Well we recently upgraded to a new build, selling off our 50 year old house. We had to relocated to a different area, because the only houses in our area were...50 year old houses. And swapping from one 50 year old house to another one didn't make a lot of sense to us.
Mind, we had done remodeling, new kitchen, new baths, new roof, new windows, new HVAC, insulation, "more sound proof" dry wall, structural engineering changes (original owners underspec'd a new addition, and we had to get that fixed), relined the sewer. The two last things on our list were redoing the electrical panel, and landscaping.
So, it had some modern elements, but at its core it was a 50 year old house.
When we had the work done, the contractor mentioned how the house was well built. "Good bones" as he said.
Our new house is VASTLY more efficient. The foundation is 50-100% thicker than our old house (which had other issues). We have that lined plywood in the attic (one side has some material for efficiency), lots more insulation. The only "exotic" thing in there, IMHO, is the plumbing, as its the clear plastic tubing style plumbing (there's a trade name for it that escapes me), vs copper. No idea how long that will last, our old house was already re-piped with copper when we bought it (can you say "slab leak"?). But I'm assuming that the new plumbing is not simply cheaper (copper, oh my) but actually "better" for more values of "better" than not.
I saw the house go up, I got to learn house geek stuff, and this is a solid house. We already have stucco cracks, which is not surprising -- I've had 4 felt quakes so far this year, and it's only March. 3+, one was at least 4. Been rocking and rolling for some reason this year, this activity is unusual, and, hopefully, not foretelling. But the house is solid. California has codes for a reason. We use stick framing for a reason, particularly in Southern California.
I wish we didn't have to leave the area we were in, but this house is so far so good and appears very well built, more so than our older house was.
The tubing is called PEX I believe and it seems to be what is used these days, replacing cemented PVC and soldered copper.
Some codes (commercial buildings?) may require copper but I believe PEX is used everywhere it can be, it's easy to work with, durable, and connections almost never leak.
Yes. PEX is a specific type, and general term for, modern polyethylene supply tubing. Both materials and labor costs are around half of residential copper. Unless you have a really specific reason new plumbing is going to be PEX supply and PVC/ABS waste. PEX service lifetime is in the 30-50 year range, copper is 50-100 depending on wall thickness.
I'm going to try it on my next project. I've done copper, I'm OK at soldering ("sweating") but far from a pro and sometimes I get leaks which is super annoying. And depending where you are working there's a real risk of starting a fire.
PVC and CPVC has never leaked for me but the cleaning solvent and the cement is messy, once you apply the cement you have only seconds to join the fittings, and the fumes give me a headache.
PEX sounds great because you can run it around bends (up to a point) without extra fittings and you don't need cement or solder.
Mind, we had done remodeling, new kitchen, new baths, new roof, new windows, new HVAC, insulation, "more sound proof" dry wall, structural engineering changes (original owners underspec'd a new addition, and we had to get that fixed), relined the sewer. The two last things on our list were redoing the electrical panel, and landscaping.
So, it had some modern elements, but at its core it was a 50 year old house.
When we had the work done, the contractor mentioned how the house was well built. "Good bones" as he said.
Our new house is VASTLY more efficient. The foundation is 50-100% thicker than our old house (which had other issues). We have that lined plywood in the attic (one side has some material for efficiency), lots more insulation. The only "exotic" thing in there, IMHO, is the plumbing, as its the clear plastic tubing style plumbing (there's a trade name for it that escapes me), vs copper. No idea how long that will last, our old house was already re-piped with copper when we bought it (can you say "slab leak"?). But I'm assuming that the new plumbing is not simply cheaper (copper, oh my) but actually "better" for more values of "better" than not.
I saw the house go up, I got to learn house geek stuff, and this is a solid house. We already have stucco cracks, which is not surprising -- I've had 4 felt quakes so far this year, and it's only March. 3+, one was at least 4. Been rocking and rolling for some reason this year, this activity is unusual, and, hopefully, not foretelling. But the house is solid. California has codes for a reason. We use stick framing for a reason, particularly in Southern California.
I wish we didn't have to leave the area we were in, but this house is so far so good and appears very well built, more so than our older house was.