A New House – Episode 23 – More Insulation, the Tub and Plumbing

 

It has been a long friggin’ time since the last “A New House” post. I’m sorry, but we have a couple of excellent excuses – a 60th birthday party, and a grand wedding at Disney world !!!

So what in the world have we been doing … ANYTHING???  Well, yes. The outside of the house is in stasis -  we’ll get to the siding next spring or summer, so we have been indoors (when we weren’t on rides at Walt Disney World)

 

Deb’s world was insulation. Everyday. for weeks. She did the whole friggin house. Argh!  R-38 in the ceilings and R-19 in the walls.

since some of the ceilings were 2x12’s and R-38 is 11” thick, we had to install these foam baffles to keep airflow between the plywood and the insulation.

 

While she was doing insulation, I was doing the drain/waste/vent plumbing. Not fun, but it’s done. what’s the trick to it you ask?   2 rules to follow … (1) Water flows downhill and, (2) don’t drain shit into a sink. Other than that, you’re good to go.

   

Then I got started on the water lines. for the first time, I did pex plumbing. This is Uponor PEX-A pipe, which is different that what Home Depot sells in that you expand the pipe to fit over barbed fitting, as opposed to crimping. Quite fun actually.

 

Let’s see…red is cold and blue is hot, right?

 

Also unique with pex is that typically each fixture has a dedicated water line running to it from a manifold. These are valved manifolds, so each fixture (cold and hot) has a small valve I can open/close for control.

 

Watch this swell video of me doing PEX!!! 

   

We are also going to be experimenting with this new-fangled electric on-demand water heater. 24kw, taking (3) 40a circuits.

 

And this whole-house 3-stage water filtration system.

 

Meanwhile, since the insulation is done, Deb dives in to rock the soaker tub’s deck. Starting with Hardibacker on the deck and walls, she first sealed the joints, then surfaced the deck with Redguard waterproofing. We bought 1-1/2 tons of 1’’ quartszite slabs for this and other areas of the house.

  

We also took delivery of our new range.

    

An Ilve UM90 36” dual fuel range with top griddle. Midnight blue. In this picture, we haven’t yet installed the legs. Can’t wait to try this baby out!