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(AMM) Plumbers caught between copper quality, higher cost

January 09, 2009 - 16:23 GMT Location: New York

Plumber Tom Gasperetti knows that plastic tubing is the product of choice in the residential building sector these days, but when it came time to remodel his own bathroom, he opted for traditional copper tubing.

"(Plastic tubing) just rubbed me the wrong way," he said. "I've got 30 years in the industry, and we were taught to make things straight and square and plumb and true. With PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) tubing, it just looks like spaghetti in a wall."

Gasperetti, a master plumber and a lead organizer with Plumbers Union Local 75 in Milwaukee, isn't alone in preferring copper over PEX tubing. But with plastics cheaper to buy?ringing up at around 25 cents a foot compared with $1 a foot for copper?and quicker to install, commercial demand for copper tubing has waned, and some plumbers and pipe-layers find that, despite their preferences, they're fighting a losing battle.

"Usually, price has a lot to do with the final decision," said...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

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