?Action=getAnsw...

http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/California/lamc/m....

New stuff is not all PEX. Some people prefer copper because of its anti-microbial properties and because it's a known quantity that has been used for a very long time. PEX was only even approved in California in 2009, and there was a lawsuit about the stuff it was leaching into the water. Whether it's safe is controversial. Whether it's stinky is not-- PEX causes the water to smell bad. https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q4/drinking-wa...

Also, nobody cares what sewer pipes are made of. Cast iron is a popular choice, but it could be just about anything, since you're not drinking the water (one hopes.) In California, they even used to make them out of pressed wood pulp and pitch in the 1960s... another wonder material that turned out to be not so wonderful in the long term... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangeburg_pipe

I guess it was still better than cement-asbestos pipe, though. Which is still used to supply tap water in some cities. :( Another wonder material of a bygone era.

Eh, what is the expected lifetime of PEX tubes?

The building code in USA is a bit relaxed compared to northern Europe, but can you have PEX tubes inside walls?

I think the recommendation here is a dual tube system, with a PEX pipe inside a protective outer tube.

Yes, you can have PEX enclosed in finished walls in most US cities. Only need to sheath when subject to damage (e.g. Passing through potentially abrasive material)

I think the typical warranty is 25 years? With all the lawsuits the EIFS people faced, one would expect most manufacturers to be very sure about this sort of thing...

'icantdrive55 the thread is about water supply lines, not boilers or HVAC evaporator coils. I've dealt with a number of plumbers over the last several years, and not one wanted to use anything but PEX for supply lines. Actually a different preference would be a strike against any plumber I'd consider hiring for new work. Also you appear to be hellbanned.

Of course they wanted to use PEX. It's cheaper and easier for them to install, since they don't have to solder anything. But there are definitely some concerns about PEX. http://www.calpipes.org/ProtectingCalifornians_PEX.asp It leaches a lot of chemicals which may or may not be harmful, but which certainly do cause an odor. It is permeable to some pesticides, oil, gasoline, and benzene. It is not anti-microbial like copper is, which means you get biofilms. If it's exposed to sunlight for two weeks (perhaps because some contractor left it outside), its chlorine resistance disappears. It is not recyclable, and makes toxic smoke when it burns. But it is 1/3 the cost. Your choice.

That's a pretty wacky position.

The only meaningful strike against copper is commodity cost.

Our main sewer line is Orangeburg. I look forward to replacing it soon.

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