Uponor Pipe System Review & Comparison 

Was health assessed as one of your metrics? Do we know about any long term water quality issues with these types of plumbing systems?

@@Freedacarlo Pex is used a lot in EU (where standards are much higher than US) it's safe. There has been some studies that show leach in HIGH chlorine environments in the US. But only certain brands and in all brands it generally diminished to the point of being undetectable after 30days. Pex overall is very safe.

Okay now research Zurn its expandable just like Uponor without the dangers of leaching chemicals, please research a little deeper I know it's not proven that Uponor pex-a is dangerous but some experts say it is so why take a chance when you've got a choice and still have a pex-b thats expandable

@@Freedacarlo I didn't specifically look into health but given that these are made of long-chain plastic polymers I wouldn't expect them to be particularly susceptible to leeching into the water. And in a comparative sense there is no flux residue, solder, or oxidation as could be seen in a copper system - but I'm certainly no expert.

Rehau #1

Except it is

Lmfao

It may be the best but when the video is sponsored by one of the choices, you instantly lose any credibility that you have. You use to get good honest reviews on RU-vid but with all the people all about the money and getting sponsor ship deals, it has become like those corny late night paid infomercials.

@@K-dog2020 Within the past few years Matt has gathered so much popularity that I don't anymore trust his judgement to be unbiased. Stuff he recommends might be good but not necessarily the best. It will not be the cheapest, because companies that have money to market will also increase their prices.

Ok, then ignore his presentations and refer to ASTM test ratings. 5106 is the best rating I’ve seen for any Pex. Then try using it. Compared to anything we’ve used, Uponor is best handling, especially in tight stud bays. The only issue I have is fitment required investment in Milwaukee M12 platform tool. We’re already invested in Hilti, Metabo and Makita battery platforms, did not need another battery-charger to deal with but that was part of gig.

you should tell them to use Press fittings... so much better.... no flexing when its hot

If you are that technical you might want to measure PEX 1/2 inch tubing the outside measures right around 5/8's of a inch so the information is a little off

They are all tubing including copper

Pipe is metal or concrete, tubing is everything else

@@michaelangelo6378 what about copper tubing?

@@sambojones8681 and stainless steel tubing for flares....

I'm from NYC...I study plumbing.... the best plumbing I think is the best is in Massachusetts. They know there stuff ...Every state is different. FYI Pex is still not legal in NYC ... and part of California. There is a reason why.

Yeah, it's kind of gross, even though I really believe Matt is an honest guy.

@@gregw2388 Matt may be somewhat honest, but he is a top level shill, no question.

Look at Matt's history. He's been talking Uponor up for years. For God's sake! He's putting it in his own house! YES, the guy is being sponsored. And he probably got a nice deal on the stuff used in his home. But if you were sponsored by "Crappy Pex Systems", a place that's exactly what it says on the tin, would YOU use it in your own home? Look back through his vids. He's done quite a bit of Pex and fitting testing.

@@PhotonHerald LOL! Somebody got their panties in a bunch. It's cute how you hit the thumbs up on your own reply.

@@ryanroberts1104 Huh? Pretty sure I didn't. But if I did, sorry if it offends your delicate sensibilities.

Yep without flow loss.

This video is sponsored you forgot that 😉

I use corner brackets all the time all the time. Consumer Reports he ain’t Sponsors always affect the narrative

So you need brackets to make sharp bends. Weird.

It's always so funny when Matt thinks he's an expert on something because somebody sponsored him.

Totally agree. Love this setup. So happy I did my house this way.

The only problem with trunk and branch is the popularity of on demand water heaters...If your the kind of person who will stick with a tank style then it is solid gold

But this is standard when you up the size... you can not go 1/2" Pex to 3/8" pex return you know why....cause it dont exist in Pex... your 3/4" Pex is really 1/2" ...People are under sizing the whole piping system.

Possibly they were at the end of one length of pex and instead of placing a coupler and then 4 feet to the right, installing a tee fitting do the drop down, they just decided to put the tee in to join the two so there would be 1 less fitting in the run. That's the best reason I can think of, but yeah, I would prefer the cleaner install with fewer possibilities of accidentally hitting pluming when installing a picture, cabinet, etc.

Because I got lots of freebees to do it.

Yeah ,I was thinking the same thing.

Coming in late to this question, but here are my thoughts: The icemaker line is going to a shutoff valve. The valve needs to be in that specific location, in order to be accessible. And it looks like the tubing must enter the valve box from the top due to how the box is constructed. So the supply tubing must make two bends - a bend to come right and enter the cavity where the shutoff box is, and another bend to return to the correct up-down orientation in order to match the fitting on the valve. I guess the tubing could have done those bends as 45 degree angles instead of 90 degrees, which would use a bit less tubing and avoid sharper bends. But the tube also has insulation added to it, and maybe the insulation is easier to work with and gives better coverage if the tubing goes thru the studs at 90 degrees instead of 45? I dunno. But I think the main answer to your question is to look at the fittings on the shutoff box: The tubing enters from the top.

I use Sioux Chief in the Midwest! Great stuff!

Matt knows god damn well those products exist. He forgot as a matter of convenience.

@@ryanroberts1104 Why you mad? You sponsored by Souix Chief or something?

No thanks, not an alcoholic.

The class action suit against Uponer claims that the problem with red and blue Uponer is a result of the pipe being overheated after it is extruded to get the dye to stick. This allegedly causes the pipe to fail prematurely. The clear is not included in the law suit.

Yup started to see it in the service side here in Houston. We have seen it on clear pipe too however. We have seen enough over the past three years that I am switching over to the pureflow system and using our remaining expansion stuff for house to meter replacements. Apparently, chlorine protection is degraded also that causes the tubing to weaken on the hot side. I will note that ALL of the repairs we have had to make on leaking uponor was on the hot side.

Have the leaks specifically been at or near the joints where is been expanded?

And surely Matt has never heard of that. If that was true Matt knows nothing about the building industry!

Very poor chloramine oxidation rating compared to Uponor

Rehau is Pex-A.

Read on PEX B F1960. The world have changed since 1980.

people do not get it pex B uses either type of fittings!

@@mr.redneck2715 It is not PEX B that makes it expandable. It is ASTM F1960. If a PEX is ASTM F1960, Then, and only then, it is expandable. But as far as I am concerned, I know now that Matt Risinger would say anything if a sponsor ask.

@@Appytail i’m not sure what you’re saying but I know you can buy expandable fittings and tools for Pex B

​@Don Hawley "PEX A" and "PEX B" refers only to the chemestry and fabrication methods of the piping. PEX A refers to the ancient "ENGEL" method. PEX B refers to the far newer "Silane" method. ASTM F1960 (Sometime called cold expansion PEX) refers to the expandability and compatibility with such fittings. www.astm.org/Standards/F1960.htm ASTM F1807 Refers to crimping PEX: www.astm.org/Standards/F1807.htm For example Zurn PEX B is both ASTM F1960 and F1807. Meaning you can use both crimping and expandsion methods. Best of both worlds. And having a far stronger piping.

Uponor is rebranded Wirsbo.

That's weird, I always use the cheapest shit I can get my hands on...never had a leak with PEX either. It's almost like all flavors of PEX are extremely reliable and arguing about the difference is absurd....

The weakness in Uponor is with the plastic fittings that can crack. I think the plastic fittings are ABS plastic. But even a 12 year old can run uponor and install with no leaks. Its pretty much fail proof.

@@guytech7310 I don't believe the Uponor fittings are ABS, they don't publish an exact make up of the plastic, but it's definitely a higher quality fiber reinforced plastic. I've tested these fittings up to 500 psi, and they've never blown out. Actually holds for like a good 2 days before losing any pressure. Even then it holds 100 psi forever. The pex itself does deteriorate if exposed to the sun for too long, but I've seen fittings left outside for a few years that still solid, although discolored

@@WallStreetBeggar I have some crack when getting installed, usually when trying to man-handle them in a tight spot. I am sure they are find under pressure. They're just not a s strong a brass.

Sioux Chief makes PEX A, as well as a PEX B that can be used with both crimp fittings and PEX A expansion fittings.

Totally agree. How often are you going to find a heat gun in the field during plumbing? Why would the ID of the fitting matter when the flow is controlled by the end fixture that is 3/8". I've been making pex pipe and fittings for various leading manufacturers in the US for years. He does not understand the science. A1V1 =A2V2.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GV8bqCHc5eA.html

@@JS-hl1oc There's a lot more Matt doesn't understand than science. You can tell by his delusional beliefs in taking the bible as a literal text book...anybody who can do that is delusional and does not base anything on their life in "facts". In Matt's head, more expensive = more better, just because it's more expensive. (And they gave him some for free!)

@@ryanroberts1104 You think you evolved from ocean slime.

@@jamescole3152 That's got to be one of the stupidest insults I have ever hard.

Yes, that is the brand I bought from Pexuniverse when I bought the supplies to replace the steel pipe I had with PEX. Did not get the power expander, used the manual one, because I'm not going to spend that much on a one off tool.

Pressure yes. Freezing no

Yes

And Matt damn well knows this...

True story I've use Uponor a long time and just started using Zurn and I like Zurn better so far because it is a stronger tubing and doesn't leach a chemical taste in the pipe and I'm able to use my hundreds of Uponor fittings on Zurn pipe , if I find out I don't like it in the future I can switch back and still use the same fittings, I can say the expansion ring are a lot better they have a real stop , I buy rings buy the hundreds and the last batch of Uponor expansion rings the stops didn't work ever time I would expand the 3/4 pipe the ring would slip and I'd have to cut the pipe and start over it was a damn nightmare trying to use the 3/4 rings I must have thrown 60 or 70 rings away looking for rings that the stop would actually stop instead of slipping.

@@plumbbuild6517 Somewhere else here I asked about leaching, so I'm glad you mentioned it. I'm amazed that anyone would use a pipe or tube where plastic chemicals leach into the water. If that's the case, I'd never install the plastic. I'd rather have copper in my system.

Fair points

Yup. As good as uponor is, pex B and its fittings are widely available.

You can get the manual for under $100. If you want the power expander, and already have a battery system you're using, you can get the tool for around $270. Yes, if you're just doing one job with it, that's a waste of money. If you plan on doing multiple PEX projects, the term you're looking for is "ammortization".

@@PhotonHerald If you're doing one job, they have decent resale value. Selling it for 2/3 its MSRP would be like renting it for a day, but you could keep it for a year and use it as much as you want first. I'm a cheapskate, but if the tool cost is the problem, I see ways around that.

Why would you need to separate them? The wires are double insulated, and the pipes are solid?

Its code in Aus. Seems unlikely to be an issue but that's the rule. 25mm from cold and 100mm for hot water feeds.

It depends on where you build, some areas make you separate so that if the water leaks you reduce the risk of shorting out the electrical while other areas don't require it but recommend it.

Excellent points!

And as a plumber since the late 80's I've never since a pex-b job that was plumbed right have a problem because the angle stop or straight stop drops down in size alot more than the fitting so if any one who's ever had a lost in pressure because of using Pex-b fittings the plumber was a hack or and didn't plumb by code or there water pressure is to weak to begin with ,and any real plumber will tell you the same thing I just said the fittings on PEX-a is a Selling point and yes I do use expansion fittings but I've never seen the lost of pressure with Pex-a crimp fittings unless the house was plumbed wrong ,think about it supply lines less than 1/4 inch in diameter.

You won't see or feel a noticable difference plumbing with pex b vs pex a expansion fittings. Viega pex ran a test and the flow only dropped 1-5% using like a dozen fittings. Idk about you, but the vast majority of my pex runs are maybe a handful of fittings and rarely hit peak usage like in their testing. In reality, you won't see any difference and don't need to size up pipe.

Can you use crimp with Pex A? Or it must be used with the expansion fittings?

@@micruner5163 yes you can use both crimp rings or original expansion rings I've used viega sleeves many time for plumbing repairs.

There warranty is only their word , but I still love their product

None.

I hope someone will see this and find out this info. Most of us have micro plastic particles floating around in our bodies as it is.

There have been leaching tests that show uponor pex-a releasing a chemical into the water, don't remember what the chemical was. Pex-b on the other hand doesn't leach at all.

@@Dracopendragon013 How about "micro particles"?

@@reddbeard2030 not that i know of

Alky ^^^

All pex B can be expanded. It's purpose is to give options to use expansion fittings or crimp fittings

@@jwblount7802 that may be true not sure but I did put a section of PEX b on my own hot water line that was white on the out side and had a black liner not sure what brand it was but I did expand it and its been holding up for around 5 months so far I've been meaning to replace it but I had ran out of Uponor, but seens then I've started using Zurn

@@plumbbuild6517 I use Zurn 99% of the time on my houses that I plumb. I crimp all the time but sometimes my customers buy faucets or whatever that require expansion pex B covers both. Whether you use crimp or expansion you get 15 to 25 year warranty from the pex pipe company. The white pipe with the black linen I used to use a while back and it was Pex B as well and I have that 10 plus years with that pipe with no problems.

@@jwblount7802 yeah I just switched to zurn so far it's great it may just be my new go to tubing thank for your comment about zurn I think I'm going to like it ,I use uponor for many years but sometimes you have to make a change

Matt has a really bad issue with tactfulness - he always uses sponsors in the most insulting and clearly delusional ways possible. He generally expects you to think the sponsorship has absolutely no role in his opinion and he would like it all the same if it wasn't free. The bottom line that isn't true for any human no matter how hard you try, if you don't have to feel the pain of purchasing it yourself then that is a big deciding factor on whether you think it is a good product or not. BMWs would be great cars if somebody else buys them for you, you'd probably give it a great review. But if you overpaid for one and it was always broken, you might have a different attitude toward the product. I agree Matt gets more shit than other people, this isn't just some weird fluke, he brings it on himself.

@@treyhart6861 That entire thing has been such a disaster. It would be embarrassing for a newb to remodel/teardown/rebuild in the most expensive/confused/mind changing way possible like he has...but Matt is supposed to be a high end builder with experience. He should be embarrassed the way this remodel/rebuild/give matt free stuff contest has turned out, that's not a good look for your business in front of rich clients. It really says "I don't know what the hell I'm doing, I only use stuff people give me, and I figure it out as I go!"

@@ryanroberts1104 Ryan, I'm going to disagree with you. Most of us who have done anything for 20yrs+ can tell you we all make mistakes. We continually learn from those mistakes and attempt to keep up with an ever changing market & Products. I make significantly less "mistakes" then I did when I first started as an apprentice, but I also strive to continue learning every day. Rather then being that "old school" guy who won't change his ways... My2centsworth.

@@DetailCarPro Not sure what you are "disagreeing" with, I'm not talking about mistakes, I'm talking about really bad or complete lack of planning and business sense. It's not something to disagree with, Matt's house and the things he has done and said and then changed 40 times is a complete shit show. Would be one thing if he was just some guy building a house, but he's supposed to be a high end home builder. Matt has shown with his own house build how totally disconnected he is from reality. Surely something that happens when you spend too much time working for people with too much money...but Matt really isn't in their weight class himself. Even his old buddy Jordan Smith has been taking pot shots at him on his channel for not living in reality.

@@treyhart6861 However you look at it his house project has been a constant shit show. He has no plan for what he is doing, he's changed it 27 times. At this point it's just whoever will give him free stuff to install. That's fine if he wants to do that for his own home, but it makes him look like a fool when he claimed the whole idea was buying it was to remodel it from youtube in a realistic way. From the very first video everybody was yelling at him and calling him a moron that doesn't understand ROI, it was not realistic in any way, and, it's only gotten worse since then. *It's very funny how many people called it, before Matt ever figured out what the hell he was doing.* Seriously, go back to the first episode and read the comments, it was hilarious. It seems like he was just using youtube as an excuse for his wife to let him buy the neighbor's house...because he seems like the kind of guy that has to ask his wife for permission.

The tool will pay for itself on the first job in labor savings. Even with that kink, most water supplies don't get high enough of pressure to be of concern.

It can’t be repaired on the PEXb. Fair points on labor. I could see a run of pipe going a long distance and getting a kink in one spot after spending 10 min getting it run. Better to repair then add another fitting in my mind.

@@buildshow understood, thanks for clarifying.

Part of the demonstration has other real world applications. Say you pipe freezes but doesn't burst. On Pex A the frozen pipe will return to original over time. Pex B you would have to repair the freeze expansion section of pipe (due to weakening) even if it didn't burst.

You can buy a manual Pex A expander tool for $100 on Amazon. It comes with 1/2", 3/4" and 1" heads plus the cutting tool and it works great. The down side is you have to rotate the head for each pump whereas the power expanders rotate the head for you.

This might be the case but trust me if you are a plumber you don't want to be under a crawl space using a crimp tool when you can be using an expander tool. I got two crimp tools and and an expander tool. Expander tool is king and by far easier to use IMO.

Right...other pipes are just permanently solvent welded or soldered or use mechanical threads. FAR more "tight" than any shrinking plastic!

It’s indeed a sponsored video, but you should know that I reached out to them for sponsorship as I truly believed it was the winner and I wanted for my build.

I only insulted hot. Except for a few cold lines in exterior walls. (I’m in TX and have 2” of exterior insulation FYI)

@@buildshow Yea I noticed you insulated the hose feed out to your porch aswell. Thanks for the response, love what you're doing. I'd love to get into it here in the SF Bay Area but stuck in my basement for the last year pretending to enjoy civil engineering. Much rather be out on site making high performance and long lasting builds. Let me know of any job openings :D Looking forward to more videos on the house progress

Holy crap....That's is what I been saying...and I'm a certified Uponor installer. you cant stop the hot water from expanding...and it will always creak...Copper will always be the best as long you insulate the pipe.. dont under drill the hole on the wood.....big difference. Or else you will end up install a hammer rest... with copper ...you can actually have real water pressure. cause 1/2 pex is actually 3/8 copper...same as the ones you install underneath the sinks... but 1/2" copper is actually 1/2"

But they all have much smaller ID's than copper counter parts . Which actually Is a noticeable difference for half inch. You cant really run a long line with half inch pex without noticable headloss

@@shahsmerdis PEX B flows just as much as any other pipe product, you just have to choose the right size. Yes, the nominal size is a bit smaller than traditional pipes...so use one size up. If you can't figure that out you shouldn't be plumbing anything.

@@shahsmerdis The ID is indeed smaller than it's copper equivalent but there's a key difference, no fittings or sharp turns. Pex bends and curves without a fitting, giving it much better flow characteristics. You can run 10gpm through 1/2 pex, which is far more than you'd ever need through that pipe.

In one application I seen the copper expand before the plastic fitting broke. The job was mostly pex but there was some copper.

PEX-A is superior. The smart move is to go with Rehau or Upanor PEX-A, and forget all of the other inferior PEX.

Could not agree more. Spec it to work properly, use the cheapest material that will accomplish this spec. Anything else is a stupid waste. But it's pretty obvious that Matt does not understand the concept of ROI. And hell, if you get it all free why not use the most expensive stuff and then brag to everybody how it's better? Matt *LOVES* to brag...

Have to disagree with this logic. Meeting spec dose not mean it has to last (unless your goal is planed obsolescent) especially considering the costs of replacement (talking in general, not this video in particular) will frequently end up being more expensive than using better quality parts that exceeded spec to begin with. While I enjoy his videos, the frequency of major flaws and comments about materials independent of increased cost (that are not financially viable for many) get tiring.

​@@Shakrii You are incorrect. If something properly "meets spec" for said purpose, then it is a good product, and there should be no reason to believe it would ever need to be replaced within the expected lifetime of a house. "Meets spec" doesn't mean "use the cheapest shit you can find". There's a place in the middle where you can find quality products, without spending triple what everybody else does, but it won't be the cheapest way to do things either. Example: PEX A and PEX B have the same life expectancy. PEX A is not in any way more reliable than PEX B, it will not last any longer. You can argue the fittings flow more, though if you "spec" it correctly, that is choose the correct size, it wouldn't matter if you use PEX A, B, C, or Q. No matter what kind of pipe you use, it probably will not last 200 years. The problem with Matt is he thinks this high end shit should be in absolutely every house, including the 99% of people who can't afford it. And then he talks down to all the "normals" who don't have this high end stuff, and also are the majority of his viewers. The vast majority of his viewers are not rich people, they live in normal spec houses, if that. The reality is he's building a $600k house that will be worth $500k when he's done. That's why everybody keeps saying Matt has no idea what ROI means, and as a result, can't be a very good businessman. He's also the wrong person to get plumbing advice from, he's not a plumber, nor does his business employ a plumber. He doesn't build anything either, he sits behind a desk, that's what his experience is in. If I need to know how to make a conference call, Matt's the guy to ask! If you do a little googling about net worth and years in business, you might find Matt isn't the builder he wants you to think he is. It's sugar momma paying for all this stuff, and donations like some kind of homeless person. He wouldn't be using this stuff either if he had to pay full price like everybody else.

What chemicals are being leached?

Copper is no competition for PEX-A. Even the inferior PEX B and C is better than copper, especially if you live in freezing winter climates. Copper can't handle the pressures that PEX can, and it won't leach anything into your water. That kinked PEX-A is still probably six times stronger than a copper pipe. The only thing Copper is good for is doing rigid stub-outs. Personally, I prefer Rehau to Upanor. T the differences between the two are not huge, but I like the Rehau couplers better.

Also stop being an idiot about inert food grade plastic that passes harmlessly out of your shit. Kind of like eating a penny.

@@ryanroberts1104 asbestos, silicon dust are also inert...

@@MedoKojiZiviOvde But those particles are harmful to breathe, this is a proven fact. There are no facts to support PEX is bad for you, and it isn't going in your lungs. It goes out the shit hole, which is a very different process. You can literally eat an entire bowl of ground up PEX, it won't hurt you. It's cute how you hit the thumbs up on your own posts. Actually, I think pathetic is the word for that... Have you noticed nobody agrees with you?

@@ryanroberts1104 Asbestos and silicon dust weren't proven to be harmful for over 2 millennia of usage. It was recognized as harmful only 50 years ago which is nothing considering to the scale of human society. Microplastics and nanoparticles physically have very similar properties as the other two. If you read about some scientific articles on the subject perhaps you would you would be more informed. Using insults as argumentation sure proves your level of education. I'm a chemical engineer by trades and occupation health and safety specialist just to let you know.

@@MedoKojiZiviOvde what would you prefer to use then copper, ever heard of copper toxicity? Science has come a long way they now have much better equipment to determine risk factors, so unless you are going to go stainless steel pipes PEX is the best option.

Cannot use bend supports in tight places or through studs.

I love the bend supports use em all the time.