Plumb Excited for another hlog post!

Plumb Pudding

As exciting as all of this framing was, Mike had to give me some bad news. As it turns out, plumbing and electrical bits all have to go in the walls before we were allowed to hang the drywall. Although I didn't see the need for this sort of extravagance, I was assured it "turns out better with the pipes on the inside" of the walls. I'll take Mike's word for it.

Fortunately, Mike also had the foresight to have us tailor the framing to handle the plumbing needs. In order to supply the sink/vanity area, toilet, and shower, the pipes that extended up from the second floor would need to be split. One branch would head through the interior bathroom wall to the shower head. The other branch would run to the outside wall, and through a wall framed on the inside of insulation (no frozen pipes, thanks!), split to feed the toilet, and then continue over to the vanity area. The waste pipes would run below the supply lines in much the same way. All of these would share a common roof vent, which presented a bit of a challenge. The solution to this was to create a vent line for the sink and toilet that was run through the attic space, and joined up with the shower vent directly under where it would exit through the roof. Very clever plumbing!

To make it as easy as possible to plumb, we had done our best to construct allowing for the plumbing. However, in some cases, it was nearly impossible to do this without having pipe in front of us. So, for most of the supply lines, they were progressively pulled through and drilled through the studs one by one. After this plumbing was all run, nailing plates and stud reinforcing plates were added to keep stray drywall fasteners out of my pipes, and to strengthen the studs that had significant portions removed for plumbing. As can be seen from the photo, the shower base pan was also put into place at this stage, giving a surprising realism to the suggestion that this area could one day be a bathroom. This was identified as a Great Motivational Tactic!

One last plumbing picture will share the detail of the unfinished plumbing - this photo shows the back of the vanity and the waste line/vent line behind it. The lower pipe carries the waste water past the toilet and around to the plumbing stack, the upper pipe runs from the toilet waste pipe to vent through the attic space through the roof.

Bonus feature: If you look close enough in the top of that photo, you can see the bottom of the small skylight that was installed over the shower area. Since it's been a while since the last post, there'll be a bonus close-up photo of the finished product of the skylight! I decided to share another photo that shows a bit more of that skylight in the rough installation phase. My more observant readers will also notice insulation installed throughout the room, as well as the beginnings of electrical work. Depending on how boring I decide explaining the electrical plan for the room is, I may choose not to post anything about the electrical install. So, feast your eyes on this tantalizing bit of it!

Next Up
Exciting thoughts and photos from insulation installation, two more skylights installed, and the beginnings of tile in the bathroom.