Meharry Medical College Living-Learning Center | Nashville, TN

When installing a plumbing system in a facility, the costs for the plumbing contractor often break down primarily into two categories: one, the materials—the initial cost of the piping and fittings, and two, the labor—the installation time, and the time to repair any leaks and finish the job.

When Aaron Trask, vice president of family-owned Parkway Construction Services of Nashville and St. Louis, won the bid to plumb a new multi-purpose building on the campus of Meharry Medical College, he knew that replacing the original spec for copper piping with PEXa piping would provide high-quality performance while saving money in the initial materials cost. But even he was pleasantly surprised by the extent of the savings he accrued in labor costs—both in installation and final inspection—with the PEXa brand he selected.

“We turned on the water to more than 4,000 connections with the REHAU RAUPEX pipe/EVERLOC+ fitting PEXa system and there were no leaks. None. Zero,” he said. “It was amazing. We gave Meharry a highly reliable system and we were out of there in record time."

Zero leaks

The real difference, Trask noted, came with the pressure test.

“The REHAU system had 100 percent no leaks. That’s very unusual,” he said. “I would say with this number of fittings, 126 units with bathroom, kitchen and water heaters, and all the other spaces, that’s a lot of plumbing, and 50 or so initial leaks would be pretty normal. No problem, we’d go back and fix them. But zero leaks means zero rework, and that’s money in your pocket.”

Trask mentioned that other tradespeople on the site, such as drywallers and the general contractor, often watch the pressure test and prepare to help mitigate any typical ancillary damage that might occur from initial system leaks.

“They seemed to be aware that there were no leaks at all, so people were surprised and talking about it,” he said. “And that reflects well on me and my company.”

Always going the extra mile

According to Richey, another unique and valuable feature of RAUPEX pipe is the REHAU UV shield coating, and related UV-conscious handling. While RAUPEX UV shield pipe is not intended for permanent exposure to sunlight, it is the only PEX pipe with a 1-year UV rating to protect from exposure during installation. 

“Other than someone putting a nail through it, UV rays are probably the most damaging thing that can happen to PEXa pipe. If it’s sitting in the bed of a truck or outside at a job site for months before it’s installed, UV rays can cause hidden degradation and pin hole leaks down the road,” Richey explained. “No one works to fight UV damage like REHAU. They not only have a UV shield coating on their pipe, they also package the pipe sticks and the rolls in cardboard to keep out the UV. Other manufacturers use plastic wrap and the sun beats right down on it. REHAU really goes the extra mile—and even with all the extra handling, they are still better priced!”

Although not as often seen by the contractors, Richey noted that REHAU reps “are a real class act” as far as providing any needed service in the field.

“That helps our customers like Parkway really keep things moving on the job site,” he said.

Trask said he believes that, thanks to Kenny and REHAU, Parkway has a valuable new product at their disposal that will in turn help them please their customers.

“General contractors don’t often get into the details of brands, they just know that we were done quickly and that there were no leaks and no problems, and I think that impressed them, which is good for business,” Trask said. “Hopefully it will lead to new projects, and, for sure, going forward, I won’t be using anything other than REHAU RAUPEX pipe and EVERLOC+ fittings if I can help it.”