Polybutylene plumbing, especially in its newest configurations, has a lot going for it: flexibility, cost, freeze resistance, user convenience, and, we believe, dependability. In light of the lawsuits that have involved polybutylene (PB) plumbing systems, our confidence may seem misplaced. But we think our confidence is justified. The reasons are simple. First, most lawsuits have cited accessories in the PB system rather than the PB itself. Second, we've had few problems, except with the fittings. Since we began to install PB ten years ago, we've learned to do some things better and some things not at all. For instance, we no longer run PB lines from the curb to the house unless we slip the line inside a PVC sleeve where it enters the foundation.
