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My plumber friend warned me about cheap PEX fittings after my bathroom leak
Was chatting with my buddy Dave who does plumbing for 15 years. He saw my new bathroom setup and said those no-name PEX fittings from Amazon are made with thinner brass that cracks in 2-3 winters. I had already put 40 of them in. He showed me the difference with a name brand one - the wall thickness was literally half. Now I'm redoing the whole thing this weekend. Anyone else been burned by cheap plumbing parts?
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jaken231mo ago
Dave is 100% right. I did the same thing last year and had a fitting split in my basement ceiling. The cheap ones use a thinner wall and the brass is softer, so it gets hairline cracks under expansion. Replacing 40 fittings sucks but it beats a flooded floor. Quick tip, if you have to cut them out, buy the proper PEX ring cutter tool and not just snippers, it saves a ton of time. Also check your crimp rings, the cheap stainless steel ones can rust over time too. I swapped everything to Uponor expansion fittings and haven't had a single issue since.
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kevin_carr1mo ago
But isn't that just bad luck and most cheap fittings work fine for years?
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