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supprting pex in exterior wall

IZZY
IZZY Member Posts: 59
I had to run  1/2" pex (supply & return) from basement to 2nd floor up an exterior wall.  Looking for best way to support it.

Did not want to strap it to studs because I wanted lines to have the full R-13 behind them,so I ran them up the center of the stud bay.  I cut (2) 1/4" paint stirs the width of the stud bay and strapped the lines to them @ about 1/3 and 2/3 up the wall, just to keep the lines from flying all over the place in the stud bay when they expand.  The wood is not connected to the studs, just "floating". 



Any thoughts or improvements appreciated.

Thanks.

Comments

  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,367
    Pretty inovative

    Is that pex-al-pex? If so, you won't have much movement any way.
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • NRT_Rob
    NRT_Rob Member Posts: 1,013
    that's about as good

    as any detail in an exterior wall I can think of, but running pipes in an exterior wall is bad practice. putting water in the first place in the building to freeze in the event of a failure... not so good.



    depending on where you are, of course, but if you have serious freezing conditions in your area, I'd probably consider glycol additions more strongly in this case.



    movement is no big deal in a vertical situation like this though... leaving it loose probably reduces any movement related issues as well.
    Rob Brown
    Designer for Rockport Mechanical
    in beautiful Rockport Maine.
  • IZZY
    IZZY Member Posts: 59
    No,

    just regular pex w/ O2 barrier.

    Thank you .
  • IZZY
    IZZY Member Posts: 59
    Trust me,

    I wish I did not have to run it in that wall, but I did...the freezing is only part of the problem, my wife is less than enthused with me that I opened up the dining room wall.  (It wouldn't be quite so bad if she hadn't married a 90%er - do a job 90% and move on to the next one).

    Thanks for the response.
  • MikeyB
    MikeyB Member Posts: 696
    Insulation

    Izzy, you can also insulate your risers w/Armaflex pipe insulation for extra insurance
  • IZZY
    IZZY Member Posts: 59
    Is that

    normally done?  You never really hear about pex getting insulated.
  • MikeyB
    MikeyB Member Posts: 696
    Pex

    Sure, why not insulate the pex, especially in an exterior wall, why loose any heat from a riser? you want the BTU'S to come out of the radiators, not from the risers. Like Dan says, you only pay for insulation once......
  • NRT_Rob
    NRT_Rob Member Posts: 1,013
    it won't really help with freezing though

    insulation is not freeze protection. it will slightly slow down how fast the pipe cools, but if the home is approaching a freeze condition, it doesn't help much.



    the heat loss will be primarily into the room, so I wouldn't probably stress about it, but it doesn't hurt either.
    Rob Brown
    Designer for Rockport Mechanical
    in beautiful Rockport Maine.
  • IZZY
    IZZY Member Posts: 59
    I'm building

    an additional bedroom over my unheated garage.  It's an attached garage.  I'm putting in a sunrad radiator in the room to match the rest of the house (had an extra about the right size that I removed from another part of the house during a previous project a few years ago...some things I just can't throw out, you never know when you might need the stuff).  Anyway, the radiator will be under a window on the far side of the addition.  I have to run the piping accross the garage, but at least the joists go the right way.  I'm planning on using pex and stapling it to the 2X10's about 2" down.  I'm going to fill the bays with R-30, and the ceiling will have 2 layers of 5/8" firerated sheetrock.  I was thinking about stapling the pex right to the underside of the subfloor, in the middle of the bay, just like I did with the wall at the top of this thread, in order to get the full R-30 behind it, but I decided that if I ever pull the carpet and put in hard wood flooring, I don't want to pop a line.

    I realize that insulation only buys you a little time in terms of freeze prevention, but do you think I should insulate in this case?

    Incidentally, I will be insulating the garage with R-13 insulation. 
This discussion has been closed.