Plumbing Materials

If you are having a home built or re-modelled you need to be actively involved in selecting the materials and fixtures for your plumbing system. Contractors generally take care of these decisions, but it is you that will have to live with them. Using only high quality products and fixtures will go a long way in insuring efficient and trouble free plumbing.

Copper pipes are considered to be the standard for quality among most contractors and inspectors. However plastic pipes are now approved in most regions of the U.S. Plastic pipes are much lower in cost when compared to copper which makes them more attractive to contractors and home owners wanting to keep costs down. However, there are those who consider plastic pipes to be inferior and may cause problems years down the road.

There are many different reasons why you should consider using copper pipes instead of plastic. It is the only material for water pipes that has a 50 year manufacturer warranty and requires no maintenance. Contaminants cannot penetrate copper pipes and, in fact, copper inhibits harmful bacteria growth. Copper pipes are also very resilient to extreme temperatures and will not become brittle or melt.

Copper pipes may seem more expensive at first, but over the lifetime of your plumbing system they are actually more competitive that what you may think. This is because there will be much less spent on repairs and copper plumbing will actually result in higher resale value for your home.

The fact is that copper pipes are much less likely to cause plumbing problems than any other material. It is estimated that over 80 percent of homes in the U.S. are plumbed with copper, but there is a growing trend to use plastic.

When you make the decision about what type of pipe to use for your plumbing consider copper as your most reliable material for the long term.