Category Archives: Plumbing

Plan and install plumbing system

Tilting the Tub

Posted on August 20, 2017 by ellen

The phrase “tilting at windmills” comes to mind after multiple attempts to fix the leaking tub drain. The solution seemed elusive for a long time. We had to tilt up the tub on its side to get to the drain. … Continue reading →

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Tub Leaks!

Posted on August 11, 2017 by ellen

The master bath tub had a couple of leaky places. The plumbing under the tiled step was oozing water and the drain was leaking worse. The faucet hookup was leaking at the brass elbow couplings. These were too close together … Continue reading →

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Kitchen Progress

Posted on May 27, 2017 by ellen

After days of work that did not show lots of results, today progress was made. First job was to connect the kitchen drain. The cabinet is now closer to the side wall so I thought I should move the drain … Continue reading →

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Drywall Prep: Decide About and Alter Master Bathroom Wall

Posted on April 3, 2017 by ellen

Seems like it shouldn’t take two days to complete the wall in the master bathroom and closet but it did. First I put up the membrane in the closet area as the bathroom was done already. The 50 amp wire … Continue reading →

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Drywall Prep: Insulate the Plumbing in the Walls

Posted on March 19, 2017 by ellen

I almost forgot to insulate all the hot water lines in the walls. LEED requires at least R4 pipe insulation but I was able to order more R7 insulation from Supply House. We were out of town for our Mom’s … Continue reading →

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Fixing Plumbing Inspection Issues

Posted on December 3, 2016 by ellen

The bar sink drain was improved by moving the drain pipe to the middle of the 2 x 6 wall. I raised the drain to the level of the trap and reinstalled the air vent. The master bath drain just … Continue reading →

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Rough Plumbing Inspection #2

Posted on November 8, 2016 by ellen

Failed again! I was disappointed to find that there were several errors in the plumbing that I have been working so hard to get to the inspection stage. I broke a couple of rules, one that I knew about and … Continue reading →

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Don’t Think Twice

Posted on November 3, 2016 by ellen

The plumbing for the garage sink originally went through the garage wall and ran to the sink on the garage side. I was advised to bring that plumbing into the house to protect it from freezing and to install freeze … Continue reading →

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Drains

Posted on November 1, 2016 by ellen

The master bath shower drain is just a regular clamp drain. But my brother was really happy with the Schluter shower system when he installed it so I bought the sloped foam underlayment for the showers. In the master I … Continue reading →

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Family Room Shower Plumbing

Posted on October 26, 2016 by ellen

The shower in the family room bathroom is long and narrow. The faucets are all Delta Water Sense and I chose the champagne bronze color for this bathroom. The color is similar to brass which I thought would give it … Continue reading →

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Plumbing Progress

Posted on October 22, 2016 by ellen

We’ve been making progress on the rough plumbing install. The corner cabinet framing for the pressure balance valve and plumbing for the master bath tub was completed. The next step was to connect the tub plumbing. There are shutoffs that will … Continue reading →

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Mang Ox Filter Repair

Posted on October 16, 2016 by ellen

The chlorine batch connection to the iron filter started leaking few months ago. I didn’t have time or inclination to figure out what was wrong with it after a few quick tries to tighten the connection didn’t work. I was … Continue reading →

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How Could I Explain This to a Plumber?

Posted on October 8, 2016 by ellen

The faucet for the roman tub is a freestanding antique style, meant to be exposed and reach over the rim of the tub. But we have a slab so getting the plumbing to the faucet is a bit tricky. I … Continue reading →

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Shower Drain

Posted on July 19, 2016 by ellen

The rough in shower drain flange is installed in the master bathroom. I had to use the power hammer to break up the concrete around the drain and eventually cut out a section of rebar to fit the drain below the … Continue reading →

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Master Bath Sink Plumbing

Posted on July 15, 2016 by ellen

The new underground plumbing for the master bathroom met the old vent pipe. The old sink drained into this pipe and the new sink will too. But I had to reconfigure the pipe for the new sink. I replaced the … Continue reading →

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Fixing the Plumbing

Posted on July 3, 2016 by ellen

After our courtesy rough plumbing inspection, there were a couple of items I had to take care of. The side drain to the bathroom sink had too many connections. Only one is allowed between the trap and the wall pipe. … Continue reading →

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Rough Plumbing Inspection

Posted on March 27, 2016 by ellen

Although we were not really ready for it since the walls are not all up yet and only some of the plumbing is installed, I asked for a rough plumbing inspection to find out if the plumbing I am doing … Continue reading →

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Lowering the Tub Drain

Posted on March 15, 2016 by ellen

I had to break out the concrete around the tub drain to get the elbow low enough to provide a slope on the tub drain. I had to reveal enough pipe to glue on the elbow under the floor surface. … Continue reading →

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Thinking about the Tub Drain

Posted on March 7, 2016 by ellen

Sometimes my brain just trips over itself when trying to solve a problem. I happened to have a lift and turn sink drain from the granite vessel sink installation that I realized had a long enough stem to use for … Continue reading →

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Tub Drain Problem

Posted on March 4, 2016 by ellen

I have two problems with the tub drain. First the nice quality Moen drain that I bought is too short to reach through the hole to a pipe below the tub. It is only 1 1/4″ deep and the opening … Continue reading →

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