# Pex for shower?



## NHMaster (Dec 21, 2009)

It depends a lot on the valve. Check the instructions.


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## Alan (Apr 12, 2006)

A lot of people do it. 

We never do. Mobile homes usually put a 3/8" poly line up there and it works.

One thing we absolutely will not do is use pex for the tub spout. :laughing:


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## ehoez (May 12, 2008)

so when running,do 1/2" for sinks, and 3/8" for showers/tubs?

im replacing my entire house, all my copper was stolen


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

I have a Kohler temperature control valve for my shower. The instructions specifically stated that it was OK to reun PEX up to the mixing valve, but it was mandatory to run copper from the mixing valve up to the shower head. The instructions did not elaborate on why, they simply stated that the manufacturer could not guarantee performance if PEX was used for that specific run of pipe. So of course I used copper for that 3 feet or so.

I think the reason is that the inside diameter of PEX is slightly smaller than for an equivalent nominal sized copper pipe, which could affect pressure and flow, although this explanation was NOT stated in the instructions.


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## Ehelper (Feb 14, 2010)

quote: 
so when running,do 1/2" for sinks, and 3/8" for showers/tubs?

I'd run 3/4" pex from source, run 3/4 manifolds to the farthest fixture branch, tee off the 3/4 to 1/2 for all taps and faucets, and would not ever run 3/8" pex anywhere. Hope this helps.


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## Alan (Apr 12, 2006)

ehoez said:


> so when running,do 1/2" for sinks, and 3/8" for showers/tubs?
> 
> im replacing my entire house, all my copper was stolen



:no::no::no::no:

I guess I should have specified that I would absolutely NEVER under any circumstances plumb any house the way a mobile home is plumbed. They work, but not well.


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## jwbr (Feb 18, 2010)

Interesting. I'm about to start on re-plumbing my bathroom and just ran into the comment on the Kohler site about copper going to the shower spout (and using only 1 elbow). Our plans are to have the shower valve on the wall leading into the shower instead of underneath the spout. The run from the valve to the spout would be maybe 5-6ft. With the constraints of one elbow I thought PEX would be great but now I'm hearing mixed comments about running PEX to the spout.
I also was thinking about running a handshower from the tub outlet opening in the valve (using PEX). I've been told this is possible, but now I'm wondering.


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## AppleMac*Fit (Dec 26, 2007)

I just did my bathroom...

I used 1/2" PEX for all of it. It's about 12" from valve down to the spout and a long ways for the shower head (7 feet) from the floor (I wanted plenty of room to get my head under the shower head).

Anyways - Sometimes when drawing a bath water trickles out of the shower head. :furious: Delta's FAQ section of their website says this is because of PEX, instead of copper/galvanized between the valve and the spout. My (non-expert) advice: use copper for that section.


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## jwbr (Feb 18, 2010)

I should have clarified that when I said spout, I meant the shower head spout. I'm not going to have a tub. So the trickle of the shower running a bath problem won't apply, I just want to make sure that the long run from the valve to the shower would be OK in PEX.


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