Drain and vent

This is where all the drains come together and leave the house, headed for the septic tank

These are our water supply lines

On Saturday Paul and I pretty much wrapped up the PVC drain/vent plumbing throughout the house.

Next up is running the water supply lines. In the old days, these were the copper pipes that ran through the floors and walls supplying hot and cold water to the house fixtures such as a tub, toilet or sink. These days its much more common to use PEX pipe, which is a flexible plastic tubing. The advantages being cost, ease of installation, material flexibility, high performance, and simplicity when it comes to making connections. In the old days you had to sweat (solder) each joint of copper, these days you just make your connection and crimp it with a special tool that cinches a compression ring.

I've installed the mounting board in the basement where all the hot and cold lines will terminate and tomorrow afternoon Paul and I are going to start running the lines.

Sunday Edition

Paul is connecting the vent portion of the line here. Note how the pipe makes a 90 turn and goes straight up. On the left you see where the drain goes down. There will be a sink and tub located here

This is where the washing machine will be, with a toilet on the other side of the wall. I had to open the windows to help vent the fumes from the PVC pipe cleaner and cement

Today my uncle Paul came over and we went at the plumbing. We made good progress and I'm in good shape to continue where we left off. What's obvious to me now that wasn't as clear before is how drains go hand in hand and are nearly mirrored by vents. If water is going down, there is a pipe going up to allow the water to drain without creating suction at what ever fixture is being used. Makes sense--I've just never really thought about it much.

I feel really grateful to Paul coming over and giving up part of his weekends to help me get this done.

Wiring continues

I've spent the last couple days continuing the wiring. It's going pretty smoothly, with a question here and there for Felton to make sure I've got the right idea. Its taking me longer then I would have guessed once I got started, but I think I'll have the lion's share in place tomorrow or the next day.

After that I'll probably start in on the basement stairs or the office walls to take up some time before Paul and I take up with the plumbing.

Today I ordered the parts I need to build a set of pocket doors going from the living room to the office. I think it'll be a nice way to have the option of privacy or openness between the two spaces.

On a different front, Nancy and I spent 1 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon at our local appliance and fixture store contemplating washing machines, stoves, dishwashers, toilets, etc... there's a lot to figure out and we are hoping to make a bunch of purchases on March 6th, which is a "tax holiday" here in Vermont. Wish us easy decisions and harmonious discussions!

Holes in the house... but not in my heart

My uncle Paul came over Saturday and we schemed out the plumbing layout for the house, 90% of which is located around the two bathrooms. There are three elements to the plumbing system: supply, drain, and vent. We're starting off with the drain and vent portion of the job, which are sort of like mirror systems. The drains take water and waste down while the vents allow air and gasses up.

We spent a few hours locating the necessary holes for the toilets, the sinks, the tub and shower, and then following the drain runs through the walls and down to a point of convergence to then go out the main drain to the septic tank. This requires a lot of boring fairly big holes through the walls. Paul has some hefty augers and it all went pretty smoothly.

To finish up, Paul worked up a materials list which I'll go ahead and order. Once we have our parts in place we'll start installing. Should be fun.


This morning I walked out of the yurt to Nancy's sweet Valentine's Day surprise; a heart on each window and door. I love my wife!