We have bought a house that needs to be rebuilt from the 2x6's out. This includes all new plumbing. We have a total of 4 bathrooms in the house. The one in the basement is plumbed right into the sewer system, the one on the main floor is going to have a toilet, free standing shower, and tub and the two bathrooms on the 2nd floor each have a claw foot tub (that will have a shower attachment), a sink and a toilet. I just want to know what is the best or if it makes a difference when putting everything in.
well, lowes has these interesting pressure couplings near the plumbing section if you don't have solder that typically hold up for a few months or longer in some cases, they will work until a permanent solution is discovered.
Use PVC or ABS for sewer and drain lines. For waterlines the most common accepted practice USED to be copper.Because of the high cost of copper PEX has become a more and more common replacement.There are different types of PEX but I like to use WIRSBO PEX.You can bend it like crazy but it will still retain it's true diameter unless, of course ,you actually kink it and that's a no no. It would work really well in you case (remodeling) because it is quite flexible and can be manipulated into close quarters where you may otherwise have been afraid to use a torch for soldering. As for cast iron, we don't really use it anymore.It's heavy, hard to work with,many hubs need to be filled with molten lead or oakum to seal the joints and neither of those items are easy to get a hold of anymore.
Think again. Go for underfloor heating. No radiators anywhere and save space. The house will feel warmer as the heat comes from the floor upwards rather than radiators. Underfloor piping is a mixture of plastic and aluminium. I install piping and generally use a mixture of the two. Plastic to get underfloor without raising floor boards everywhere. Copper where I can get the piping down and the connections are much cheaper to do. Naturally I want copper pipes to all radiators plastic looks ugly. Regardless if you have solid floors make sure that the pipe is properly installed in conduit and you can replace the piping in the future. Note copper going through walls/concrete the motar eats into exposed copper over the years and causes leaks and any plumber who says he has protected the pipe with a bit of duct tape is a liar. My own personal preference in my own house is I wouldn't install wood or tile floors in any room because you will always need to go under floor if not for piping then electrics or some other reason so I wouldn't entertain it.
For your drains i like PVC. There is such a thing as copper drain pipes but they are for specfic uses and mostly commercial. not to mention that they would be EXTREMELY expensive since the price of copper has skyrocketed. Be sure that you have a Clean Out in the inside and outside of the house that you can easily get to. If there is ever a back up or if you need to access the sewer system to video inspect it you dont want to have to drag that equipment into the bathroom and pull the toilet. As for the water pipes, i like PEX myself, but copper is also a great choice. PEX has a very slight insualtion and noise advantage and its quite a bit cheaper to install and the material cost less. It is also less reactive to minerals and chemicals ( such as chlorine) in the tap or well water. But again, copper is still a great material as well, just a bit more expensive.
