I am building a new house and the plumber I might use recommended running the plumbing through the attic instead of the through the floor. He said that it would be easier to get to if there ever was a need for it; also that many insurance companies are starting to pay for fixing the plumbing in the floor and not the sub flooring. He also said he would insulate the piping in the attic. I am wondering whether he is right or not. Which would you recommend? I also checked with State Farm and my agent said that either way is fully covered, but she did not like the attic method since more personal items could get damaged.

Thanks for any help.

Sincerely,
George

You didn't say so I'm assuming that this house isn't on a slab. If so your best shot would be to run the water under the floor. Your insurance lady was correct when she said your loss would be greater if a leak were to develop in the attic and rain down on all your possessions.
I think your plumber was mistaken when he said, "that it would be easier to get to if there ever was a need for it."
If I had to repair a leak I would rather do it in a cool basement rather then in a hot attic with no head room. Just my opinion, Tom

Where do you live? I would not take that plumbers advice inless you live in south Texas or Florida, maybe not even then. Your drains still have to be below the floor so his plan would have pipes above and below you. Ask him how many jobs has he done this way so far, is anybody happy with the work.

Unless there is an obvious reason to go through the attic,and I can't think of a single one unless you are on a slab. Other than that stay down below water like everything else is affected by gravity so if a leak ever dvelops in a crawl space or basement the water at least a lot of it falls down and if your lucky you notice it before too much damage has been caused on the other hand if its in the attic well water still goes down and guess what's under it TV, computer, pictures you get the idea. If you want to get an idea of how much water can be released if say a supply line fails then just turn your cold water tap on in the bath tub and see how fast it can fill up the tub. Now image water like that dumping into your attic for oh say 8 hrs while your at work. I know this is an extreme example but I just can't see taking that risk in your attic. In my area just about everything is run underneath I think it's the best way to go.

We had a copper pipe that was installed in the attic unbeknown to us. It froze and caused about $ 500 in damage. It had been run under the attic insulation but that didn't help. We were home when it busted or the damage would have been several thousand. Like the earlier comment, unless you are in a warm climate, avoid pipes in the attic.

ac101 and smearcase both bring good information and I would not say it's the worse case scenarion. Friend of mine has a weekend 2 story home. The small supply pipe to the toilet froze and burst. By the time he go there on the weekend that little pipe allowed 300,000 gallons of water to ruin his home to a tune of $350,000. Not worries since the insurance company took care of the whole thing except the $3100 water bill from the water company. They would not budge, said he used the water and that's all they know.

WOW... that's a lot of water!