I'm seeing a lot of homes in all price ranges (even in million dollar homes) using cpvc. The first time I saw it I thought it was a mistake. It makes.me.nervous as hell. I don't think it's an appropriate product for plumbing in a home but it is allowed and done all the time. My question is why? I could understand a cheap home but why on earth would a builder use it in a high end custom home? What is the draw to it? Cheap? No skilled labor required to install?

Someone help me understand why anything other than copper would be installed, with PEX being the only worthwhile alternative.

What do you think is wrong with using it. Do you really care if it costs you less if it does the job? Hell, most would be thrilled to find a cheaper alternative.

Well, it's brittle. It ages poorly. When it springs a leak it splits and quickly becomes catastrophic failure. It's pretty much like putting vinyl seats in a lambo. I don't consider it a quality product when you have copper and pex available. It just surprised me, that's all.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Well, it's brittle. It ages poorly. When it springs a leak it splits and quickly becomes catastrophic failure. It's pretty much like putting vinyl seats in a lambo. I don't consider it a quality product when you have copper and pex available. It just surprised me, that's all.

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I thought that could only happen if exposed to sunlight for years.

Its the industry standard in apartments, even fire sprinklers are plumbed with a pvc product in multifamily.

Everything negative BrazosDog listed is true of virtually all 'plastic' plumbing pipe products under certain conditions. PVC and CPVC are both approved and widely used and both are good for their intended applications if properly installed and used. I think some of the newer products will prevail in the market but I don't agree that CPVC is cheap junk.

AgLA06 said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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Well, it's brittle. It ages poorly. When it springs a leak it splits and quickly becomes catastrophic failure. It's pretty much like putting vinyl seats in a lambo. I don't consider it a quality product when you have copper and pex available. It just surprised me, that's all.

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I thought that could only happen if exposed to sunlight for years.

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That may be the case. I'm not here to argue it one way or the other. Mostly, my point is why not use copper in a home whose purchaser can easily afford it? Is finding a decent plumber that can sweat joints hard? Why not PEX? Why use the cheapest product you can find on the most expensive homes you are building? That's really the crux of my question. We aren't installing Kenmore appliances that are 'good enough'. We aren't putting in builder grade AC systems. So why are we putting in CPVC?

Again, I am truly trying to understand. Obviously, my opinion is that I refuse to have a home without copper lines and I will happily pay for it. But that doesn't make my opinion right. I just have witnessed plastic degradation on my own projects over the course of 10 years, properly installed, with the proper adhesives, and it makes me nervous as all hell that something like that would be running INSIDE a home.

I have had one failure in 15 years with copper, and it was due purely to a poorly seated coupler that was in a tight spot. It wasnt push down all the way and the solder was thin. So, maybe that it part of the issue...finding skilled labor to sweat a joint is hard? I fixed it myself, so it isn't THAT hard.

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This is the first I've heard all these negatives about CPVC. I've used it for mods and miscellaneous projects myself and I know it meets codes. I haven't experienced or heard of the problems you listed. Where did you hear of these?

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I just found this stuff when doing a quick google search because it bothered me, but these prompted my question here.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/plumbers-warn-of-cpvc-piping-problems_20151105190735671

http://www.plumbermag.com/how-to-articles/corporation_lubrizol_pipe_materials/potential_plumbing_problems_lurking_in_walls

http://www.plasticpipefailure.com/blog/2016/5/14/why-do-cpvc-pipes-turn-brittle

http://forums.finehomebuilding.com/breaktime/energy-heating-insulation/down-side-cpvc

Because it's cheaper, easier and quicker to install, and does the job just as well.

If you're actually asking a question, that's the answer.

I have been building50+ years in Central Texas with 20,000 houses experience. I would not install copper because of the long term issues. It is not a quality product.

Cool. Thanks everyone.

coyote68 said:

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I have been building50+ years in Central Texas with 20,000 houses experience. I would not install copper because of the long term issues. It is not a quality product.

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So what did you install in these 20,000 houses?

As a homebuyer, I was surprised that most builders were using CPVC over PEX. My builder liked the flexibility of PEX (can route easier, fewer joints, etc) but expressed concern over the PEX fittings. Likely that CPVC is cheaper and easier to install. I have had multiple pin hole leaks in copper and know several friends who have experienced the same. That's been my experience with copper.
Seems like everything is moving to durable plastics (e.g., engine parts).

Production builders use whatever manufacturers cut them the biggest rebate. Uponor amd Zurn Pex cut huge checks to the builders then cut rebates to plumbers. Same thing happens with Charlotte CPVC. Less skill is required to install pex or cpvc and copper isn't cheap compared to them.