Perspective homeowners choosing to build a new home can incorporate these plumbing design tips to not only save a few dollars but to also make their home more efficient and environmentally friendly. In addition, these attractive upgrades should increase the overall value of the property at a time when many prospective homebuyers are choosing to go green. The following post will discuss a few of the most popular plumbing design tips many homebuilders are using today.
Wet Wall Sharing
A wet wall is a term used by builders and plumbing contractors denoting a wall that often contains the water supply lines, sewer lines and vent stacks. You could expect to find a wet wall in your bathroom, kitchen and laundry room. Designing your home to utilize one wet wall for several applications can save you money by reducing the amount of plumbing materials and labor required to install them. For example, if you are building a home with two bathrooms, design the interior layout so they are back to back and can share the same wet wall. In retrospect, if you placed each bathroom on opposite sides of the house, both would require separate drain lines to connect to the main sewage line, increasing material and labor costs.
Wastewater Diversion
With a greater emphasis on water conservation today, many new homebuilders are incorporating plumbing designs that utilize bath and laundry water for lawn irrigation. The fixtures plumbing lines are diverted to channel the wastewater into the irrigation system instead of the main sewer line. Since this practice reduces overall household water usage you can expect to save a few dollars each month on your water bill.
Water and Energy Conservation
Incorporate water and energy efficiency into your new home. Not only will this save you money over the long run, but also benefit the environment through conservation. To conserve water, consider using Low-Flow toilets and faucets throughout the home. In addition, a tankless water heater conserves both water and energy and provides you with hot water on demand. Pipe insulation is money well spent especially in areas subjected to freezing temperatures. Protecting your plumbing from frigid temperatures could save you thousand of dollars in home repair costs should one rupture due to freezing.
Practical Main Shut Off Placement
It is common practice for shut-off valve installation to be placed in obscure, hard to reach places such as a crawl space. Discuss with your plumbing contractor installing the valve in a more user-friendly, easy to reach place. In the event of an emergency, such as a ruptured pipe, you will need to quickly locate and shut off the main water line. This could save you hundreds to thousands of dollars in repair costs resulting from water damage.
The aforementioned plumbing design tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to designing plumbing efficiency into your new home. For answers to your questions, contact The Pink Plumber today.
