House Building Part 15: Plumbing, Boiler, Propane, In-floor Heating

November 18 & 23, 2017. Scott's dad continues to install parts on the boiler, connects propane line, sets up some plumbing, and gets in-floor heating running.

[@markmario5756]

We put sconces that point up and down between the windows. They work great for ambiance!

[@ThatGuyFromArizona]

His pex job to the water manifold is terrible

[@inmyimage1081]

There are definitely things I see that aesthically would drive me nuts but were there functional problems you saw?

[@philplatts6433]

The condensate is a left over from propane. There’s no way the concrete bit could have back flowed into the loop.

[@That1ufo]

Why not just put the pipes into the room, joints in a wall would always worry me, whats the guaranty for the piping 50 years?

[@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb]

Do yourself a favor and take photos of every wall just before insulation/drywall is installed. Then save the pics in a safe place for use in future years. Helps if you have some sort of measuring stick (say a 2x4 marked every 12") for scale. Place it in a corner so you can figure out where the photo is taken. Will show how elec/plumbing/hvac is installed for when you want to make changes.

[@kendrickhomestead4750]

Great suggestion -- will do!

[@Cameron-ur2tk]

i like can lights, i would do like two to three rows of lighting and space them apart every 3-4 feet and put them on a dimmer switch. My GF thought i put in way too many lights until she saw them on at night on our vaulted ceiling. I used 6 inch can lights with LED bulbs. They do sell short 6 inch can lights so they arent as tall as traditional 6 inch can lights if youre worried about insulation. I've never heard someone complain about having too much light. My buddys dad just redid his house and ended up using 4 inch canned lights and it looks really good. He does have a more modern house with regular height ceilings but it looks really sleek. I personally hate ceiling fans in living rooms, in bedrooms they have their purpose.

[@thomasarussellsr]

Yeah, I am not too crazy about ceiling fans either, aesthetically, but they do help to circulate the heat when you have a static heat source like a wood stove.

[@davidgooding2940]

I heard you laugh at joints, no smoking that weird stuff

[@thomasarussellsr]

To minimize the room taken in your ceiling insulation, pendant lights or ceiling fans with remote controls and lights or wall dimmers. If you are looking to do any crown moldings, you could drop the crown 6-12 inches and put LED strips on top of them pointed up and have great light in an indirect lighting manner. Make sure whenbyoubare talking to the electrician that you and they know what you are talking about, can lights and pendant lights are different things. For the insulation, I would suggest using putty knives and not screw drivers. A screwdriver can poke through the insulation leaving holes in it. Did anyone tell Emogene to tell an adult if she smells the propane? I saw on video where y'all had her smell it, but no one told her, on camera, what to do if she smells it. And yes, flushing that obstruction out of the system would be the only good way of removing it. A clean catch bucket should be in use to prevent any back-flow from putting more debris into the system. Also, a back flow prevention valve (check valve) would help to prevent additional debris being sucked into the system as well. Home is coming along nicely. Can't wait to see each new step and how you choose to go with the lighting. Personally, I would go with indirect lighting if you are going to drywall the ceiling and paint it a white or bright color. If the ceiling will be tounge and groove or paneled wood, direct lighting would be my choice i.e. pendant lights or ceiling fans. Definitely go with LED bulbs as they last much longer between changes and use less power than other lighting choices. Happy Thanksgiving to the family and wishes for an upcoming Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless. P.S. I can appreciate the thought behind stuffing the fiberglass around the windows and doors, but great stuff (and a few other manufacturers) makes a "spray" foam specifically for windows and doors that will not warp your frames. It is labeled for this use and is "minimally expanding". I would personally go with that. We stuffed insulation when I started working construction too, with thermal imaging the foam provides much less Heat loss than the fiberglass. However, the call is ultimately yours. If you choose fiberglass, use a putty knife, not a screwdriver. And loose is better than tight. Insulation needs air space to work properly.

[@uhhuh3462]

I️ appreciate your father at 71 working with you guys. He’s the best

[@jeffledlow1955]

RICH PEOPLE ! Got hot water in the toilet! LOL! It really is great that his dad came in and hooked everything up awa explained everything in so much detail!

[@gregswhier2850]

I like the strip Lighting LED. Really cool and puts off good lighting and uses low energy.

[@scruffy6151]

Hope you had good thanksgiving.

[@douglasthompson2740]

Hello, I would really, really shy away from can lights in the cathedral ceiling. They are fine in the kitchen with a floor above it but in any pressure test (blower door) they are a huge source of air circulating in the insulation. When that happens "air wash" diminishes the insulation R value significantly. Add to that that if you have a 12" cavity the can takes up a good six or seven inches of insulation space leaving you with an R 19 ceiling at best. Now couple that with the fact that even though you can get "IC" rated cans (in contact meaning installed in contact with the insulation--no air gap needed) they still operate at much higher temperatures causing premature bulb failure (not quite so much of an issue with LED but still considerable). A final consideration is that if for whatever the reason a new construction can light fails down the road they involve major ceiling repairs to replace. There are many other good choices for lighting that hang or are surface mounted which I would give consideration to. As a final thought: when you compress fiberglass batting around windows and doors you can stop air flow but without the 'fluff' it has little insulating value. Plus it is more time consuming to install. They make a non expanding canned foam labeled for doors and windows that is a much quicker and effective way to fill the gaps. Keep in mind if there should be a leak around them the fiberglass stuffed in will absorb moisture, the foam won't. Just some thoughts coming from my past experiences. Take care. Hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable. Still raining in Ktn but hasn't been windy much this fall. Doug

[@NyFvR]

I wouldn't do can lights in the cathedral ceiling area, two evenly spaced ceiling fans with light fixtures and then either wall lights or pedestal lamps on a switched outlet, it would then give you option of more light or less light. For the windows, they make a spray foam that is low expansion specifically for windows, the fiberglass works, but not as good. Either way things are coming along good and I bet now that you have heat it makes it much more inviting to work in.