Push-fit copper reliable?

[trf0412]

I need to hook up a copper pipe that comes directly out of the wall, to a toilet cistern. I've got a flexi-hose to connect to the cistern, but could do with the copper pipe pointing upwards. As a DIYer, I've never soldered and don't intend to purchase all the necessary stuff and mess around learning. So, do I:

(a) use a copper push-fit elbow? (How reliable are they?)
(b) use a compression-fit elbow?
(c) pay a plumber £50 for a 10-min job?
(d) use a longer flexi-hose and have it bend round to meet the pipe?
(e) none of the above?

 

[townfanjon]

I would always reply to this thread but
C , totally pi**es me off so I wont bother .
Ask somebody else

 

[gmartine]

I'd charge £90, that's for the two hours I've saved you trying to find the right answer.

 

[SimonG]

I need to hook up a copper pipe that comes directly out of the wall, to a toilet cistern. I've got a flexi-hose to connect to the cistern, but could do with the copper pipe pointing upwards. As a DIYer, I've never soldered and don't intend to purchase all the necessary stuff and mess around learning. So, do I:

(a) use a copper push-fit elbow? (How reliable are they?)
(b) use a compression-fit elbow?
(c) pay a plumber £50 for a 10-min job?
(d) use a longer flexi-hose and have it bend round to meet the pipe?
(e) none of the above?

Cheap plumbers round your way.

 

[trf0412]

£50 is based on what I have recently paid a very reputable plumbing firm in the southeast when they have charged me on an hourly rate, so I didn't pluck this figure from thin air.

 

[trf0412]

Incidentally, I've never fully understood why some people on here appear to be so hostile towards DIYers, given the title "General Professional and DIY Plumbing Forums" has "DIY" in the title.

 

[townfanjon]

Nobodys hostile to diy plumbers , just read the thousands of posts !!!!!

 

[trf0412]

OK, well, maybe I was a bit unfair... but the responses here suggest that the general consensus is: "Why are you trying to do this yourself anyway? Don't be so cheap, and just hire a qualified plumber!"

I guess I should have put the title of this thread in the OP, but I was really just after an answer to whether or not push-fit copper is reliable?

My mistake was thinking out loud and suggesting other possible ways to tackle the task at hand and creating a sort of poll!

 

[Riley]

Not sure anybody is calling you cheap I think it’s more the fact that your tone alludes to the fact that you begrudge paying a plumber for his skills. That £50 doesn’t just go straight in his pocket (far from it) and this is what I think a lot of people miss. This is why you may think you feel a cold response when you word it like we’re trying to rip you off. We will happily help DIYers but we also actively encourage people to know their limits and to get a pro when we feel people may be out of their depth. Options A, B & D are perfectly viable, unless you’re out of your comfort zone and you might have to go for C. Your three suggestions that you can do will basically boil down to aesthetics copper pushfit will probably look best, a compression fitting can look a little bulky and a longer flexi will do the job but probably look pig ugly. Hope this helps

 

[trf0412]

Thanks for this response... this explains a lot. I don't begrudge paying plumbers for their skills at all, so apologies if it came across this way!

Saying "£50 for a 10-min job" wasn't me suggesting I think this is a rip-off, but rather based on the hourly rate of the plumbers I used quite recently to replace all our heating system. In other words, I wouldn't expect to be charged less than 1 hr for a call-out, but at the same time I know that sticking a 90 degree angle on copper pipe would likely take 10-15 mins max.

If the response had been "push-fit copper fails all the time, whatever you do, don't go near it", I wouldn't have thought twice about calling out a plumber to do a solder joint. But if push-fit copper stands the test of time, I may as well go down that route.

 

[Riley]

More about prep to be honest. Use a proper pipe slice not a hacksaw, deburr pipe correctly

 

[jtsplumbing]

Tectite slim fit are fine but pipe must be a smooth & clean not cheep to buy and you only have one chance pushing them on & then they are on to stay cant be removed

 

[Ric2013]

Yeah, I get the OP. £50 for a 10-minute job can easily be a day's wages so I understand the reluctance to spend it.

That said, I also understand why plumbers find that sort of talk annoying. £50 an hour is great, but we have our expenses, plus (and it's the main catch) for every hour on site, there can be several more spent on the hidden work (or the time between jobs) required to be able to turn up for that £50 job and be available to do it.

If I had a pound for every time I told someone I was a plumber and they say 'you'll never be out of job', I'd not have had to take on another job as well to make ends meet. I once got 'oh, that's a noble profession', but I digress...

I'm not adding anything to the technical discussion because I don't think I have anything to add to what others have already said, and don't want to add repetition.

 

[sammathias]

come on.....it takes longer than 10 minutes to drink our cuppa tea/coffee!! a flexi looks horrendous no matter what way you do it.

 

[Ric2013]

Flexis are lurvely near toilets, and very easy to keep clean and hygienic too. No they aren't.

 

[stevetheplumber]

if its on show id use a chrome compression