Those cheap push-to-connect fittings had me worried at first

I was doing a big commercial kitchen remodel in Austin last spring and the owner wanted to use those plastic push-fit fittings everywhere under the sinks. I told him straight up I didn't trust them for hot water lines that see heavy daily use. But he insisted and I figured I'd see how it played out. Eight months later I went back to fix a different issue and checked all those joints, not a single leak or failure. I still prefer copper or ProPress for my own jobs but I gotta admit these newer fittings held up way better than I expected. Has anyone else seen these hold up long term in high use commercial spots?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sam14d ago

Jumped in on a small apartment complex reno last year and the contractor used push-fit on all the kitchen island sinks. I was skeptical as heck, figured I'd be back in six months swapping them out. Just checked in last week and every single one was dry as a bone. Even the ones under the garbage disposals that take all that vibration. Totally get what @henderson.mila said about the testing, these things are way tougher than the older plastic junk that used to crack if you looked at them wrong. The constant hot and cold cycling in a rental unit is probably the worst test you can give them and they passed no problem. I'm still not sold on burying them in a wall but for exposed commercial use they've earned my respect.

gavin_allen4814d ago

My buddy runs a dog grooming shop in Dallas where they wash dogs all day long, so the hot water and soap gets absolutely everywhere. He put those push-fit fittings on his utility sinks about two years ago and they're still holding strong. The key thing he noticed was the plastic bodies actually seemed to resist the chemical buildup from the industrial shampoos better than copper did, which just kept getting that weird green patina. I still can't fully bring myself to trust them for stuff like main supply lines or anything behind a wall, but for exposed service sinks or temporary setups they honestly seem fine now.

henderson.mila14d ago

Read somewhere that push-fit is actually tested for like 200 years of use now.