Residential Construction Plumbing

The role of the residential construction plumber is two fold:

1. Rough-in Plumbing

2. Finish Plumbing

Rough-in Plumbing

This is where the plumber runs the drain lines and the water lines for the plumbing system. All of this work is done after the framing of the house is complete and before the roofers install the roof. First is the ground work. The main drain coming from the street or the septic system entering the house will be run from the point of entry to the stack or stacks. This will require the plumber to dig a trench for the pipe to sit in. If there is going to be any bathrooms in the basement, or perhaps a wet bar, or the laundry, this is the time to run the drainage for those fixtures. Also you will install any required clean-outs and a floor drain. The main water line will also run in the same trench as the drainage, this is usually a ¾ or 1 inch line made of copper or pex.

The next step will be run the drainage and water lines for the rest of the house. To do this you will need to drill holes through the joists for your ABS, and pex pipes. Follow the joist manufacturers guideline for how close you can drill holes to the edge of the joist and how far from another hole. Failure to do this will cost considerable amounts of money to remove and replace the joist. You will also have to drill holes in the floor wherever you will be installing toilets, showers, bathtubs, sinks and other plumbing fixtures. Holes will be needed in walls for vents, drains and water lines. Only vents can go in an outside wall in areas where freezing could result in a problem.

Now you can begin to assemble your rough plumbing. Run all of your drains, vents, and water lines to the necessary fixtures. The bathtub, shower, bathtub faucet, shower faucet and the laundry box will need to be installed at this point.

The gas fitter will also have to come in and run their gas lines toe the water heater, furnace, and fireplace. And if required to the stove, BBQ and any other gas fixtures.

Any hydroncis heating that may be going into the home will also need to be installed.

Now test all of the water lines, gas lines, hydronics with the requires air pressure. We test water to 100 psi, hydronics to 50 psi and gas to 15 psi. Check your local codes for your own testing requirements.

Finish Plumbing

This consists of hooking up all the plumbing fixtures. These include the bathtub and shower trim kits, the toilet, bathroom sink, kitchen sink, island sink, dishwasher, water heater or tankless water heater, bathroom faucets, kitchen faucets, pedestal sink, bidets, bar sinks, laundry tub, washing machine, and water line to the fridge if needed.

Each of these plumbing fixtures needs proper installation as to provide years of service for the home owner.

You will need wax rings, shut-off valves, toilet supply tubes, faucets supply tubes, p-traps, trap adapters, dishwasher fittings, and silicone.

Check other pages on this site for installation of fixtures.