Replumb my house....Which pipe?

[Unregistered]

I need to be rid of my old galvanized pipes.
I will be starting from the exit point of my water meter and do the entire home (small ranch, single bath, about 1000 sq. ft. on a three block crawl space).

Would it be unwise to use all CPVC (except for the 2 frost free sill****s) or go with copper? Most of my minimal experiences sweating pipe has beed in more favorible conditions (standing, kneeling, on ladder).

Thanks,

Ron

[mdshunk]

Just about any piping system is approved for plumbing the water lines in a house, with only a few exceptions. It mostly depends on your personal skill and preference. My preferences, in order, are: copper, pex, and CPVC. The copper is long lived, but a little tougher for a DIY. The pex is a newer system, requires a special crimper, but very fast to install. CPVC requires little skill and no special tools and the fittings are widely available. If you do decide to use CPVC, I'd highly recommend that you use "Flowgaurd Gold" and the glue made especially for Flowgaurd. It is the brand choice of pro plumbers who use CPVC. When using a nonmetallic piping system, support and strapping become a lot more important. When you shut on or off a faucet, you don't want huge sections of plastic pipe "galllopping and jumping". This will cause failures. Observe the manufacturer's support and strapping instructions. However you plumb your water lines, be sure to employ liberal use of shutoff valves to make servicing sections of the system easier in the future to prevent shutting off the whole house.