14x36 in Northwest Arkansas

[jdhen]

You're doing a great job.  The place looks great.

However, I did notice in your plumbing photos (reply#192) the it appears that the "T" fitting in your main vent stack is upside down.  It's hard to tell from the pics, and I could be wrong, but if that is your main vent (dry) then you should turn that fitting around.

Thanks for the compliment, bmancanbly!  And I think you're right, I do have the san-tee upside down.  Thanks for pointing that out.  It's one of the reasons I'm going to look at it for a while before gluing it all together.

[jdhen]

Speaking of gluing pipe together.  Anyone have any advice? I can see several places where it will be tough to figure out at which end of a run to start.  It gets tight in a few areas and I'm not sure that once I get one section glued, I'll have any angle to fit the other areas together.
Pointers from experienced folks would be appreciated! 

[archimedes]

Some additional photos of the plumbing would be helpful.  It's hard to see how your fixtures are set up in the pics.  You may have added more venting than you needed to.  Not a bad thing, just more work.  Hard to see though.

[Redoverfarm]

jdhen sort of elementary the way I did it. Use a Sharpie marker and lable all the joints on both sides of the joint with a corresponding letter when you have it dry fitted. Then strike a line over the joint to where it appears on both pieces.   Then you can glue up several pieces at one time for the complicated connections by alaigning the letters and the slash marks.  I usually start on one end and go tothe other.  Everything will fit the same as dry fitted.  This is rather crude but.  If you have more joints than letter just double up on AA=AA    BB-BB

_________________________
      _a_{_a           b_ ]_b          Pipe
_______{________ ___]______
           
           j                   j
           o                  o
           i                   i
           n                  n
           t                   t

[ScottA]

Speaking of gluing pipe together.  Anyone have any advice? I can see several places where it will be tough to figure out at which end of a run to start.  It gets tight in a few areas and I'm not sure that once I get one section glued, I'll have any angle to fit the other areas together.
Pointers from experienced folks would be appreciated! 

I generaly start at the sewer and work my way to the roof.

[diyfrank]

I second Scott's advice.
Any time you work with pipe of any kind, always start at the bottom or connection and work away or up hill.

[jdhen]

jdhen sort of elementary the way I did it. Use a Sharpie marker and lable all the joints on both sides of the joint with a corresponding letter when you have it dry fitted. Then strike a line over the joint to where it appears on both pieces.   Then you can glue up several pieces at one time for the complicated connections by alaigning the letters and the slash marks.  I usually start on one end and go tothe other.  Everything will fit the same as dry fitted.  This is rather crude but.  If you have more joints than letter just double up on AA=AA    BB-BB

_________________________
      _a_{_a           b_ ]_b          Pipe
_______{________ ___]______
           
           j                   j
           o                  o
           i                   i
           n                  n
           t                   t

Red- thats great advice!  It's so simple and makes so much sense but it really wasn't on my radar!  Thanks for passing that on.

[Redoverfarm]

jdhen  One little detail that I left out.      In addition to those markings take the marker and mark the depth of the inserted pipe into the fitting.  That will ensure that you have it seated fully.  If it keeps growing in length it will not fit down the road. 

[jdhen]

Scott and Frank- I was actually going to do the exact opposite because in my mind, down below is where I have the most room to manuver.  The vent pipe is locked into place in the wall and I don't have as much wiggle room.  But it got me to thinking that getting the vents perfect is not as much a priority as making sure there's no leaking where the wet smelly stuff flows! Of course, I don't want sewer gases leaking in the house but I guess a perfect joint or proper drop is less critical in the vent system.
Thanks.

[jdhen]

jdhen  One little detail that I left out.      In addition to those markings take the marker and mark the depth of the inserted pipe into the fitting.  That will ensure that you have it seated fully.  If it keeps growing in length it will not fit down the road. 

That was the one thing I planned to do!  Now I have much more confidence in the process.

[jdhen]

We have power!!





The DWV is all glued and ready.  Red- your marking method worked great!  I started from the bottom and worked my way to the top.  Had to stop and squint at some sections a few times but no major problems.
Started in on the pex runs.   Looks like a crazy spider is loose in the house!




Getting closer to insulation and drywall!!  I'm going to let someone else have that fun    I had planned on hanging it myself but I've been talked out of it by several people.  I was surprised to see how little more money it would be over materials to have it done.  Plus it will be done right and much more quickly than if I was to attempt it myself!

[John Raabe]

I had the same experience in my own house (but I learned it AFTER THE FACT).

My builder buddy and I decided we could stock and hang the drywall ourselves and then call in a taper for the finish work.

Boy were those guys HEAVY. In the end, after factoring in the chiropractor's bill, there was $15 savings over the bid price from a pro team.  

[jdhen]

Yeah, John, that's what I keep hearing from people.  "You think building is hard?  Try hanging 5/8ths drywall sheets on the ceiling!"
When everyone says that- you know you should listen!

[ScottA]

jdhen, the water line for the toilet should be on the left side.

[Redoverfarm]

Like Scott said but with the availability of flexible supply lines in various lengths it will work.  The down side is that if you ever have to work/use the shutoff it is a little cumbersome to get to.  On mine in the loft bathroom it is completely on the right side.  But I had issues being the open beam and it was the only place that would work.  18" supply line will get it. 

[John_M]

jdhen,

I was wondering where you picked up that pex manifold?   

[pocono_couple]

great pics, jd -   did you get the pex locally or did you have it shipped. what brand is it?   seeing what you did helps a lot when it comes to the stubs for fixtures..   i will be tackling the plumbing in a couple of months..   your discussion about starting in the basement and working up was also a help .  any other tips that you came across and would like to share would be welcome!   nice job on the house...

[jdhen]

Scott and Red- thanks for noticing the error. I may just do as Red says and use a longer connector to get it to the toilet.  I'll have an easy shut off valve right accross from the toilet at the manifold.  It will have an access door.

John and Pocono- I purchased the manifold through pexsupply.com.  The tubing and crimp tools are vanguard which is the original maker of the manibloc.  Everything I read says to keep all the componants from the same company.  Vanguard pex and tools are sold at Lowes.  I tried to find some of the plumber preferred brands like wirsbo but couldn't find it locally and it was hard to justify the cost $300+ of the tools anyway for such a small job.
So far the installation has been going well.  I have 2 more runs to place then I'll begin crimping.  I'll let you know how that goes.

[jdhen]

Still chipping away at it!  I've taken advantage of the warmer temps and have started adding the furring strips for the rainscreen.  I had a local cedar mill cut 3/8 inch thick by 2.5 inch wide strips.  They did it for pretty cheap and it was easier than ripping plywood into strips.
Looks a bit like a jail now.  The strips extend up to the triangle created by the gable ends.  Above that we'll be using cedar shakes so the drainage plane will be created with Obdyke home slicker.  Below that will be horizontal plank siding- likely Hardie board.


On the east side I added the first set of rafters for the addition so I can add flashing and side above it.  The add on will happen later....I'm going to need a break when phase 1 is complete

Yesterday we had the north shed ceiling insulated with foam.  I had intended to ventilate where the shed meets the end wall but after several snows with large amounts sliding off the 12/12 pitch we had snow push back up into the vents and drop into the living space.  The 2.75/12 pitch is not steep enough to allow the snow and ice to continue to slide off.  So, my roofer closed off the vent space with z flashing and we had the bays completely filled with foam. 

Unfortunately I realized after the fact that I didn't heed my note on the wall and forgot to add a ceiling drywall nailer  .  Looks pretty hard to retrofit a nailer in so I'll have to come up with something else.
It was supposed to be a quick and easy job but right as the spraying began, one of the guys started having severe chest pains so they had to quit and drive him quickly to the hospital.  One of them came back after an hour or so but he had to let everything warm up again and then he completed the job by himself.  I'm sure the boss wasn't happy.  He almost didn't do the job anyway because it was so small.  He'd tried to convince me to have the whole place done in foam but when he started talking about needing an air exchanger I decided it wasn't for me.  I'd rather have a house that will breathe naturally!
I may be jumping the gun here but I figured that since I'm here most days of the week I can more easily pick up the bills here!

I'm trenching for the water line today and finishing the crimping on the plumbing tomorrow.

[Redoverfarm]

 jdhen It is good to here that we now have another member of the "Oh S*#@" club.  I am a active and participating member.  

Even a 3/4" thick board will work but a 2"X2"  (1-1/2 X 1-1/2) toenailed into the rafters.  Take a caulk line equal distance from the wall on each end and snap for the width of your filler.  Take a utility knife and score the foam both on the line and against the wall.  Then take a really sharp putty and skim the foam to the depth of your filler.

If you knew someone that had a chair makers "scorp" that would help to remove the foam also.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/barr4chairmakersscorp.aspx

 Just a thought.

 

[dougpete]

Greetings -

We are are up in south-central MO and will be breaking ground on a 24 x 34 in the next month or so.

Can you give a rundown of the layers between the studs and final siding?

Thanks.

Doug

[jdhen]

John- you have a solution for everything!    See, I thought that would be too tough to get it right but I was thinking of trying to get a 2x4 jammed up in there.  I'm going to try what you said.  Not sure I can find a scorp but I'll do my best with a sharp knife.  I suppose if I gouge out too much I can use a can of foam to fill in the spot.

Hi Doug, Congrats on getting started soon!  By layers do you mean the tar paper stapled horizontally to the sheathing or are you asking about the furring strips running vertically for the rainscreen? You mention final siding so I assume you mean the rainscreen.  There are 3/8th inch furring strips nailed to each stud that will create a drainage plane or space of the same dimension between the siding and the sheathing.  This allows the siding and sheathing to dry out when water inevitably migrates behind the siding.  This helps to prolong the life of the building. It's ideal with natural wood siding but it can't hurt behind others such as fiber cement.  Hope that answers your question.

[jdhen]

Had a busy week and a half!
Fought with a small 18 inch trencher for the good part of a day!  Placed the water line and fed the electric line to the barn.  Unfortunately, the chain loosened after and hour or so and the rental place didn't tell me I needed a 7/16 allen wrench to tighten it (I had one size larger and smaller  )  As a result, the dig went very slowly as I had to stop and hit the chain when it bound against the track every time I hit the smallest pebble!  Luckily, the ground is not rocky but it's not rock free either!  My neighbor came home with about 40 ft to go and he had the proper wrench so at least I didn't have to fight it once I was thoroughly exhausted!  At least I only had to pay the minimum back at the shop 



Finished crimping the pex and had no problems there.  I did have an issue with my water pump though.  I bought a grundfos mq3 because it's recommended for rainwater and used by many who collect it.  It's on demand, with a small internal pressure tank.  Very quiet yet sufficiently powerful for our needs.  My wife and I hooked it up and fixed a couple of leaks with the supply line where I'd only hand tightened the connectors.  We tested the pex manifold, lines and on demand water heater and everything performed well.  It was all going great until I decided to tighten the primer plug just a little more when it snapped, spewing water everywhere!  I quickly shut the pump down and the tests were over    I've since contacted the company I bought it from and they will ship me a new plug this week.

On a brighter note....we have insulation!  Wet blown cellulose in the walls and dry between the rafters.

It was tough to photograph while they were spraying because it shoots everywhere!




We'll give it a week to dry and the drywall crew will be back on monday to get started.  Then it's painting time..... at least we're making progress!

[Redoverfarm]

Now you are getting insulation when it has started to warm up.    But I am sure you will need it this fall.  Yes I used one of those trenchers at my parents for a waterline.  Unfortuneately it was on a steep down hill grade.  Spent more time trying to keep the machine upright than I did digging the trench.

How did the let-in on the shed roof work out for your drywall attachment?

Looking good jdhen

[jdhen]

Yeah, Red.  I admit the timing is not right on that one    Could have used it a while back but you know you can't insulate before electric and plumbing!

The let-in worked just as you said.  Used a knife to score it then pulled enough out with my fingers to wedge the 2x2 in place.  Thanks for the advice