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Confused by MDPE mains water pipe price variation.


epsilonGreedy

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I need to get mains water laid on to the static caravan soon otherwise Swmbo will rebel and check into a local hotel for the winter.

 

There is such a large price variation for 50m of blue 25mm pipe I am concerned I am overlooking some differentiating factor in the material. For example...

 

£113 at Buildbase https://www.buildbase.co.uk/25mm-dia-50mtr-med-den-blue-100008772-2803292

 

£32 at Screwfix https://www.screwfix.com/p/mdpe-pipe-blue-25mm-x-50m/19606?tc=BB5&ds_kid=92700020953273991&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1249404&ds_rl=1249799&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1249481&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3a3pnJ_03gIVBZ3tCh0f2QOcEAQYAiABEgIR1PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

£23 at Pipestock https://www.pipestock.com/mdpe/mdpe-pipe-coils-blue

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Pipestock are my local supplier, and I've never had a problem with pipe, fittings or whatever I've bought from them.  They are pipe and fitting specialists and keep a massive stock, so will almost always undercut builders merchants for this sort of stuff.

 

Often they give you a free tape measure with an order, too.  I have around half a dozen Pipestock tapes and most of the day to day measurements during the build were done with them.  Useful as a freebie, as you can leave them lying around all over the place and almost be sure of having one near to where you want to use it (unless you stick it in your pocket and wander off with it....).

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4 hours ago, JSHarris said:

Often they give you a free tape measure with an order, too.  I have around half a dozen Pipestock tapes and most of the day to day measurements during the build were done with them.  Useful as a freebie, as you can leave them lying around all over the place and almost be sure of having one near to where you want to use it (unless you stick it in your pocket and wander off with it....).

 

Other people used to laugh at me because I always had about 6 or 8 tapes on site, but with that many you could always find one wherever you were!.

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34 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Other people used to laugh at me because I always had about 6 or 8 tapes on site, but with that many you could always find one wherever you were!.


I'd still be unable to find a tape measure by the end of day one.

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1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

More than once I've found that all the tape measures had migrated mysteriously to the opposite end of the house to where I was working...

 

My tape is now firmly zipped into my left hand pocket: nothing else ever gets put there. And it gets put back there every time. (well almost)

Course, it's been through the washer now and again....

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I now go through IQ Builders Merchants for my materials - I just send the sales rep a list of what I want and they source it all for me.

 

It seems they get the bits from other merchants (I had OSB turn up from buildbase the other day) but the price they charge is less than if I went direct to said merchant.

 

I've just had a quick comparison of some stuff I've bought via IQBM vs  Pipestock and IQBM came in cheaper each time - albeit by a couple of quid (Will add up in the long run).

 

The other thing I like is that although the parts get delivered from loads of separate deliveries I have only ever been charged one delivery fee - usually £8.

 

One of my orders had stuff come direct from Naylor (ducting at a significantly cheaper price than elsewhere), buildbase and a third supplier - still only one delivery charge applied.

Edited by LA3222
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Also I have had a couple of issues with two of my deliveries (A neighbour signs for them as I don't live near my plot) - one was missing parts, other they sent the wrong size OSB, a quick email to the sales rep and rectified both times with no hassle even though I wasn't able to identify the issue till days/weeks after the delivery.

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Not yet, when I've tried the usual suspects they are definitely not competitive.  I'm at the very early stages of my build so how I go about sourcing materials in the future may change, at the moment this seems to work.

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I would also add that when I have checked the prices quoted against alternate sellers online I have managed to find some parts cheaper elsewhere....however when you go to 'checkout' the delivery charges become a game changer and wipe out any potential savings and end up costing more.  I did intend to ask them to price match those items on my last order but I got distracted so neglected to do so....i will in future, if you don't ask you don't get and all that! 

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If your time is free then this works, factor in the time you spend at minimum wage doing this sort of research and at £7.85 an hour you may soon find it’s cheaper to just use the merchants for what they do best. Give them a set of plans, let them do a QS from it and give you their best pricing. 

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Pipestock is a great find and generous with self builder advice on the phone.

 

Just filling out the online order now and looking for a recommendation on which brand of underground 25mm blue MDPE couplers in a high water pressure area.

 

Plasson?

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35 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Plasson are far and away the best.  More expensive, but much more nicely engineered, IMHO.

 

 

Now ordered.

 

I understand Philmac is another respected brand and is to be preferred when coupling with older generation plastic piping.

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7 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

Now ordered.

 

I understand Philmac is another respected brand and is to be preferred when coupling with older generation plastic piping.

 

It’s to do with the design of the retaining cones, Philmac ones have a different method of gripping the pipe and can cope with varying wall thicknesses. 

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11 minutes ago, PeterW said:

It’s to do with the design of the retaining cones, Philmac ones have a different method of gripping the pipe and can cope with varying wall thicknesses. 

 

 

Are so that explains why they are the default offering on the shelves of my local BM. More walk-in plumbers working on older properties than new builders. 

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