Park Valley Assisted Living, Round Rock, TX, USA

Project benefits moving from CPVC to Uponor PEX-a

Precision Commercial Plumbing in Pflugerville handled the plumbing installation for this project and they chose Uponor PEX-a as one of the plumbing materials for the job. “It was decided that we use a hybrid system for the domestic water,” Richie Blevins, owner of Precision Commercial Plumbing said, “so there is a mix of Uponor PEX-a and CPVC throughout the building.” The project, under tight construction timelines, was initially an all-CPVC project, but Blevins quickly realized that in order to keep the project at its fast-pace schedule, he needed Uponor’s PEX-a to speed up installation time. “The construction company, Rogers O’Brien Construction, wasn’t too familiar with PEX-a piping, so it took a bit of time to show them its effectiveness and ease in installation,” Blevins said.

Precision Commercial Plumbing had only completed one previous Uponor PEX-a plumbing installation prior to the Park Valley Assisted project. “I was so impressed with the flexibility of PEX-a on the original job, and I really didn’t know how much quicker it installs until I saw it for myself,” Blevins said. 

With each installation comes additional experience, and Blevins says that he and his guys learned a lot on the job. “We struggled a little in areas where pipe had to be hung with hangers. It was more cumbersome than we had anticipated and it slowed us down a little, but even with these difficulties, it was way faster to install than any other product I’ve worked with.” 

And the Precision plumbing installers who worked the Austin project are eager to get to the next project. “Our guys had only positive things to say about working with the flexibility of PEX tubing and we’re even becoming comfortable using new terminology such as ‘pulling pipe’ and ‘ring fittings,’” he jokes. “All in all, it was a great learning experience, and we will definitely continue to use PEX in future projects.”