The Pipes

Plumbing for Six Twelve, like everything else has been fully replaced. Well, mostly replaced. Vent stacks stayed, we just tied new pipes into them. But all others, drain pipes and water supply, are all new and approved by the City. Also, we REALLY recommend our plumber, Anthony with Exeter Enterprises. Let us know if you want his contact information. The City inspector was very impressed with his work, and we couldn't be happier about the speed and price at which he and his guys did the work.

We chose to use PEX for the water supplies and the standard PVC for drains. PEX is great in new construction and gut rehabs because it allows you to run a dedicated pipe to each fixture instead of branching off as you go. This should keep water pressure similar for each fixture and allow the tankless water heater to work more efficiently (more on the tankless later). The brains of the PEX, you might call it, are located in the basement at the water supply and the water heater. Each line comes out of a manifold, a circuit breaker for water, if you will. This allows us to turn off the water to a fixture in the basement for easy repairs if necessary. The last two pictures below show off the manifold.

About that City approval though. Getting to that point was a nightmare. As you may know, I wrote a long post permitting in general a while ago (Permits? Permits? We Don't Need to Stinking Permits!). Since that time, we've had to work through a variety of issues to get our plumbing approved and the necessary approvals given to ONG so that we may have gas service to the house.

Last week, after an administrative snafu in which the electronic processing wasn't completed, we had a "rough" inspection scheduled for a Friday. However, when the inspector showed up, he thought he couldn't find the lock box and rejected the inspection outright. After some screaming and shouting on Twitter and via email, that was rectified and we were inspected the same day. The City really came through on that, because it allowed our drywall subcontractor to finish the ceilings and walls that weekend.