Quote:
Originally Posted by samclem
Yes, maybe those globe valves are old school, but there's something nice about a product that is designed to be repaired easily rather than just thrown away.
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The world changed. All the fixtures were solid brass. All were designed for repair. Valve seats were reground. Fixtures like faucets had 30 to 50 year life. When I went around with Dad in the 70s, he was routinely repairing fixtures built in the go-go 1920s. It is hard to believe now, but all the inside parts of a toilet were brass, even the float ball was brass!
Today, brass faucets are getting rare mostly because they started to add lead to the alloy, and lead is now a no-no. So, any brass has to be no-lead and that stuff is expensive because it is harder to work with from a manufacturing standpoint.
Quote:
Originally Posted by samclem
I'm just "okay" at sweating copper connections, about 90% of mine work. The other 10% are a real problem (getting water out of the line, re-cleaning everything down to bare metal, etc). I'm a very big fan of PEX pipe, I've never had a connection fail and cutting out/replacing things when needed is very easy. I re-did much of the plumbing in DDs house with PEX, now I have mostly "home run" lines there that can each be turned of with a centrally located valve manifold (like an electrical breaker panel). Super!
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I'm a PEX convert. Any changes in my house now go to PEX. The no-lead solder is harder to work with than the old 50/50. Since lead has been declared enemy #1, it only makes sense to go with PEX in any repair. It appears that PEX has solved the connection issue that plagued early crimp-on supply pipe from the late 80s through mid 90s.
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