Plumbing question (I’ve asked this at the Terry Love forum, just wondering if there are any opinions here):
I am reading “Plumbing a House” by Peter Hemp in the For Pros by Pros series by Taunton. On page 150, talking about roughing-in toilet and lavatory, he has the water supply lines terminate at copper x FIP drop-eared 90s. The idea is that angle stops will thread into these 90s.
I have managed to figure out the terminology, which is never explained, but I am still trying to understand what the point is. Every other book I’ve read talks about putting a shutoff valve on the stubbed-out copper supply line. This appears to be SOP for pro plumbers.
Maybe the point is that the shutoff valve can be changed without having to cut a piece off that stub-out, which would only give you so many opportunities to change the valve…. But surely you could just sweat a FIP adaptor to the stub-out, so flexibility in changing valve isn’t the issue….. And at least that way you wouldn’t have one end of a threaded connection (nipple between elbow and valve) buried in the wall (I’m assuming sweated connections are more reliable than threaded connections)….. Perhaps there is some aesthetic about not having a copper pipe peeping out of the wall (for toilet supply say)….
Replies
If you rough in a female thread inside the wall, you can trim out with a brass nipple and a chrome sleeve. Looks nice. The drop ear fittings have those nifty anchor holes in them and you can screw them to a block behind... more work but solid as a rock. No problem getting a nipple threaded in correctly... same as at the shower head.
If you rough in with a piece of 1/2" copper pipe sticking out, you can trim out with a compression-fitting angle stop, and a piece of chrome if you want to. Harder to brace this configuration to the framing, as opposed to the drop ear brass fitting.
If you rough in with a male thread outside the wall, you can finish with a female-thread angle stop and there's no sleeve. Same mechanical issue as #2 above.
Take yer pick!
Thanks, it looks like the bracing of the ears is the big advantage of the drop-eared elbow approach. Its cost is the extra time, that the average pro cannot afford when easier methods are available, and given other methods are "secure enough."With the stub-out, you can trim it back so it is hidden behind an escutcheon, connected to the angle stop with a compression fitting.With the drop-ear, you run a nipple via the escutcheon between drop-ear and angle stop.So which kind of fitting, compression vs IPS, is more reliable in the long term? I've come to dislike compression fittings, seems like eventually they all leak.
I've been using compression fittings since 1962, never had a problem. 'WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, READ THE DIRECTIONS'. I don't want to be a smart ####, but that is usually the problem. LUCK BE WITH YOU.
Common practice for this situation is to stub out a 1/2 inch copper stub. Your options are, a compression valve or a sweat valve with an extension[ these are chrome plated but they cost a lot more money]. If you want to procede with iron pipe threads, then put an adapter in the wall, use a chrome plated nipple to connect to the valve. [Thats expensive also]. I would recommend using the compression valve. If you don't want to see the copper tube, put the chrome flange on the tube and cut it approx. 1/2 inch from the face, put on your valve and tighten up. If you don't care what it looks like, put it where you want. LOTS OF LUCK.