# cpvc under a slab ?



## tzzzz216 (Dec 25, 2005)

I was out driving around few job sites today and stopped and looked around at some houses that were dried in waiting to be topped out and saw that they roughed in the water with cpvc pipe this house its on a poured slab , tell me this how do you run cpvc under a slab with no fittings , unless they sell it now in rolls or 100' sticks now and heat it up and bend it . :laughing::laughing:


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## Plumber (Apr 19, 2007)

They do make cpvc in a soft form for slab work, Just like thay make soft copper. A company I use to work for had some. It's a real pain in the azz to work with.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 1, 2006)

Fittings under a slab are legal in Florida.


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## tzzzz216 (Dec 25, 2005)

gitnerdun said:


> Fittings under a slab are legal in Florida.


gitnerdun , I dont want to look like a dumb azz here but , Can you post where i might be able to find that in the code ?

I looked in chapter 6 605.3 and it states plastic water service piping shall terminate within 5 feet inside where the pipe penetrates an exterior wall or slab on grade . thanks for the feed back .


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## gitnerdun (Nov 1, 2006)

I see it all the time and used to think it illegal, until I asked the inspector. Fittings are OK under the slab. To take this to the extreme it is legal to run PEX, fittings and all, thru a solid concrete slab. Show in the code where it says you can't do it. I have looked for the inclusion in the code book and agree that if it is in there it is implied rather than written. I am a opponent of CPVC anywhere especially below a slab, but it is legal. Just ask your freindly inspector, he's not too busy here in FL.

Water service pipe is the supply to the house. Read 605.4, water distribution piping. Not trying to make anyone look like an azz here, usually I save that to do to myself.

I install PEX with fittings under slabs in all new construction and remodels with no problems, used to do with CPVC until I just use PEX now.

I used to think overhead was the way to go, but not so much lately.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 1, 2006)

On another note, when I started plumbing the boss would have us rough -in pipes below flood for future "illegal" bathrooms. We would install and cap the pipes after inspection below the slab. Nobody knew, right? Now come to find out it is OK to stub these pipes up and cap with a pressure cap, just don't install the fixtures. (I think of all that time wasted with a j-hammer). That is not in the code either. The code is just that....CODE. It is up to us to break the code and figure it out in order to be competitive and still profit. That is why we do it. I hope this makes some sense. Bob


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## The plumber (Jul 5, 2007)

I've ran in to 1 house plumbed with c.p.v.c. below the slab. I fixed three slab leaks for him and tried to get everything rerouted, but he would rather deal with weekly leaks.


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## Ron The Plumber (Oct 10, 2006)

Joints below a slab not allowed here, exception to this, copper joints must be brazed.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 1, 2006)

The plumber said:


> I've ran in to 1 house plumbed with c.p.v.c. below the slab. I fixed three slab leaks for him and tried to get everything rerouted, but he would rather deal with weekly leaks.


Ahhhhh....the future


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## Turd Herder (Nov 14, 2007)

We've been using CPVC under slabs with fittings for about 11 years. We have had a couple of bad glue joints, but most of the problems we have had with it are related to other trades...slab prep crew cutting a line with a street saw, framing carpenters drilling anchor holes way too deep and hitting a line, etc. Over the years we've had less than a dozen leaks on an average of 350-400 houses a year. 

A tip: Do not pressure test exposed CPVC with water if temperatures will be below freezing. The pipe and fittings will split!


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

I guess I am missing something here, and I am not a plumber, but in new construction here, most plumbers use abs pipe for the sleeves, and pex ran inside. The last few homes we built, I had them manifold the water in the utility, another pretty nice selling point. Now the nice thing here is this: If there was a leak, the line can be pulled and replaced, plus you will know which line by the water coming up or out of the sleeve.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 1, 2006)

Why would there ever be a leak in a solid peice of PEX under a slab without some man made action? Waste of time to sleeve IMO


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Some do it here, and some do not. I personally like it, and it doesn't add that much to the cost. I see other builders have placed the abs piping in and run the pex when they stack out. I agree that it should never leak, but look where we are with older homes and copper in concrete. I know of several where the floor has to be cut out due to leaks, and what if the pex develops problems later? Not my field, but a no brainer.


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

gitnerdun said:


> Why would there ever be a leak in a solid peice of PEX under a slab without some man made action? Waste of time to sleeve IMO


Abrasion caused by expansion and contraction.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 1, 2006)

I see your point, manufacturer says okay to direct burial in concrete or dirt.


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

gitnerdun said:


> I see your point, manufacturer says okay to direct burial in concrete or dirt.


The manufacturer doesn't have to break out the concrete to fix it when it develops a hole in it over time. This is probably less of a problem in FL due to a milder climate than it is here in the north, where we have large seasonal temperature changes, I have seen unsleeved copper lines suffer abrasion holes here.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 1, 2006)

Yeah, we definately got it easy down here compared to you guys up north. All the retired former blue collar guys are here, and they love to talk about how it is up north. It makes me like Fl evenmore. I can't imagine working in the freezing cold. I have installed CPVC, and more recently PEX, under slabs in the dirt for better than 20 years and have yet to fix the first leak in either, it is always a copper pipe leak. Most of those leaks ( in copper) are from the inside, you can see a little bump inside the pipe where the leak is.


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