The plumbing (owner permit...a.k.a ME). I buggered it up the first time. Slammed through another day with new help and MUCH more knowledge thanks to the friends who helped me through the first draft and passed the inspection 49 hours after the "fail". I got a green sticker on a random pipe sticking out of the ground. I also ended up with 2 big boxes of unused bits and pieces to return to 3 or 4 different hardware stores. As soon as I have slept a bit, I will get on that.
The first two assistants taught me a TON! Thanks Jyl and Snuff! For reals.
The final one...I told him that since it passed I would think of him every time I took a dump. He was flattered.
So, the hole was filled and tamped. Gravel...tamping, more gravel...more tamping...lather, rinse, repeat.
Got the permit Thursday morning at about 8:30 AM and by 5pm Friday, 90% of the rebar is in. The builder had a question about a detail (rebar drawn as though floating in the air...hard to pour concrete
on that and keep it in place). So, he added some more rebar, had me take a picture and send it to his boss (aka Mrs Builderman) and hopefully the engineer will OK the slight modification.
At one point, the Mr Builderman said, "I tend to overbuild things." Yep. They should put that on the sign.
This morning 3 people showed up, 2 barely know me!!! And helped me rough in the pex tubes that will distribute heat in the slab in the imaginary magical solar future. We'll see....
I'm sleeping on it and then in the morning I will go back and start tying them more definitively to the rebar. The helpers (no names...well, they have names but I don't like to name names) were SUPER good. None of us had done it but we watched the how-to video. I watched it on a loop for a couple of hours and took notes because I am me.
Anyway, here we are:
And the tubes. I will neaten them up a bit. I may have help tomorrow morning for that.
I will try to fish out some plumbing pictures too. Perhaps one of the EPIC plumbers crack on the last assistant. Cripes!!! It reminded me of the "credit card" joke my sister told me once.
You can admire the beautiful green "right to poop" sticker on the vertical black post.
The builder labor guys complimented me on having all the plumbing in one spot. YA!! AND interior wall. The shortest heat tube goes through the kitchen and bath areas on either side of that. Kitchen faces south. The roll of tubing on the left of the picture is where the manifold will be. It ends up under the kitchen counter. I had wanted it in the bathroom but at 4'10" wide, with a 2'6" door...and a water supply pipe (that might actually be in the kitchen??? was supposed to be in the bathroom but the wall is 2" thick max so things have floated back and forth around it. I don't really care...drill a hole and voila...water supply and most incoming water plumbing back in the bathroom), it was too crowded. So I remembered I didn't have to put this near the hot water heater. If I put solar units on the south 2nd story wall or porch roof, I'll want that thing on the south wall anyway. And it sorted out the tubing plan.
I must have done a dozen tubing lay outs. All of which would have worked and none of which we ultimately used. Bits of each. The boards are where walls will be more or less. It struck me last night on layout 3001 that I had TOO MANY TUBES going through the bathroom if the main manifold is in there. I'd be melting the toilet wax ring all damn winter. That is apparently a thing based on the BIG RED LETTER WARNINGS in the installation manual. Moving the manifold simplified the layout and limited the number of tubes that had to cross each other.
Turning also turned (HA) out to be the biggest installation challenge. So, at the suggestion of EG, a super friend and helper, we went the long way on the north living room and south/east living dining area. BINGO. Saved tubing and labor and it was easier to get into the vestibule where the solar batteries will live.
I thought to switch the supply/return path on the north loop so the sleeping area will get the water after the living area. I like a chilly bedroom.
Now I'm wondering if I could hook up inground tubes through the landscape around the house but deep in the ground and chill the floor in the summer.
One helper (Hi C!!) suggested that this heated floor will be excellent for passing out drunk so I need to start drinking ASAP.
Cousin-in-law BG (not a real relative...no Norwegian has that status) had already suggested drinking when the first plumbing inspection was a fail and there was 2 days to hit the next inspection. I may consider it next week. The concrete pour will either happen or not happen. Either way, I will be stressed out.
In better news...my hair is suddenly down to my belt! And NO I did not switch to high-waisted pants. Since I am the shortest waisted person in the west, I'm sticking with the low waisted ones. I keep the hair braided pretty much all the time so I hadn't noticed it got longer.
SP and JH let me mooch a shower today and I went for the hair. My head was encased in a hard cap made of dust and scalp grease welded to hair. Like adobe...hairdobe? I can't imagine what it did to their drain. But hey, if they need a new drainpipe run, I not only know how, I have enough plumbing parts in the car and on the porch to do it.
Thank you to one and all who have helped, visited, encouraged and brought sustenance and expertise (except the Norwegians)
More anon.
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