The Rough In

2nd Week of September

A lot of the material that was sitting in the garage a week ago is now installed.  For a little while we will be in that phase of work sometimes called the "rough-in", where everything is being installed INSIDE the stud walls. - all the plumbing piping, ductwork and electrical wiring.

View toward Kitchen - floor boxes for air diffusers

All the ductwork for the first floor is being routed within the basement ceiling, to registers in the floor. Something slightly different had to be done to locate the air registers in the Kitchen.  It didn't make sense to locate the registers in the floor, because all the floor area is "working space", and you would be stepping on the registers, no matter where they were located.  The solution is to bring the ducts up below base cabinets and provide an air register in the toekick of the cabinet.  This will happen in two places in the Kitchen, under the wall oven cabinet and under the peninsula cabinet.

In Kitchen, looking at plumbing & power rough-ins

It might be hard to see in the picture above, but a wall box for the water connection to the refrigerator is in the wall now.  Also hard to see is the vertical plumbing lines that are running up to our master bath.  Wall boxes for electrical outlets have been mounted, and in most places the wiring has been run to them as well.

2nd floor duct work runs in the attic space

We have two HVAC systems for the house.  One gas-fired heat system is located in the basement and distributes air to the basement and first floors of the house. A second, electric heat-pump system is located on the second floor to serve just the second floor.  This is not unusual in large homes.  The air distribution works better by providing two systems, and overall it will definitely be more energy efficient.  Another small detail we have done differently is to locate the 2nd floor unit in a small room, off the laundry room.  Typically these units are put in the attic space.  But then it is a pain to maintain and service them.

2nd Bath & Laundry Room plumbing lines

Most of the rooms that have plumbing are localized in the house - another deliberate design detail on our part.  Alex's Bathroom backs up to the Laundry Room (which I really wanted on the 2nd floor), and is over the Powder Room.

3rd Bath plumbing lines & tub

The picture above shows the 3rd Bathroom rough-ins - both plumbing and ductwork.  AND you can see the tub!  It isn't installed yet; just sitting on the floor.  (The 3rd bathroom is the only room with plumbing that is remote from all the other rooms with plumbing.)

Master Bathroom - installing the Tub

I was taking my pictures on a Saturday afternoon.  There were a couple of guys working on the plumbing; specifically setting our soaking tub in the master bath.  Steve and I are not "bathing" people.  I can't remember that last time I actually took a bath.  We thought about not even installing a tub in our bathroom.  But the "resale" issue decided us to put one in.  It isn't oversized, and it doesn't have any kind of whirlpool features.  It is just a tub, but what is called a soaking tub.  It is 20-inches deep.  The Master Bath is located over the Kitchen; again we worked to congregate the plumbing in one area of the house.