New home construction - Any plumbers in the house?

[quicksandfarmer]

Assuming you're going to have a double vanity against the wall, you're going to have a lot of drain pipe in the vanity which is going to be a pain and will probably prevent you from having a center drawer or much usable storage. It's better to have the pipe run through the wall and then through the back of the vanity for each sink, as Downsizing showed. I think your best bet would be to bump the wall out. One way I've done it is to bump it out to the height of the backsplash and put a shelf on top of the backsplash, it's very handy. Or you could go all the way to the ceiling.

If you don't want to do that you could also move the pipe backwards into the wall cavity, and have the double elbow be at floor level instead of above the tee. The toe-kick of the vanity would cover the double elbow. You might need to cut a slot in the sill plate. You should use a wide sweep elbow. If you can make 45-degree elbows work I would do that. Before cutting anything I would get the vanity and the pieces all together and make sure it's going to fit.

The wall looks like a bearing wall, if a stud has more than 40% of its width drilled out it should be doubled. There should be 5/8" between the face of the stud and the pipe, or a metal plate. I would support the pipe, it's going to rattle around inside that wall.

The outlet doesn't look like it's in a very usable spot.

 

[greenmojo]

Sure , it would have been best inside the wall cavity.. I would say there was some reason for him to move the drain out like he did...

Concrete stem wall, so I have to plan things very carefully. ;-)

 

[greenmojo]

This is how I have seen it done. Leaves more room for drawers and shelves, especially cabinets with drawers in the middle.

Looks nice and tidy!

I agree, I would have liked to have left more room, but figured I'll do the modifications to the cabinetry so I don't lose the square footage in such small areas.

Why so many staples on the wiring?

Having never had an electrical or plumbing inspection before in my life, I may be over-doing or thinking things. Staples are cheap, and at the time it seemed like a good thing to do. ;-)

One way I've done it is to bump it out to the height of the backsplash and put a shelf on top of the backsplash, it's very handy. Or you could go all the way to the ceiling.

If you don't want to do that you could also move the pipe backwards into the wall cavity, and have the double elbow be at floor level instead of above the tee. The toe-kick of the vanity would cover the double elbow. You might need to cut a slot in the sill plate. You should use a wide sweep elbow. If you can make 45-degree elbows work I would do that. Before cutting anything I would get the vanity and the pieces all together and make sure it's going to fit.

The wall looks like a bearing wall, if a stud has more than 40% of its width drilled out it should be doubled. There should be 5/8" between the face of the stud and the pipe, or a metal plate. I would support the pipe, it's going to rattle around inside that wall.

The outlet doesn't look like it's in a very usable spot.

I really LIKE that idea a lot, of having a shelf above and behind the vanity. I think I'll look at framing that in tomorrow. Excellent idea.

~Moses

 

[milkman636]

I think you literally hit the biggest drawback on the head, nails. Another drawback to using an exterior wall, besides having to kick the drain out past the foundation wall, is the insulation space lost in the cavity. Are you planning to foam the walls or use batts?

x3 on having to carve the vanity up is an extra PITA. It might be wise to consider rerouting possibilities while everything is open and you haven't committed much in materials yet.

 

[greenmojo]

I think you literally hit the biggest drawback on the head, nails. Another drawback to using an exterior wall, besides having to kick the drain out past the foundation wall, is the insulation space lost in the cavity. Are you planning to foam the walls or use batts?

x3 on having to carve the vanity up is an extra PITA. It might be wise to consider rerouting possibilities while everything is open and you haven't committed much in materials yet.

Excellent points.

Up here on the mountain the R value requirement is fairly high, so I believe I have to use rigid or foam.

~Moses

 

[milkman636]

Based on years of experience in a northern climate, I am a firm proponent of running all plumbing in interior walls.

 

[greenmojo]

Based on years of experience in a northern climate, I am a firm proponent of running all plumbing in interior walls.

What is best practice for me up here? We are in the highest weather zone for WA state, and the house sits at just about 4,000 feet elevation with pretty brutal winters. It looks like our architect put every vanity except the hallway bath against outside walls. And the outside walls of course, all sit atop a 2x6 concrete stem wall.

Do I do as Quicksandfarmer suggested and build an inside wall just in front of the outside wall? or just run everything up through the floor?

~Moses

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

All plumbing should be INSIDE the walls anywhere it can be.

 

[greenmojo]

All plumbing should be INSIDE the walls anywhere it can be.

I agree, I read that in code as well, but didn't want to lose sq footage with a bunch of plumbing walls. I really like the idea of building short walls and using them as shelfs above / behind the vanity, and it also cleans up quite a bit of mess as well.

I just walked through the house and realized how perfectly that will work out.

~Moses

 

[milkman636]

What is best practice for me up here? We are in the highest weather zone for WA state, and the house sits at just about 4,000 feet elevation with pretty brutal winters. It looks like our architect put every vanity except the hallway bath against outside walls. And the outside walls of course, all sit atop a 2x6 concrete stem wall.

Do I do as Quicksandfarmer suggested and build an inside wall just in front of the outside wall? or just run everything up through the floor?

~Moses

It sounds like your architect may not have any plumber friends:laughing: So with your current layout you will be repeating this picture multiple times in the house?

My last house had 2x6 wall construction with r-19 fiberglass insulation. It was an energy efficient home with modest heating cost. One evening my wife called me frantically after coming home and finding our dining room ceiling half down and water was pouring down the inside of the wall. It was the middle of winter and we had very strong sustained winds out of the north. What I found as the culprit was a copper supply elbow for the upstairs bath that had frozen inside the north wall. It was ran closer to the exterior sheathing and poorly insulated around. It must have frozen during the strong winter winds and then let loose as it thawed. It was a mess. So be careful about insulating around pipes in an exterior wall. There needs to be a solid thermal break between the plumbing and exterior sheathing, not between the plumbing and the interior(warm side). Make sure your adequately insulating the cold (exterior) side of the pipes. I've also heard of people having difficulties from freezing in their vent stacks as well, ice capping. Running them in an interior wall helps to keep them warm and ice free as well.

I know houses are built like this, but personally my approach would be back to the drawing board now while everything is just studs. It would help the plumber, help the insulator, help the flooring guy, help the cabinet installer, and reduce future risk from the cold. I am not advocating changing the whole design, only investigating acceptable alternatives for the vanity/sink/plumbing locations. If you voice your concerns to your architect, he may be willing to help.