Plumbing 101: A Beginner's Guide To Plumbing Pipes

By Author: Leo Nov
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You may think it's not important whether or not you know what kind of pipes you have in your plumbing system. Maybe the information is not useful in your daily life but knowing the basics of plumbing pipes such as the materials they are made of and their characteristics can actually help you determine whether your pipes are prone to damage. Ultimately, such information will be useful in preventing water damage to your home.
Let's take a look at the two main types of pipes - plastic pipes and metal pipes. Under this two categories are their specific types and the list below will show you the most common ones used in residential plumbing.
PLASTIC
1. Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC Pipes - These pipes are the most common water supply pipes used in homes today. There are three PVC types: Schedule 40, which is the standard PVC pipe, thick and white in color; Schedule 80, the former's stronger version; and the Thin Wall, which is the thin and light version. PVC pipes are used to supply cold water only because their construction will not hold up in heat.
2. Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride or CPVC Pipes - These pipes ...
... are more flexible than PVC and its walls are thinner, too. CPVC pipes offer good resistance to heat so this is the type of pipe to use for hot water supply.
3. PEX Pipes - These are polyethylene plastic pipes that are cross-linked, flexible and works well with any temperature so it can be used to bring either hot or cold water to a residence. It is also typically used as a cheaper replacement to CPVC or copper pipes because they all have the same outer diameter.
4. PolyPipe - This black high pressure pipe is thick and provides excellent durability. It is used primarily outdoors and only to serve as the main water supply pipe to the home. To prevent polypipes from freezing during winter, it is buried deep underground but the exact measurement of depth would vary in different places.
METAL
1. Copper Pipes - These are the most widely-used pipes today's homes for water supply lines that run along the walls of houses. They are highly resistant to corrosion and tolerate heat very well so they are used for any water supply application regardless of water temperature. Also, their connections are very stable because their fittings are soldered. The only disadvantage of this pipe is its expensive price.
2. Galvanized Steel Pipes - These heavy metal pipes are not used today as much as they were decades before. Their typical use today would be to carry water out of the house. Galvanized pipes have a coating that is corrosion-resistant but some parts of it can still rust away easily such as the pipe ends where the coating was stripped when the pipes were cut.
3. Stainless Steel Pipes - These are pipes that are extremely resistant to corrosion and, therefore, are the best types to use if your home is close to the ocean or in any other place where the environment is corrosive. These pipes, however, are costly and not readily available as the other types of metal pipes.
If you are looking for one type of pipe to fit all your applications and is strong enough to resist any damage, there is no such thing. But you can use your knowledge of plumbing pipes to determine whether your plumbing pipes are susceptible to corrosion or more prone to freezing. Such knowledge can help you plan ways to prevent water damage to your home resulting from broken or burst pipes.
Leo Nov is an editorial staff member of RestorationSOS.com, a leading service provider for water damage cleanups. To learn more about water damage and water removal, visit RestorationSOS.com