Week 16: Our Corner of Oz: Plumbing, HVAC, and Windows, Oh My!




The water pipes and valves are in for the upstairs walk-in shower.  We learned that these days copper water pipes are out (too-costly) and PVC pipes are in.  One nice thing about PVC is that it's color-coded (sort of); red always means hot, white means either hot or some mixture of hot and cold, depending on where the pipe is.  In this photo, the larger black box in the center of the picture is the hot/cold water mixer, and the two smaller boxes above govern the volume of water pressure to the main shower head (on the right) or the hand held sprayer on the left.



In the upstairs bath, water pipes and drains are also in place for the two-basin vanity that we plan for this space.



This photo was taken in the kitchen.  Both here and in the upstairs bathroom, pressure gauges are put on the water lines and drain lines to verify that there are no leaks.



In this corner of the kitchen we have water for the refrigerator.  Probably old-hat to all of you, but a big deal for us, as this will be our first refrigerator with water and an ice maker.



We find that at least once every couple of weeks there is a "what the hell is this?" moment.  This week's moment occurred when we spotted this one-inch white PVC pipe running from somewhere upstairs through the kitchen ceiling and walls to somewhere downstairs.  It turns out this is not plumbing.  This is HVAC.  The new furnace that we're installing upstairs generates up to 5 gallons of condensate per day during the winter, and this pipe carries it to the sewer drain in the basement laundry. We considered having it run to a rain barrel to conserve water for plants, but the condensate will be at its maximum during that part of the year when everything else is flooded as well.



This photo is not a blow-up of a microchip.  It is the current wall of our basement laundry room.  The black pipes are the drain for the washing machine and sewer vents that go all the way through the house to the roof.  The red and smaller white pipes are water pipes for the washing machine.  The larger white pipe is the aforementioned condensate drain.  The vertical silver pipe is the vent duct for the clothes dryer, and the large silver duct work tied to the joists is the heating duct that serves our new dining room.

A closer look at the new duct that will transport heat from the basement furnace to the dining room.  When the project is completed, we will have two furnaces--the basement furnace that we had before the project started will continue working to heat the first floor.  The new furnace upstairs will heat the second story.  This was a cheaper and more efficient solution than trying to beef up the basement furnace to heat the entire house.



This is the new air return for the existing basement furnace.  The air return is being relocated for two reasons: the first is that we had to slightly move the location of the existing furnace to make room for the shear wall in the basement.  The other reason is that the geniuses who installed this furnace many years ago put the air return in the living room and never properly connected it to the furnace. 



This photo proves that this time we will have a real air return that is actually connected to the furnace.  There will be a grate installed over this opening to prevent the BP from stepping in it.



This photo of the west wall of the kitchen shows HVAC flues running from the basement furnace and the gas fireplace (the pipes on the right) and the flue that will vent the hood that will be installed over our gas range.



While the plumber and HVAC people have been hard at work, Chris has been applying insulation to the air space between the old first-floor ceiling joists and the new second-floor floor joists.  Since the second floor essentially floats on posts about a foot above the first floor ceilings, the intervening space needs to be insulated.



This photo shows the view of the insulation from inside the living room.  The yellow wire is either a complex installation designed to serve an extraordinarily intricate pattern of lights and other electrical devices, or it's just a random clump of wire awaiting the beginning of electrical rough-in that starts next week.  We are voting for the intricate pattern of lights and devices.



Dave, Jake, Chris, and Casey all assembled this afternoon to install the windows.  They made amazingly quick work of it.  Within a few hours, all but two windows were in place.  In this photo, Dave, Jake, and Chris work from the outside, and Casey works from the inside in installing the three-window mulled unit in the south wall of the dining room.  In ordering multiple windows, we had the choice of ordering individual windows and framing them separately or having the multiple windows mulled (i.e.,seamlessly attached) at the factory.  We elected mulling, partly to save labor costs, and partly to wind up with a more compact window design.  We're glad we did it this way.



An inside shot of the guys installing the mulled window unit on the west wall of the dining room.



The only two windows not yet installed are the large mulled unit in the second story south wall of the bedroom (in the center of this photo), and the small recycled window that will be on the south wall of the closet (the small opening on the left.)  The small recycled window is updated with energy efficient glazing.  The large bedroom window is being left until later so that drywall can be delivered by forklift through the opening in the bedroom south wall.

The BP sneaks a look at the park through the BB's new office window.

The BB admires the same view through the same window.

The remodeled house with most of its windows installed at the end of the week.  Next week, we are told, will be ELECTRIFYING!