A hard lesson on choosing PEX over copper for my basement re-pipe

I went with PEX because it was cheaper and faster, but after a rat chewed through a line in my crawlspace last month flooding the laundry room, I wish I had paid the extra $400 for copper and the three days of soldering.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wade1mo ago

Yeah I had a similar thing happen. My buddy talked me into PEX for a bathroom re-pipe and I figured hey its cheap and easy. Then my dog chewed through the line under the sink while I was at work. Flooded the kitchen and half the living room. I ripped it ALL out and replaced it with copper. Took me a weekend but I sleep better knowing the dog or a mouse cant cause another disaster. Plus copper just FEELS more solid when you turn the water on. No more worrying about a random chew toy costing me thousands.

lunah121mo ago

Oh man, rats are the worst. Copper all the way.

jamieb801mo ago

I was totally in the PEX camp for a while, thought copper was overkill and too expensive. But hearing that story about the dog chewing through it, man that changes everything. Guess I'd rather pay more upfront than clean up a flood and deal with drywall damage.