Relocating Main Water line through attic

[jbobst]

I want to install a soft water unit in my garage, but our house was never plumbed with a soft water loop. The only options to get a water line into my garage are to run a new main water line underneath my driveway and into the sidewall of my garage, or go up the wall and into my attic and down to the garage. Other than the obvious difficulties with tunnelling under my driveway, the attic route is the shortest. My attic is very accessable and it should be a much easier route than under my driveway. My main questions are the following:

1). Should I run copper pipe all through the attic or should I use this flexible pipe (I forget what the name of it is) that my local plumbing store recommended? The local plumbing store said to run copper pipe along the footing of my house and then up the wall into the attic, at which point I can transition to the flexible plastic type of pipe.

2). I have to trench a about 10 feet from the current point of entry to my house to where the pipe will run up the wall and into my attic. How deep should this trench be and can run it right along the foundation of my house or do I have to keep the water line a certain distance from the foundation?

Thanks!

 

[phishfood]

I would try to keep the pipe 1 1/2 to 2 feet away from the foundation. That way, if a leak were ever to develop, there is no chance of it washing out underneath the footer of your house. Not a likely problem, and if there were a lot of landscaping etc to deal with, I might change my mind. No code issues that I can think of either way.

It would probably be somewhat easier to deal with the flexible plastic pipe (PEX) than the copper, so it would make sense to convert as soon as you get into the attic.