HVAC Rough-In

Once framing is complete, there are three things that need to be roughed-in (stuffed into the walls) before drywall covers up the studs. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC are all hidden behind the walls of your house.

Our plumbing guys came first because the pipes are rigid and need to be specific. Wires are more flexible and can accommodate around plumbing pipes if needed. Our plumber took 5 days for rough-in. Electrical came in after that and took a week as well. The HVAC guys had to start as well, because the electrical needed to know where the returns would be so that smoke detectors were the appropriate distance from the returns. They also needed to avoid running too many wires near the return. Electrical wires tend to congregate at spots and then flow together to the next destination (panel.)

The HVAC guys came in and the first day they started prepping material. I had no idea they had to "build" their tubing. It was just metal tubing they had to put insulation around themselves.

The next day I saw a vent in a room. They started on the second floor.

We chose our HVAC contractor because he had worked with ICF before. He deals solely with Lennox brand, so that is what we ended up with. I hear great things about them, so I am anxious to see it for myself. Once we are in the house, I'll provide an update on the system.

Because we used ICF on the first floor and using foam insulation on the second, we were able to reduce the load needed on the HVAC units. We still have two units, but they are small with regards to the square footage.

The amount of vents is also reduced because of the ICF walls. Mom's large closet does not have a vent because it is an interior closet. And our master bedroom is the same size as our last, and we had two vents in the last house and only one vent now.

The HVAC guys ran all the vents and then moved on to piping. They ran the vent piping from the bath fans to the exterior of the house.

They also ran piping for our gas stove.

The gas water heater has a direct vent to the exterior wall as well. The pipes from the furnaces come down ICF walls and then exit outside.

They will have to come and fix these because they protrude out a lot that drywall will not cover.

They are putting an outdoor unit on each side of the house. I was trying to avoid putting a unit on the corner side that everyone sees, but it was unavoidable. The tubing would be too long for the return. And they prefer the return to be located near the furnace.

HVAC guys also ran the gas lines. We have three gas drops; fireplace, stove and water heater.

All we lack is the inspections and we can start insulating the spaces! In total, the HVAC guys took two weeks to complete their rough-ins. All this behind-the-scenes stuff is complete and we can start with the cosmetic tasks.The outdoor units will not be set until later.

With all three contractors, I recommend every one of them. The plumber was great and knowledgeable. The electricians were fantastic and the HVAC guys knew their stuff. I would definitely be using them for service calls, but they did such a  great job on the front end, that I don't think I will need to be calling them.

Electrical Rough-In

The electrician we chose and the plumber we chose have worked together in the past. This is a good thing. The plumber, electrician and HVAC all have jobs to do once framing is complete. The plumber should go first, because of the rigid pipes placement. The HVAC and Electrician can work at the same time, but we had our HVAC guy come to show us where the returns were going to be so the electrician would avoid running wires the HVAC guy would need moved.

The Electrician kept in contact with our plumber and he and his crew came out the day we got the plumbing inspection. The first day was spent writing on the studs and walls.

They used my blueprint I provided with my mark-ups and marked outlet and switch locations. I figured out their lingo!

This area was where I had the most changes to final blueprints. I had expressed to the architect certain light fixtures I wanted, but not all were captured. One example was, I wanted sconces on the master bathroom vanity on the sides of mirrors, not over the sinks. She placed two, when I really needed four. Things like that.

I walked through after they ran their markings and double-checked. Everything looked good. The fireplace was delivered that day and it was an awesome surprise!

They even ran the vent and placed the chimney!

Because of the ICF, we have to have a direct-vent fireplace. There is actually glass on the front of the fireplace to prevent fumes from entering the house. The fireplace will produce radiant heat.

The next day, they started nailing outlet boxes in place. And they ran a couple of wires.

They verified the placement of my outlet boxes. I have always loved outlets placed in the baseboard, but I kept thinking of the added work that is on our trim contractor. The drywall guy doesn't charge extra to cut around boxes. The trim guy does! The drywall guy would still have to do it in the baseboards, but the trim carpenter would have extra work cutting baseboard pieces exactly right. I went with the normal height-placement in the walls.

They were still waiting on the HVAC guys to tell them where the returns would be.

The following day, they started nailing switch boxes and light boxes.

I told them where I would like the service panels, and they installed them. Yes, we have two!

We place our panels on the far side of the garage. That is where our meters will be. It's easier and less expensive to have your panels be back-to-back with the meter on the outside.

The HVAC guys let us know where the returns would be and the electricians started running wires.

They did the majority of this on Saturday. They also tackled the ICF walls. The wires started off by coming in through the top of the foam and dangling.

They then used a chainsaw to cut a groove in the foam.

Then the outlet box was placed.

We had to wait for inspection to pass first, but the Electricians have plans to cover the grooves with Styrofoam.

I had to dig a mirror out of storage that we are using in Mom's bathroom. She will have sconces on either side and because the wall is styrofoam, the placement had to be perfect. We held the mirror up, marked the location and then ran the wires and installed the boxes.

The other wall-mounted lights just have lines "laced" in the walls. This allows placement to vary and be determined once cabinets are in. This method could only be used on stud framing.

And the coolest part the electricians did was for our TV in the family room. There will be bookcases on either side of the fireplace. I plan to put the DVD player / Cable box on a shelf of the bookcase. But I don't want visible wires running to the TV. The electricians came up with a tube that runs in the walls. I can fish my wiring through the tube! This allows for changes in technology and such. I can run an HDMI cable back there now and be set!

We also did this in Mom's room. Her TV will be mounted up high, but won't have the cable box up there with it.

To create outlets on the exterior, the guys ran the wire down the foam on the inside, and then drilled a hole to the exterior.

Then a box was tied to the end of the wire. These boxes will not be mounted until the mason comes to lay brick and sets them in there.

And you can see how important the pre-slab rough-in is. We have floor outlets in the living room and they ran a wire through the wall and into the slab to reach the outlets.

Same thing with the island in the kitchen. A wall had a tube place that would run underneath the concrete to reach the island. They fished the wire though easily.

Our electricians also installed our bath ventilation fans. The HVAC guys will then run the tubing from the fan.

I also had our electricians run all the cable and internet outlets to a central location. This is called structured wiring. We received bids from companies that specialize in this. Their prices are ridiculous! We then thought of doing it ourselves like we did in the last house, but I just asked our electrician if he could run all the cables to one place. He agreed! Now we just have to get the equipment and a box and we're set!

We called for an inspection, and it took a couple days for their availability, but they came out on Thursday and we passed! Just before inspection, the guys ran the lines for the doorbells. Mom will have one on her porch and we will have one on ours. And the best part... they are tied together! The electrician said we could connect up to three doorbell chimes. One chime will be on her side, one chime will be on our side. There will be a different sound depending on the doorbell rung and we will be able to hear both! Pretty sweet!

Now we wait for the HVAC guys to finish and get their inspection. It's kinda hard for them to finish when we still don't have shingles on our roof. Long story I will explain soon, but I'm hoping we will in a week's time!

I really enjoyed working with my electricians. They were a GREAT group of very smart guys. I didn't feel ripped off and they listened to me. They didn't push, but explained how and why things were done. I'm really happy with them. The next time I'll see them is after drywall and painting, when they'll come install the light fixtures and switch plates.

Plumbing Rough In

The plumber came out on Monday, the 30th and started getting the rough-in complete for plumbing. It took him and his small team 5 days to complete the plumbing for the entire house.

The first thing they did was run pipes from the first floor to the roof for what they call plumbing vents.

He had to be very creative and precise with placement of vents. You cannot legally drill through LVL beams and we have several of those.

And each fixture has to have a vent. I researched up on those here. It makes a pipe come out of the roof, but you put them on the back side, so you don't see from the street.

We'll have the roofer come put lead boots over them. You can paint them, but we've seen on our last house, how the paint fades.

The tubs/shower combos were delivered on Monday and installed. Mom has her special extra large tub.

We will soon cover the tubs and place a note that says, "Do not use this tub as a trash can." We will place a trashcan near by for contractors to use.

The master tub is not yet installed. We will wait to install it after drywall is hung. This ensures nothing falls in/on it and causes it to break.

And the tankless water heater was installed.

We installed it on an exterior wall, but the inspector wanted us to move it. So, we did.The reason why was because of ease/difficulty reaching the unit for maintenance/repairs.

We went back and forth on picking a location for the water heater. Most people place them on the exterior of the home. With our ICF walls, we couldn't make a cavity for it. It would possibly stick out further than normal. We decided to place it on the inside. It is gas, and the HVAC guys will have to drill a hole to vent it outside.

We will have ONE for the whole house. We bought a circulating pump that will be on a timer. This allows us to run the whole house on one unit instead of two. We will put the timer set for 5AM and it will pump hot water to every fixture in the house. We can set it for the most common shower times to ensure instant hot water.

The plumbing crew was not on site Friday or Saturday, but they came back Monday, the 6th, and finished running the water lines.

And they installed the hose bibs!

The washer lines were completed.

And the shower "heads" were put in place.

I have learned a lot in this whole process, and it's the main reason I write about it. The plumber created a "make-shift" shower pan in our Master Bath. I text him a picture and noted it was the wrong size. He was aware and let me know he did it on purpose. All he had to prove for inspection, was that it held water. But he let me know, that it was an item the tile installer would warranty. In this case, he purposefully built it wrong so that the tile installer has to take the misplaced wood piece and put it in the correct spot. There would be now way for the tile installer to blame the plumber for his job if something went wrong.

We passed inspection Tuesday morning, and our plumber moved on to his next task. He'll be back when when it's time to install the fixtures (faucets and toilets).