New home construction - Any plumbers in the house?

[JRobyn]

In our new house, we made a point to avoid any SUPPLY plumbing in exterior walls even though we have 6" walls, good insulation, and are rarely down to single-digit temps or below. I do have one water closet supply and one hose bib line in exterior walls. I made sure to insulate them with foam pipe surround before the wall insulation went in, and so far, no problems. We often leave the house for weeks at a time with the heating turned down to 50 deg. I'm hoping that I'll get enough heat conduction to the exterior runs from the interior through the copper pipe and water even though water flow will be non-existent. I drain the hose lines in the winter just to be sure. It's important to get the hose line shutoff valves that include the little air vent/drain and make them easily accessible.

A very easily accessible whole-house shutoff is also a good feature. I went so far as to add two sets of "sectionalizing" valves so if there's any necessary repairs, I can shut off just the affected part of the house and leave the rest functional.

I don't think you'll have too much trouble with DWV lines in exterior walls since they should have only flowing water that is interior warmed or be mostly dry. But should still be avoided if possible due to the likelihood of them being "nailed". Our other house has two upstairs baths that all drain through a 3" line in an exterior wall and have never had any icing issues.

- Jay

 

[greenmojo]

use 2 45's that would be ok in ct

Ah, that makes more sense. What is the reason for that regulation? Are they worried about backing up and water sitting in a horizontal pipe?

If your planning to stay there a while it will be time well spent. You'll be able to sit there peacefully when it's -20 out and blowing, without having to worry about what is happening to the pipes in your outside walls. And that's on top of all the future cussing you'll be avoiding by not having to work in all the finish items around the awkward plumbing. Looking back you'll be glad they were moved now.

Well, last night it got down to about 10 degrees and all I could think about was exactly what you just said. Kicking back by a fire in the house knowing freezing pipes wouldn't keep me from getting a good nights rest.

In our new house, we made a point to avoid any SUPPLY plumbing in exterior walls even though we have 6" walls, good insulation, and are rarely down to single-digit temps or below. I do have one water closet supply and one hose bib line in exterior walls. I made sure to insulate them with foam pipe surround before the wall insulation went in, and so far, no problems. We often leave the house for weeks at a time with the heating turned down to 50 deg. I'm hoping that I'll get enough heat conduction to the exterior runs from the interior through the copper pipe and water even though water flow will be non-existent. I drain the hose lines in the winter just to be sure. It's important to get the hose line shutoff valves that include the little air vent/drain and make them easily accessible.

A very easily accessible whole-house shutoff is also a good feature. I went so far as to add two sets of "sectionalizing" valves so if there's any necessary repairs, I can shut off just the affected part of the house and leave the rest functional.

I don't think you'll have too much trouble with DWV lines in exterior walls since they should have only flowing water that is interior warmed or be mostly dry. But should still be avoided if possible due to the likelihood of them being "nailed". Our other house has two upstairs baths that all drain through a 3" line in an exterior wall and have never had any icing issues.

- Jay

I did just that under the house with the supply lines, each branch has a ball valve and manifold for hot / cold.

I really appreciate all of the insight and help, and now feel much more comfortable with how I am going to accomplish this and avoid some big mistakes and potential problems.

~Moses

 

[kenmac]

Ah, that makes more sense. What is the reason for that regulation? Are they worried about backing up and water sitting in a horizontal pipe?

It all depends on the inspector..it,s only a vent.it will work just fine.some inspectors want things their way.as a contractor ,it's easier for me to just do what they want so, they do 't cause me any grief down the road

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Ah, that makes more sense. What is the reason for that regulation? Are they worried about backing up and water sitting in a horizontal pipe?

The DWV system is divided into drain and vent, the drain part has stricter rules because you have to worry about clogs. The flood rim is the demarcation point between drain and vent. One of the rules is no tight bends when transitioning from vertical to horizontal, use either a wide sweep bend or two 45's.

 

[greenmojo]

Just an update. I've been working on electrical and mechanical this spring, and got around to trenching the water line to the house and connecting it for the plumbing inspection this last week.

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.

I went with your suggestion, and moved all supply lines internally using the 1/2 wall shelf idea (thank you!), and it works out great.

As for the inspection, I was a bit nervous having so much checked at once, but passed first try and am really happy.

Thank you all very much for your help and tips.

 

[greenmojo]

A very easily accessible whole-house shutoff is also a good feature. I went so far as to add two sets of "sectionalizing" valves so if there's any necessary repairs, I can shut off just the affected part of the house and leave the rest functional.

This is exactly what I ended up doing as well. Ran a 1" line down the center of the house, and had 3/4" lines branch off with valves for each room that required water. For hot, I built a valve system that I can control each hot water line.

I capped off and left extra 1/2" connections available for both hot and cold, so adding anything later is super simple.

~Moses

 

[kenmac]

Congrats getting the all is ok on the inspection !!

 

[greenmojo]

Congrats getting the all is ok on the inspection !!

Thanks!

It's pretty cool thus far to have water in the veins of the house.

They allow water tests here, so we stuck a hose in the main stack and let it go. I have to admit it was pretty unnerving to here water filling the DWV system and gurgling above and below. Especially since I hadn't tested it myself, I was nervous.

~Moses

 

[greenmojo]

It all depends on the inspector..it,s only a vent.it will work just fine.some inspectors want things their way.as a contractor ,it's easier for me to just do what they want so, they do 't cause me any grief down the road

And you are spot on there.

Different inspector this time, and he was cool as a cucumber. BS'd about elk and mule hunting, even said a few of my out buildings that are well above the sqf limit for no-permits are of no concern to him.

Too bad I can't request an inspector by name. ;-)

~Moses

 

[Raspy]

If you have a particular inspector you don't like you can call the office the morning of the inspection, before he heads out, and ask to speak to whichever one is coming that day. If they connect you to the guy you don't like, just tell him you need to re-schedule and apologize for the trouble. You might even be able to find out which days he goes to your area and then schedule accordingly. Or ask the good guy which days he comes out your way.