Pipes & Fittings

Pipes and fittings for your home’s plumbing system

Having the right pipes & fittings for your homes plumbing system it’s important to avoid any costly repairs. Plumbing has many different aspects and can do a whole lot around your home.

There are six different types of plumbing: water supply, sanitary plumbing, gas fitting, drainage, roofing and mechanical services. Each system is to be used and connected with suitable pipes and fittings.

Your homes’ plumbing system is quite a complex network of water supply pipes, sanitary pipes, vent pipes, and more. As it’s a complicated and a costly system when it comes to repairs or installations, it’s worth knowing the different pipe materials and fitting options available and how they are to be used for your home.

Copper plumbing

Because of its durability and reliability, copper pipes are the most traditionally used plumbing on the market. Copper doesn’t corrode or leak and doesn’t contaminate the water in any way, plus it has a high temperature resistance which makes it perfect for water plumbing in a home.

But the price of copper pipes is quite high, plus it could be quite difficult to install as you would need to know how to weld!

Brass plumbing

Brass piping are composed of between 67% and 85% copper, giving it similar benefits as the copper piping. The higher the copper content, the better the quality and the rust resistance. It’s a long lasting and reliable material making it great for hot water systems and large distribution systems.

Galvanized plumbing

Pipes made from galvanized steel were used several years ago as the standard plumbing for residential properties. They are a cheaper option to copper pipes but over time they tend to rust, even with its protective zinc coating. Nowadays the galvanized pipes are used for greywater or other water that is not meant for human consumption.

PVC plumbing

PVC pipes come in different sizes and are used for different applications. They can carry hot and cold water as they can withstand high temperatures but they are also used for sewage applications and storm drainage systems.

They are not susceptible to corrosion and are lightweight, making them a great option for when installing pipelines across great distances.

They are cheap but the downside is that they are prone to cracking or breaking when they are dropped or when too big pressure is put on them.

PE plumbing

PE or Polyethylene, is a type of thermoplastic material and can easily be reformed. The PE pipes are a cost-efficient and used for a wide range of applications within the industrial, agricultural, and maritime industry. The material is ideal for operations above and under ground but also in connection with water.

They are corrosion resistant, durable and flexible but even thou they can withstand high temperatures they are not fire-resistant. So they are not meant for applications where the temperature could go over a 100 degrees.

Different types of pipe fittings

Adapters

The adapter is used to extend piping but also to allow a different type of pipe to be connected. It works as the connector between the pipes making the setup simple.

Bushings

Bushings are used to connect pipes of different sizes, most time to reduce a larger pipe down to a smaller pipe. They can handle large pressure as its inside-out threaded, meaning one side of the bushing is to be placed inside a pipe and the other side to be placed outside of the connecting pipe.

Caps & Plugs

Caps and plugs are used as pipe endings. The difference between the two is that the cap is placed outside of the pipe and the plug inside, to stop the flow. The cap is more suited for low pressure piping and the plug is a tighter more secure screw that can handle high pressure as it is threaded.

Couplings

Couplings are great to fix or prevent leaking pipes, but they are also used to reduce the pipe size or extent a pipe run. Available female-thread or without, they are one the most used fittings when it comes to plumbing.

Elbows

Elbows are used to change the direction of the pipe, they come mostly in the sizes 90 and 45 degree angles but you also have 60 and 22.5 degree angles.

Flanges

The flange is a fitting used to connect pipes. The pipes are usually threaded and welded to the flanges and sealed together with bolts. This type of connection can handle high pressure and in residential homes its mostly used to connect different pump systems.

Nipples

The nipple is a short pipe that is male-threaded at both ends and used for connecting straight pipe runs.

Tees

The tee connection is like a T-junction for connecting three pipes, where one pipe is usually the supplier to the other two.

Crosses

This cross fitting is used to connects four pipes at one point and is essentially a combination of two tees.

Unions

Unions are used to connect pipes that are made of different materials. The unions work by creating a seal between the pipe ends, connecting them. They are perfect for connecting two fixed pipes (where a coupling doesn’t work) making repairs much easier.

Wyes

Wyes are mostly used as drainage fittings as it includes a 45-degree branch that splits the pipe in two without hindering the flow.

Tee couplings can be used for similar purposes but when used flat on horizontal connections the wye is better suited.