Plumbing work is one of the most daunting housework you can do in your home. But it’s not that hard once you get to know the different pipes and fittings used and their pros and cons. You’ll need to know what these are used for, what kind of materials they are made of, and so much more. Your DIY project will be much easier if you answer all of these questions because there are many pipes and fittings according to your needs and wants. So if you’re not educated enough about how pipes and fittings work, you’ll get confused easily!

The materials and the specific purpose of a pipe and fitting may vary, so it’s a bit daunting to figure out since you don’t want to choose the wrong one for your home. So if you’re searching for a pipe fitting for your PVC pipes, here are some that you should get yourself familiarized with, which you can also find at Reece’s pipes and fittings!

Elbows

Elbows are pipe fittings that can change the direction of how and where the pipes run. These are most commonly available in 90 and 45 degree turns. The sweep of the fitting describes how fast the transition or change in direction is made.

Street Elbows

One end of the pipe fitting has a male thread with street elbows, and the other has female threads. These are most common in galvanized steel and copper pipe. These are very convenient because they do away with nipple work and work well in tight spaces.

Tee Fittings

The Tee type pipe fittings are shaped like a T and have one inlet and two outlets. The outlets are arranged at a 90 degree to the main line connection. You can also use it to combine the flow from two inlets to one outlet. You will also find Tee pipes in different sizes and materials,

Cross-Type Fittings

The cross-type fittings contain four openings in four directions. These are connected only when four pipes are meeting at one point. Therefore, it generates more stress on the pipe as the temperature changes because these are usually the center of the four connection points. So most of the time, these are used for fire sprinkler systems.

Coupling

Couplings are pipe fittings used to connect pipes of the same diameter. It’s also highly valuable if there are leakages or if the pipe is broken. There are two types of couplings available, which are slip coupling and compression coupling. The compression coupling is a regular coupling that is connected with two pipes. On the other hand, the slip coupling is easier to install and contains two pipes arranged as one into the other.