Slightly OT: extending water line into garage..?

[beergears]

This is not strictly beer-making yet related;

I am gradually setting things up in the basement, near laundry area, and this wil not really work out well, long-term.

My garage is really a chunk taken out of basement floor plan (think house on a slope).
My plan is to establish a corner of the garage dedicated to brew days, and to run a cold water flexible tubing form laundry area, semi-permanenty attached in place, to one of these laundry plastic sinks on four legs (rinsing, IC feed water, etc, draining to bucket or lawn nearby). The water line will only be "live" when brewing.

I think there is a reinforced water plastic tubing for this "temporary" kind of setup.

Would anybody know the best type to use?

 

[Chriso]

Disclaimer, I know NOTHING about this.... but my Brother-in-Law is remodeling his kitchen, and tore out a wall...... and while he was in there, he had a friend help him re-plumb all of the 2nd floor feed lines.... he used what looked to me (untrained eye) to be 1/2" silicone tubing?!? bright red, used copper T's and 90's with "zip-tie" style hose clamps on the fittings. Just a thought.

AquaPEX might be the product : http://pexsupply.com/categories.asp?cID=25&brandid= ... but that's just from visually ID'ing it. i'll try to call him and ask.

 

[Beerlord]

Depending on where you live you need to keep the line from freezing, that means going below the frost line.

 

[Chriso]

I think he means his garage is part of the house, kind of like in this pic :
http://webpages.charter.net/ramesnad/House/Front of House.jpg

(It's a hair big, I wont bother y'all by inserting it inline)

 

[beergears]

Yes, Chriso is right, that is the approximate configuration.

The line would stay in semi-heated areas, no outside exposure.

Chriso, that would be interesting to know the actual source of the material you BIL used.

 

[Sea]

It's called PEX tubing, it is molecularly cross-linked Poly-ethylene. Aquapex is one brand, made by a company called Upinor (used to be Wirsbo). PEX comes in potable and non-potable varieties, so make sure you get the correct type. Any consumer plumbing supply house sells it and should be happy to show you how to make the connections. It is fairly easy to work with.

Good Luck.

 

[wildwest450]

It's called PEX tubing, it is molecularly cross-linked Poly-ethylene. Aquapex is one brand, made by a company called Upinor (used to be Wirsbo). PEX comes in potable and non-potable varieties, so make sure you get the correct type. Any consumer plumbing supply house sells it and should be happy to show you how to make the connections. It is fairly easy to work with.

Good Luck.

Be warned you will have to rent a tool to attach all fittings, this is good stuff, I just helped a buddy plumb his house with it. Supposed to be better than pvc or cpvc.

 

[Beerlord]

Oh, ok, attached garage. May as well run a seperate hot water tank too, that way you can have it set at your dough in temp, thats my dream anyway. I looked at pex when i was doing my under groudn sprinklers, just seemed too exspensive after renting the tool.

 

[jcb317]

Sharkbite makes a simple snap fitting for copper and PEX http://www.cashacme.com/. I've seen them at homedepot for around $5 a fitting. I also seem to remember the PEX being cheaper than copper now since the prices have been going up

 

[david_42]

I've done a little work with PEX and the plumbing I had done two years ago was all done in PEX. It is as easy to use as any plastic tubing. The fitting sound expensive, but since the piping is continuous, you generally only need two. I had a bit of trouble with a PEX-to-galvanized connector leaking. Extra Teflon tape took care of it. According to the specs, the water in a PEX system can freeze without damaging it or causing leaks. Might check that the hard way tonight or tomorrow night as the temperatures head into the teens.

Contractors around here love it, because unlike copper, it has zero scrap value and doesn't get stolen.

[Anything relating to preparing to brew or improve brewing conditions, IS on topic.]

 

[Chriso]

The $$ benefit over copper is what's got me looking into it. My house is ooooold skool, so it's 1/2 copper and 1/2 iron. Yuck.

 

[KiltLifter]

Home Depot and Lowes both have the pex tubing. They even have it in red and blue for hot and cold, but you gotta buy a roll (?$30ish for 100'? I don't remember). They also have push-in fittings that don't require crimping. One end is pipe thread that you thread into your valve (or whatever) and the other side of the fitting you just push the pipe into. It is amazing how well they seal. The fittings cost twice what the brass crimp fittings do, but you don't need the $90 tool to crimp them.

IF it is a connection that you will shut off when not in use (plastic not under pressure), then I would consider the push-in connectors. If it's always on, I would probably crimp it, but I'm the kinda guy who takes the wires out of the push in holes on outlets and puts them under the screws (where they BELONG! ).

 

[FlyGuy]

Interesting that this post should come up -- I have been looking to do the same thing.

+1 on PEX tubing and push-in fittings. Nothing could be simpler.

You should also consider a frost-proof faucet in the garage, just in case (it would be a necessity up here):
http://www.rd.com/18060/article.html

 

[Bobby_M]

Why not CPVC? It's cheap and easy to work with.

 

[Sea]

CPVC is cheap and easy, and would work fine. It can't freeze without breaking like pex can, and it won't last as long, the fittings start to leak after 15-20 years.

But, it is incredibly cheap, and really easy.

 

[BillyA]

As an HVAC/Plumber apprentice I highly recomend using copper. It'll be worth the intial cost and labor. Pex is illegal to install in my state of Illinois but reciently legalized across the Mississippi in Iowa. There's been alot of flooded basements on PEX jobs.

 

[beergears]

...highly recomend using copper. It'll be worth the intial cost and labor. Pex is illegal to install in my state of Illinois but reciently legalized across the Mississippi in Iowa. There's been alot of flooded basements on PEX jobs.

I plan on something totally illegal, and I am a frugal Yankee (non-native, transplanted, it grows on ya)!

Besides it would probably take months to get a (reluctant) plumber to do work (legally)...

EDIT/ADDITION: and for the guy who is thinking 20 years out: if I get to go twenty years out, and a failed water line is my only worry, I take that (hint: medical odds)

 

[Bobby_M]

It sounds like you only need to go 20 feet or so. Copper isn't THAT expensive in that case. If it is, then I second my own recommendation of CPVC.

 

[Sea]

Sounds like you should use CPVC then.

It will probably cost a quarter of what copper would cost, and less than half of what pex would, and, no special tools or skills required!

A couple suggestions from experience:

-Use metal valves, the pvc ones are crap.

-When converting from PVC to metal (Glue or slip to thread), use CPVC female adapters. PVC tends to shrink over the years, so you want it threaded around the outside of a male, metal fitting.

Good luck!