Repiping House - Plumbing Contractor Tips
One of the biggest problems for do-it-yourselfers and
even building professionals is how to figure out, how to actually do
something that you haven't ever done before. If this is going to be the
first time that you will be re-pipe being a house, I would like to share
some plumbing contractor tips with you, that might save you a lot of
frustration and money.
1. Make sure that you plan the repiping job out, thoroughly. Before you
even think about re-piping a house, make sure that you plan everything
out. If you don't even know where to start, it wouldn't be a bad idea to
purchase a few books about basic plumbing, or to get some advice from a
local plumber.
2. What type of building materials are you going to use? There are
plenty of new water supply pipe materials on the market today. Copper
water supply pipes have been used for years and might be a little harder
to work with, than the newer plastic or rubberized water supply pipes.
One of the easiest materials to work with today, for most homeowners is
PEX water supply systems.
3. Make sure that you shut the water supply valve off. You should always
shut the water supply valve off, before working on any water supply
pipes. The worse thing that can happen to you is to start disconnecting
or cutting into a pipe with the water turned on.
4. Can you do the job by yourself or do you need some help? If you don't
feel comfortable doing the job by yourself or some of the building
materials are going to be difficult to work with, it wouldn't be a bad
idea to find someone that can help you with repiping the house.
5. How much demolition will I need to do? This falls back into the
repiping planning stage. There is a good chance that you will need to do
some demolition, to access some of your plumbing pipes, shutoff valves
and fixtures. In other words, don't remove the bathtub tile, if it's
going to be easier to cut a hole in the back of the drywall. Make sure
that you don't make the repiping job any harder than it needs to be.
Repiping a house isn't going to be an easy project. I would rate
repiping a house as one of the most difficult home repair projects that
a homeowner or do-it-yourselfer might ever do. I said it once, but I
need to say it again. Make sure that you plan the job out, before you
actually start it.