clarehills
Member
Hi,
I live in 2 story house in California, built in 1973. The water delivery to the house is from the street to the garage (where the water heater is located) and from there, both hot and cold water pipes travel under the slab/cement to the far side of the house where all the water usage is (kitchen, 3 bathrooms).
Here are the problems, in order of severity:
1) Many of the same design house, throughout my neighborhood, have suffered from hot water leaks underneath the kitchen floor in the pipe that delivers hot water from the garage to the house. This requires a re-routing of hotwater pipes up into the attic and then down to the kitchen/bathrooms. Mine has not leaked yet - but I am sure it is in the mail. I would rather fix this before it happens
2) The pipes are 40 years old and have already experienced 2 pin hole leaks in the last 2 years. They should probably all be replaced.
3) The water heater could not be positioned further from where the hot water is used - this is a huge waste of energy
4) There are only 2 of us in the house and we have a 50 gallon hot water heater. I would like to switch to a tankless water heater to save on space and energy costs.
My plan is to
1) Run a new copper water line from the supply where it enters the garage. I will cut a trench to run that pipe around to the far side of the house where all the water usage happens.
2) Mount a tankless water heater on the outside wall of the house, hook up the gas line (already in place) and the new water line.
3) Run a copper hot water line (from the tankless water heater) and a copper cold water line into the house, right beside the tankless water heater and hook them up to a PEX manifold inside the house (to protect the PEX from sunlight)
4) Run PEX from the PEX manifold to the 3 bathrooms and kitchen
5) Swap the exisiting water delivery over to the new PEX lines for all toilets/sinks
My questions are:
1) I have reviewed the 2010 CA Plumbing code book - it is not easy reading and is 300 pages long
Do you recommend reading through it cover to cover to be sure I cover all my bases before starting? Are there specific sections I should read and not worry about the rest?
2) Thoughts on my choice of copper for the outside, PEX for the inside?
3) Advice on how to run new PEX lines through studs, drywall, joists, floorboards?
4) Anything I have forgotten to account for in my plan?
Thanks very much for any advice you can give - I have been searching around google and various plumbing sites with out much luck finding advice on a project as specific as this.
Clarehills
I live in 2 story house in California, built in 1973. The water delivery to the house is from the street to the garage (where the water heater is located) and from there, both hot and cold water pipes travel under the slab/cement to the far side of the house where all the water usage is (kitchen, 3 bathrooms).
Here are the problems, in order of severity:
1) Many of the same design house, throughout my neighborhood, have suffered from hot water leaks underneath the kitchen floor in the pipe that delivers hot water from the garage to the house. This requires a re-routing of hotwater pipes up into the attic and then down to the kitchen/bathrooms. Mine has not leaked yet - but I am sure it is in the mail. I would rather fix this before it happens
2) The pipes are 40 years old and have already experienced 2 pin hole leaks in the last 2 years. They should probably all be replaced.
3) The water heater could not be positioned further from where the hot water is used - this is a huge waste of energy
4) There are only 2 of us in the house and we have a 50 gallon hot water heater. I would like to switch to a tankless water heater to save on space and energy costs.
My plan is to
1) Run a new copper water line from the supply where it enters the garage. I will cut a trench to run that pipe around to the far side of the house where all the water usage happens.
2) Mount a tankless water heater on the outside wall of the house, hook up the gas line (already in place) and the new water line.
3) Run a copper hot water line (from the tankless water heater) and a copper cold water line into the house, right beside the tankless water heater and hook them up to a PEX manifold inside the house (to protect the PEX from sunlight)
4) Run PEX from the PEX manifold to the 3 bathrooms and kitchen
5) Swap the exisiting water delivery over to the new PEX lines for all toilets/sinks
My questions are:
1) I have reviewed the 2010 CA Plumbing code book - it is not easy reading and is 300 pages long
Do you recommend reading through it cover to cover to be sure I cover all my bases before starting? Are there specific sections I should read and not worry about the rest?2) Thoughts on my choice of copper for the outside, PEX for the inside?
3) Advice on how to run new PEX lines through studs, drywall, joists, floorboards?
4) Anything I have forgotten to account for in my plan?
Thanks very much for any advice you can give - I have been searching around google and various plumbing sites with out much luck finding advice on a project as specific as this.
Clarehills
