Replacing the water supply in the apartment

Any apartment sooner or later needs to be replaced by a water supply system. This is due to the fact that old water pipes were installed in old houses. This material rusts and clogs under the influence of water, the permeability decreases accordingly, and leaks can form. Some homeowners regularly clean their water pipes, but this is only a half measure, after a short period of time the situation will happen again. In addition, the old-style water pipes have a very unpresentable appearance. You can, of course, hide them in boxes, but experienced plumbers do not recommend this. According to generally accepted standards, such communications should be freely available. The best solution is to replace the water pipes in the apartment. You can do it yourself without resorting to the services of specialists.

Choose material

Currently, several variants of pipes are used for the water supply system. To make the right choice, you need to go to the nearest plumbing store and see what sellers can offer. After wandering between the counters you can see three categories of water pipes:

• Steel. You can safely pass by these products, because it is precisely such a water supply system that you are going to change. Seduced by an attractive price, you step on the same rake. Steel galvanized pipes look more advantageous. This coating is not afraid of corrosion, respectively, the pipes will last for many years. But the installation of such a water supply is associated with certain difficulties. To cut a thread on pipes, not every person can handle it.

• Metal-plastic and polypropylene. This is perhaps the best option for home water supply. Such pipes practically do not flow, have a neat appearance and do not cause installation difficulties. Of the shortcomings, it can be noted that plastic pipes Over time, they begin to leak at the joints, so the fittings are recommended to be left in the public domain. Polypropylene pipes They are welded together with a special soldering iron, this eliminates the possibility of leaks. But it turns out a non-separable design, which can cause some inconvenience.

• Copper. Such products have good thermal conductivity and antibacterial properties. If you give preference to this material, then you can forget about the problems with the water supply forever. Among the shortcomings, the high cost of copper pipes can be noted. In addition, it is not possible to lay a copper water pipe with your own hands, it is necessary to call specialists.

Given all the features and disadvantages, it is recommended to give preference to plastic products, as the most practical and durable.

Installation

Having decided on the choice, you can proceed with the installation. To begin with, the entire old water supply system is dismantled in the apartment, up to shut-off valves, which, by the way, are also better to replace. To replace the inlet taps, it is better to invite the plumber, who at the same time will block the water throughout the riser. After that, it is recommended to plan how the new pipes will be located. You can install them in place of the dismantled or make a completely new wiring. Now you can proceed directly to the installation. The scheme of work is as follows:

• Coarse and fine filters are installed right behind the inlet taps. If you do the work yourself, remember: the filters are always installed with a removable tank down. Otherwise, there will be no good from them. Installation is carried out using threaded connections. To prevent leaks, flax thread is wound between the threads.

Advice! Do not trust the sellers that it is better to purchase imported fine filters. The design of any product is a fine-mesh mesh made of stainless steel and a trash bin. Therefore, do not overpay for an advertised brand.

• Behind the filters water meters are installed and check valves. On control devices there is usually an arrow that indicates the direction of water movement. Consider this nuance at the time of installation. Also, remember that the cold water outlet must always be on the right.

• Then using a special fitting plastic pipe is connected. Your further actions will come down to installing tees and adapters and wiring the water supply system throughout the apartment.

Flush mounting

You can use a more complex installation system of water supply. Given that plastic products do not rust and can only leak at the joints, the water supply can be hidden in the walls. To do this, in the apartment (according to preliminary marking), a strobe is made in the wall. Strobing is carried out in such a way that not only the pipe fits in the wall, but there is also room for insulation. It is necessary to wrap pipes with a heater (Merilon). And this is done not out of fear that the installed pipe may freeze. The fact is that a plastic pipe can lengthen and increase in diameter. This is called the coefficient. linear expansion. If you simply plug the pipe into the wall, then at the time of expansion, it can damage the finish of the room. The connection occurs according to the previous scheme. After installing the strobe, it is sealed with a solution.

This is what the DIY water supply replacement scheme looks like in an apartment. It remains only to conduct a trial run, eliminate leaks (if any) and restore order.