PEX water lines

RG84

Bronze
May 21, 2010
640
0
16
Has anyone here had experience with PEX water supply lines (installing or using them)

Also what are alternatives to using blocks for interior walls? I know drywall, but do they hold up in a high humidity environment? I mean would it require more maintenance than a block wall. 
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
I have not seen PEX pipe used here and virtually nobody uses drywall.  I would never think of using drywall here outside of maybe an office environment where there is constant air conditioning and only then when the cleaning people have been brought in from a first world country. 
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
Pex is not used here. It requires pex tools that no one will have.

Drywall won't stand up to the high humidity, will promote the growth of mold, requires a vapor barrier and the wood studs you would normally attach the drywall to aren't used because they will rot and get eaten by bugs. 

Do what the natives do. Just do it better. 
 

RG84

Bronze
May 21, 2010
640
0
16
I saw it being used on a high end condo project. Nearly everything being used in that project was imported.
 

RG84

Bronze
May 21, 2010
640
0
16
I also saw a renovation that was using those foam walls that have a wired grid/ mesh. The workers where applying a coating of cement or plaster on top. It seemed pretty cool, because it was put together like blocks but the size of panels.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
Anything is possible. Just wait, until someone wants to tie into the pex lines to add a double sink, or a water line needs to be repaired...no pex tool, no pex pipe and no pex connectors readily available as well as very few local plumbers with the knowledge or experience working with pex - some people like to make things difficult for themselves. 

At home, sure, pex is no problem. Here potentially, not so much. 
 

USA DOC

Bronze
Feb 20, 2016
3,162
757
113
I also saw a renovation that was using those foam walls that have a wired grid/ mesh. The workers where applying a coating of cement or plaster on top. It seemed pretty cool, because it was put together like blocks but the size of panels.

.......Had a condo in minnesota built that way, they called it drive-it (sp?) the heat retention factor was off the chart..., very good stuff, it was hard to do for the people in usa that did it every day.......in the DR not sure about if they could even build....ask Der Fish, sure he knows.............
 

oriole100

Bronze
Oct 9, 2005
807
18
0
Drive-it is outlawed in a number of states in the US. It was used a lot when it came out, but ended up having a lot of problems. Almost put USG. out of business. I don't think you can even buy it in Calif.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
What is PEX, is it different than PE tubes for water supply? I had my pvc pipes changed to PE two years ago. There are stores specialized in that.
 
Jan 9, 2004
10,898
2,226
113
I often wondered why PEX, which is slightly less expensive than plastic pipe, is not used more often here....and the only answer I ever received from a Dominican Maestro is that PEX can be harmed by the high chlorine content used in the cisterns.

Not a plumber and don't play one on television.

Where is our old poster Chip when we need him?....I bet he might know.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
57
48
Pex is not used here. It requires pex tools that no one will have.

Easily accessible at the right sources however.

Drywall won't stand up to the high humidity, will promote the growth of mold, requires a vapor barrier and the wood studs you would normally attach the drywall to aren't used because they will rot and get eaten by bugs.

Drywall is meant to be used inside and it does not need any vapor barrier; in fact - vapor barriers and drywall should never be in the same sentence.

As far as standing humidity - mood point; there isn't more humidity in the DR than the south of the USA and dry wall is used at nausea-um there. Studs aren't used because in the DR most construction is done with blocks, cement and concrete.

Do what the natives do. Just do it better. 

Such as suggesting drywall to be used outside and in conjunction with vapor barrier, ha?
 
Last edited:
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
57
48
Anything is possible. Just wait, until someone wants to tie into the pex lines to add a double sink, or a water line needs to be repaired...no pex tool, no pex pipe and no pex connectors readily available as well as very few local plumbers with the knowledge or experience working with pex - some people like to make things difficult for themselves. 

At home, sure, pex is no problem. Here potentially, not so much. 

Jesus!

All is needed is a cutting tool, a "T," a few rings and a crimping tool man. PEX is the easiest material to work with when it comes to plumbing anything.
 

mobrouser

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
2,339
98
48
....



Such as suggesting drywall to be used outside and in conjunction with vapor barrier, ha?

Nobody suggested using drywall outside.
Windeguy did say
... I would never think of using drywall here outside of maybe an office environment where there is constant air conditioning and only then when the cleaning people have been brought in from a first world country.

which could also have been worded "I would never think of using drywall here other than maybe an office environment."
Green GWB for bathrooms could be an option. There is also board product made from bagasse although it is not very common. There are several threads about it in the forums.
 

RG84

Bronze
May 21, 2010
640
0
16
Anything is possible. Just wait, until someone wants to tie into the pex lines to add a double sink, or a water line needs to be repaired...no pex tool, no pex pipe and no pex connectors readily available as well as very few local plumbers with the knowledge or experience working with pex - some people like to make things difficult for themselves. 

At home, sure, pex is no problem. Here potentially, not so much. 

Dang, who took the jelly out of your doughnut?
 

RDKNIGHT

Bronze
Mar 13, 2017
2,715
1,435
113
My two cent. Pex  is by far easy to work with the new wave of the future in the United States and it will be in Dominican republic the process is so simple anyone can do it this is the beauty of it it's like comparing compact  To an Apple
 

Derfish

Gold
Jan 7, 2016
4,441
2
0
I first used pex in rebuilding houses after Katrina. One needs three different sizes of crimpers for different sizes of pipes at about $80 each if I remember right, but in a place where most mechanic shops don't even have batttery chargers we can expect to wait another decade before most plumbers in the DR have pex tools I would assume.
Der Fish