LESLIE: Taking a call from South Carolina where Janice has a question about plumbing. Janice, how can we help?
JANICE: Hi. We’re expanding our house and it seems like all the contractors that are coming in adding to the new bathroom and an area like a wet bar, they want to put in this plastic tubing with these rings around it. And – instead of using copper. And I’m wondering – I’ve looked at a lot of different houses and even the new builders are starting to put this – it’s like a plastic tube.
TOM: Yeah, it’s called …
LESLIE: Is it called PEX?
TOM: It’s called PEX.
JANICE: OK.
TOM: Yeah, it’s PEX which is short for cross-linked polyethylene and it’s a very, very good piping system that’s really making the rounds now throughout new construction and remodeling. It’s much …
LESLIE: It’s easy to join together.
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: It’s flexible. It installs far easier. If you ever need to make a repair in an awkward space, it sort of helps to do that without having a lot of renovation involved.
TOM: Yeah, it’s good stuff.
JANICE: OK. And the rings that, you know, hold it on to where the pipe is connected to; I mean those will last for …?
TOM: Yeah, you know there were some problems with different types of plastic plumbing over the years but PEX doesn’t seem to have any of those issues. And there’s a lot of really qualified people that are looking into it and recommending it and writing about it. We did an interview with the editor, for example, of Fine Homebuilding magazine and those guys are tough. I mean they don’t give their recommendations very easily and they were raving about the stuff. So I wouldn’t have any concerns about using it. It’s a lot easier to use than copper. It’s going to last indefinitely. You don’t have to worry about acidic water causing holes in the copper pipes. A whole bunch of plumbing issues are eliminated by the use of PEX.
JANICE: Great. Alright, thank you very much.
TOM: Alright, Janice. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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