Re-piping house

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Re-piping house

Author: DataCable (OH)

I just bought a house with galvanized plumbing, and I'm going to replace it with copper. 2 questions:

The water line enters the basement under the bathroom, and the water heater is located approximately 10 feet inside the basement. Would it make a difference if I run a cold line directly to the heater, then come back to the bathroom fixtures, or branch off to the bathroom fixtures on the way to the heater?

The outlet from the water meter is 1/2". Would I gain anything by running 3/4" "mains" with 1/2" branches to individual fixtures?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Edited 1 times.

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Re: Re-piping house
Author: North Carolina Plumber (NC) It does not matter how you feed the heater, I'd just put a tee in the main line for the heater as I went by it. I'd come out of the meter with a 1/2" X 3/4" adapter and run 3/4" mains for both hot and cold.
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Re: Re-piping house
Author: packy (MA) check what size the water main is coming into the house. it could very well be 3/4 inch. if so you can replace the meter with a larger size and have all 3/4...
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Re: Re-piping house
Author: srloren (CA) I know that the Pros are able to distinguish pipe sizes but many times homeowners think that a 3/4" galvanized pipe is 1" because of the difference in pipe diameters for copper, pex and Gal. So I would caution to be careful when you measure the diameter (inside and outside) of the pipe or tubeing you are using. It will curtail trips to the supply house.
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Re: Re-piping house
Author: KCRoto (MO) Good advice. I would consider using pex instead of copper as well, but that is a personal preference.
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