How to Straighten PEX PVC Piping

Since it first became popular in the 1980s and 90s, PEX PVC pipe, better known simply as PEX pipe or PEX, has revolutionized the plumbing industry. PEX pipe is loved for how flexible and easy to use it is. It's also a softer material, which means it's easier to cut and make connections, but without compromising strength and durability. 

However, one of the only issues that people have when using PEX is not being able to straighten it out. PEX pipe typically comes in rolls, similar to a roll of tape or electrical wiring, and is often 100 to 300 feet long. The rolls are also bound together, which results in tightly coiled PEX that's difficult to unroll in a straight line.

If you're new to the plumbing world or simply haven't figured out a good way to keep your PEX straight, you've come to the right place. This article will delve deeper into what PEX is, why it's important to keep it straight, and how to get it that way for installation.

Cross-linked polyethylene piping, better known as PEX, is the future of plumbing in the United States. PEX is made of high-density polyethylene, a type of durable plastic that is cross-linked for extra strength and durability.

Although PEX is technically a type of plastic, it's the perfect combination of hard, flexible, and durable. As such, PEX is fairly easy to cut with plumbing tools but not so soft that it will kink easily or get cut accidentally on other tools and objects.

PEX is used for both hot and cold water lines in residential and commercial use. PEX comes in various colors, including red for hot water, blue for cold water, and clear or white for additional lines. These color-coded pipes make it easy to keep track of which water lines are carrying hot water and which ones are carrying cold water. PVCFittingsOnline carries a wide range of PEX fittings.

While there are a lot of positives about PEX, one downside is in how it's packaged. PEX tubing typically gets delivered in a tight coil, giving it a naturally bent shape. You do have the option of getting PEX pipe in straight sections of 10 to 20 feet, but it's quite a bit more expensive than buying coils. As such, plumbers typically only use straight sections for small repairs, rather than for new installations.

For the sake of time and wanting to dive into your work, it's tempting to try to install PEX tubing without straightening it out. However, this is almost always a mistake unless you need your plumbing pipe to naturally bend around corners. Therefore, in most cases, it's important to straighten out PEX for the following reasons.

• Neater Installation: Straight plumbing lines always look neater than crooked or bent ones.

• Faster Installation: Even though it takes some extra time upfront, you can install PEX much easier and faster when it's straight versus when it's crooked.

• Better For Water: Water will reach its destination faster if it doesn't have unnecessary twists and bends to flow through.

Now that you know why it's important to straighten your PEX pipe out before installing it, here are three ways to get the job done.

One of the best ways to straighten PEX out is to carefully unroll it, rather than just grabbing an end and pulling on it. One way to do this is to unroll it the same way you would unroll a coil of electrical wire.

1. Stand on one end of the PEX tubing.

2. Start unrolling the PEX and walk on the tubing as you're unrolling it.

3. You can also have someone hold one end of the tube while you unroll it.

To make the unrolling method easier, you can also use a piping uncoiler. This is a method I've used in the past and have found to be highly effective. You simply place the coil of PEX inside the uncoiler, grab one end of the tube, and pull on it. This is the fastest and easiest way to straighten PEX pipe, but the uncoiler can be somewhat pricey.

One of the reasons that PEX is so stiff and coiled is because it's naturally cool. Once you heat it up, however, the PEX will naturally loosen up and start to straighten. Even if it doesn't straighten out completely, warming up the pipe will make it easier if you're using an uncoiler or one of the other methods in this article to straighten your pipe.

To warm up your PEX, you can either place the coiling inside a tub of warm or hot water or run warm water through the inside of the pipe. The best way to do this is to connect straight to a nearby water heater and run water through the pipe.

If you don't want to mess with water or don't have access to it, you can also use a heat gun to heat the outside of the pipe. However, this method can take quite a while and may be ineffective.

If you don't want to use the water method or spend money on an uncoiler, you can straighten the PEX pipe yourself as you unroll it. Here's how it works:

1. Unroll the PEX, starting at the end on the outside of the roll.

2. As you're unrolling the PEX, press the bent side against a door jam or wall stud and straighten the pipe as you're unrolling it.

3. By applying just enough pressure against the bend, the PEX will straighten just enough for neat and easy installation.

4. You can either straighten the entire roll right off the bat, or straighten it as needed.

Last but not least, you can purchase a tabletop PEX straightening tool. PEX straightening tools are compact and fairly easy to use, but are only worth it if you frequently install PEX. The tool fastens to the floor or a nearby surface, and you simply run the PEX tubing through the tool as you're unrolling it. You can also adjust the rolls inside the tool to match up with different sizes of PEX.