Plumbing question

[John_M]

I had a few gentleman come down to my property to give us some estimates on a well and septic to be installed this spring.  When I showed them the interior of the cabin, one of the gentleman suggested that I didn't use a manifold system for my pex plumbing that I will soon be installing.  He claimed it was kind of unnecessary for my situation.  He said I would be fine with just running a 1/2 inch water line with T's to each water outlet.  He said I could even put a ball valve on each spot if I wanted to shut some on/off. 

I thought that a manifold system was designed to keep things simple?  Any thoughts?

[jdhen]

John, I was told something similar but the reason I went with the manifold and homeruns to each fixture is that all of my crimps are out of the wall.  If I'd run t's off a main line then the crimps would be hidden behind the drywall.  Call me paranoid but I like the idea of having easy access to any potential leak.  Sure, there was a little more work involved but not that much more in cost.  The manifold was a little less than $100.

[MountainDon]

    Some people simply do not like to change the way things are done.

How many hot and cold fixtures?

Personally I love the idea of a manifold with shut offs to each and every point of use. At some point someone will be making some repair and that sure simplifies future maintenance. However, if there are only a few fixtures in a small place then a manifold may be of less use than in a larger home with multiple bathrooms, laundry, utility sink, ice maker, etc. I do whatever makes you feel good about it, John.

[ScottA]

I'd put in a manifold.

[John_M]

A manifold it is!!  Thanks everyone.

[JRR]

Another approach is to "series loop" everything together ... each device being served with a tee and valve combination ... the loop ending on a heavy water user.  Keeps stagnation at bay.  Also useful on a hot water system if a circulation pump is planned.

Easier on small structures ... but ain't everything!

[MikeT]

FWIW, I also installed a manifold.  I likely paid on the higher end for it:  $140 for a 20 port manifold: 12 cold and 8 hot. 

[John_M]

FWIW, I also installed a manifold.  I likely paid on the higher end for it:  $140 for a 20 port manifold: 12 cold and 8 hot. 

Did you find it worth the cost?  Any plusses or minuses? 

[MikeT]

I found it easy to mount, moderately easy to attach the PEX piping to it via the supplied compression fittings, and very easy to turn various fixture units on and off when I need to.  There is simply a key with a diamond shaped impression that fits over the each port.  Up is off, sideways is on.   I love the ability to easily shut off a port and work on a fixture.  Plus the leak points are simple: the manifold, any intermediate connection (where something might tee off, for instance) and then the fixture itself.

I looked at making my own, or using two from HD (smaller number of ports, so I would have to have one for hot and one for cold.  In the end, I decided to spend for convenience.

It is a Viega Mannabloc.

mt