Plumbing - Copper vs Plastic

[Makhaira]

Ok, time to shine and show the true extent of my ignorance!

With redoing my bathroom, amongst other things I'm going to have to do the following tasks:

- Break into the copper piping from my hot water tank and cold water feed to install a Grunfoss twin pump in the airing cupboard to give my shower a decent pressure.
- Run pipework from the pump to the bathroom (circa 3 metres)
- Adjust the location of various cold water/hot water feeds in the bathroom (anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet)
- Alter the entrance to the soil stack through 90degrees to allow the toilet to go on another wall

Now given the above, I'm going to get a plumber to come and quote for doing the pipework element, since I don't have the kit or experience to play around with copper pipes.

However...

Could I do this myself with plastic piping? I've not been able to find a consistent set of views on where one should be used and the other shouldn't.

I'll be tiling the walls and floor so I really don't want to get this wrong!!!!

Cheers.

 

[Makhaira]

1) It's plastic, so that bit I'd be doing myself in plastic (astounded at how much 90degree angles and similar cost for soil pipes!!!)

2) I should be a good foot away at least (presuming the outflow from the cylinder is at the bottom), or if it's at the top then I'm several feet away.

Any issues around coupling speedfit to the copper pipe initially? Any drawbacks with the plastic stuff?

Cheers!

 

[Makhaira]

Thanks all. In terms of joining the speedfit to the existing copper pipework, are the MDPE pushfit fittings what I am after?

I'm definitely going for a "do it right, do it once" approach on this, so I want to make sure I've addressed everything. I'm probably going to have to add in some copper pipe anyways to be sure I adhere to the "1m from the cylinder" rule, although I'm not sure whether this might be erroneous since it states on the Speedfit website that 65C is the normal operating condition of the piping, and that's what my hot water tank is set to on the thermostat.

I normally love DIY, but I hate plumbing!