Types of Plumbing Pipes

Maddison Davis
3 min readMay 14, 2023

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Types of Plumbing Pipes

There are numerous not unusualplace kinds of domestic plumbing pipes used to hold water to and farfar from furniture and appliances. And no matter whether or not you`re hiring a plumber or taking over a DIY domestic plumbing project, the enjoy may be difficult due to all of the pipe cloth options.

What’s the proper pipe for water deliver, drainage, sewer, or even the exterior? The solution isn’t as clean because it turned into withinside the beyond whilst the primary pipe alternatives have been simply galvanized metallic or solid iron. Below, we’re going to ruin down not unusualplace pipe substances that will help you pick out that is first-rate on your area and application.

PEX Pipe

PEX (cross-related polyethylene) is a long lasting plastic piping it is used to deliver water. It is inflexible sufficient to face up to the pressures of water deliver however bendy sufficient to weave all through partitions, ceilings, basements, and crawlspaces. It is likewise a long way much less high priced as compared to many different piping substances.

The tubes normally are available 1/2-inch and 3/4-inch diameters, and they are smooth to reduce and join. Plus, they are normally color-coded purple for warm water and blue for bloodless water.

PVC Pipe

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe is a white plastic pipe cloth it is normally used for waste strains. It first of all received recognition as it turned into lighter and less difficult to paintings with than conventional galvanized metallic pipe. It’s additionally cheaper and pretty long lasting.

PVC pipe is reasonably smooth to put in and calls for little extra than a hacksaw and a miter field to reduce. It glues collectively with solvents.

Rigid Copper Pipe

Copper pipes are generally natural copper as evidenced through their vibrant reddish-brown appearance. Rigid copper is regularly used for water deliver strains withinside the domestic. It is valued as it does now no longer include fitness dangers in contrast to different pipe substances, inclusive of plastics, which could leach chemicals.1

Rigid copper is also pretty long lasting, and it could be reduce without difficulty with a tubing cutter or hacksaw. However, it in all fairness high priced.

ABS Pipe

ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) pipe is product of a thermoplastic resin and appears very similar to PVC pipe besides it’s miles black and barely softer. It’s particularly used as a vent and drain line.

This pipe in all fairness long lasting, aleven though solar publicity can warp and degrade it, and it is a cost-powerful choice. But like PVC, it isn’t always to code everywhere, so take a look at your nearby regulations.

Flexi Pipe

Flexible pipe, regularly known as flexi for short, is bendy tubing normally product of stainless metallic. It’s normally used for very last piping connections to appliances, inclusive of water heaters, toilets, and sinks. It’s normally now no longer accredited to be used interior partitions or floors.

Flexi pipe comes in lots of lengths and sizes. It’s really long lasting, aleven though it is now no longer unusual for it to fail after years of wear and tear and tear. It is also high priced, aleven though you normally do not want lots of it for a project.

Galvanized Steel Pipe and Cast Iron

Two extra kinds of pipe are every now and then discovered in older houses and are on occasion installed, specifically through DIYers: galvanized metallic and solid iron pipe.

Galvanized metallic is inflexible, corrosion-resistant metallic piping that turned into used for many years for drainage, water deliver, fueloline deliver, and numerous different purposes. While galvanized metallic pipe remains around (specifically for fueloline deliver), it’s miles a long way much less not unusualplace and now no longer used for water deliver in new production or redesign projects. While it has desirable durability, it is also highly-priced to put in. Each cease of the pipe is threaded, and person pipes are screwed into every different with connecting fittings.

Cast iron is inflexible, darkish grey piping that turned into regularly used for sewer and different drainage purposes. It remains discovered in lots of houses and is used nowadays in a few industrial and high-upward thrust constructing applications. Cast iron is high priced however long lasting with desirable longevity. It’s feasible till the factor that it rusts absolutely through. It’s additionally very heavy and hard to reduce. Retrofits generally tend to update solid iron pipe with inflexible plastic pipes, inclusive of ABS.

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