Old timers used to run pipe like it was art, now I see flex everywhere

Back in 2000 when I started out my old journeyman in Phoenix would bend ridgid conduit for hours getting every angle perfect on a job. Now I walk into new builds and its all liquidtight and MC cable stapled up in 20 minutes flat. Anyone else think the speed tradeoff is worth losing the clean look?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicecooper1mo ago

Read in EC&M magazine last month that 40% of commercial jobs now use flex instead of rigid. Time is money on a job site, but those old pipe runs looked clean and lasted decades with no issues. Fast installs save today but the maintenance calls pile up later.

seth68329d ago

I was talking to a buddy who does service work in Phoenix and he said most of his calls on newer flex runs are from rats chewing through the stuff in attics. Old ridgid never had that problem. I get that time is money on a job but how much time are you really saving if you're coming back to fix chewed up MC cable in six months?

charles_kelly4329d ago

And that EC&M article @alicecooper mentioned, I showed it to a buddy of mine who does apartment maintenance. He told me about this one complex built three years ago, all flex from the panel to the AC units in the attics. He said just last month he pulled out a dead rat tangled in the insulation right where it had gnawed through the copper. The tenant lost their AC for three days in July, and the landlord had to pay for a whole new pull. So yeah, that time saved on the install just ends up costing someone else down the road.