New Construction Advice

Hello,

I am planning to build a 1000 square foot home for my daughter to live in for the next few years -- 3 bedroom and 1 bath. Later, I would like to use this property for a rental unit. We live in the Texas Panhandle with relatively stable clay filled soil. I am planning a concrete foundation because she would like to have stained concrete and avoid carpet. I would like to get the advice of Terry and other members here about the best possible plumbing to minimize maintenance for years to come. I have visited here before and found the group to be very helpful, but I have never posted.

Concerning the lines from the utilities (gas, water, and sewer), please indicate the best material and size to minimize future maintenance. Within reason, I am willing to pay more immediately for better long term results. Also, should certain lines be run together or apart to facilitate maintenance or repair in the future. Our area has few trees, and this house will have no trees planted near these lines.

In the slab and in the interior of the house, I am planning to ask for PEX tubing. I have a couple of rent houses with this material and they have been essentially maintenance free, but I would appreciate the thoughts of the group.

Thank you,
John Martin

Most of your answers will be found located in the various codes that will govern the gas, plumbing, and electrical codes you will have to go by. Unless, there is somebody here from Texas on this board, who is familar with the codes you would have to find out by reading the code books or asking various tradesmen.

water lines in slab

the only thing you can do to make
things easy with a slab home is to either run
your water lines totally overhead in the attic,

or be sure to totally insualte and coat the entire
water system under the slab...with aramaflex...
then they will probably last 75 years...

putting a floor drain in the home near
the wter heater and furance is also a very wise idea....

In reply to your post, Copper type "K" tubing is the thickest type of copper tubing, and very reliable for many lifetimes. With the price of copper these days copper type "L" will suffice PEX is abit cheaper to use..Not the most reliable systems I've encountered but you have to take caution you have someone who know's what their doing if their going to be installing pex in your new home. I've seen alot of problems that could have been avoided easily with PEX. CPVP is the same way.

For your drainage system SCH 40 PVC. Nothing's better.

So far as "advice" on new construction... There are those in the trade who will recommend what is most easy to install or least expensive to install. Less time for labor and less money for materials. And this is the way it should be if you are in business and need to make a profit.

But this is not necessarily the best quality or design.

So there is "best" for if you are installing something for a customer. Then something more expensive and better quality if you are installing something for your own home...

For example if I was installing electrical for someone else, it would be 15 amp outlets, the least expensive outlets, and the fewest amount of outlets permissible by code. This means no outlets in hallways!

For myself, it is 20 amp outlets, plenty of outlets everywhere, "commercial grade" 20 amp outlets, and outlets in the hallway. I need to vacuum the hallway and want outlets there!

With that said, what are the problems with plumbing?

Gas: Not seen any problems with regular "black pipe" gas lines. There is no water in gas lines, so pretty much trouble free. Now if plastic was used, then you could have the problem of a nail going into the wall or drilling into the wall and piercing the gas line. So for my home I prefer black pipe.

Sewer: A common problem with sewers and the old "clay" sewer pipes was tree roots growing into them and causing a blockage. To my knowledge, this does not happen with PVC. I suppose a tree root could grow around the pipe and then crack it. For myself a thicker wall PVC is fine and DON'T PLANT ANY TREES NEAR SEWER LINES!

Then another problem is clogged pipes. Install plenty of cleanouts in easy to access locations!

Water: A common problem with water lines is that in some areas over time, "gunk" builds up on the inside of the pipe and reduces water flow. So start out with 3/4 or 1 inch pipes and after 30 years of use you will have a 1/2 inch or 3/4 size pipe and water still flowing nicely.

Then another problem is the same "gunk" freezing water valves like those under the sink. So you want to fix the sink faucet and want to turn off the water under the sink... You take a wrench to turn that frozen valve and the whole valve comes off of the copper pipe and water spays everywhere! I've seen this happen many times. I have not seen this happen with galvanized pipe.

Then plastic water pipe run in walls or underground. A nail driven into a wall can pierce a plastic pipe. And when digging in the yard, it is easier to break a plastic pipe. Galvanized pipe will withstand a lot of abuse.

And electrical grounding. The good old "cold water pipe ground" is a good thing. I prefer oversized galvanized for cold water piping. This has been installed in homes which are very old and it is still working fine.

Hot water: A common problem with hot water is you have to run the water for awhile before you get hot/warm water. I think the best design is to place all bathrooms, sinks, and the water heater as close to each other as possible. Back to back if possible. Then run the hot water line in the ceiling under the insulation if code will allow. Heat rises, so the ceiling will be warm and keep the pipe warm.

Then there is a thing called "thermal mass". This is that a material can retain hot or cold "memory". Basically what this means is that a cold thick galvanized water pipe will take a lot of heat to get it hot. Hot water flowing through a cold galvanized water pipe will will be cooled. So basically you would need to run the water longer to get your hot water if using galvanized. For this reason I prefer CPVC for hot water lines. You get your hot water sooner because the water does not need to heat up the pipe first.

So hot water for me... I prefer a short distance to each sink from the water heater, pipe run in ceiling on house side of insulation to keep it warm, and CPVC so the water does not need to heat up the pipe first.

(There are electric pump hot water circulation systems, but these days with high energy costs, this is not an option for myself.)