# Ridiculous open-plan house



## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

I'm so overloaded with work (new construction and renovations) that it's not even funny. Booked solid right through the summer and well into fall/winter. And right in the middle of way-too-much comes this nasty piece of work.

This house is super strong, but it's all modern open-plan, and just beams everywhere with no thought given to getting pipes and other mechanical through. No pipe chases - no dropped ceilings - just plain massively difficult from start to finish. Instead of the typical half hour to lay out flashings, this crazy thing took me and the builder/designer all afternoon to figure a way through for the pipes.

Then she (who must be obeyed) decides to have a freestanding bathtub in the master ensuite, on the ground floor (slab-on-grade), with floor-mounted faucet. Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!  What a headache! The faucet is ultra difficult to form concrete for and to mount and connect to later.

Front view:









Back view:









Beams, beams, undrillable beams everywhere:



























The beams even make heating loops difficult. To get the beam they wanted in here they left it flush with the top of the upstairs slab. I was allowed to cut a little notch at the one end to get my heat loops through. Ridiculous!









Downstairs was much more normal for heating at least:









The kitchen sink area is all glass and solid studding, so it's essentially an island sink. Not enough slope to do a barbers loop, so it's an underslab 2" trap with CO's up and downstream.


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## ironandfire (Oct 9, 2008)

I love a good challenge. I'd do it.:thumbup:


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

ironandfire said:


> I love a good challenge. I'd do it.:thumbup:


Heh :laughing: Ya, I whine and snivel. Then I go at it and get it done. But I love to whine about it first ya know. :laughing:


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

futz said:


> ...Then she (who must be obeyed).......


:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## LEAD INGOT (Jul 15, 2009)

I think the whining and *****ing is a manifestation of our inner monolouge becoming vocal. I love the impossible challange, as long as the financial rewards are there at the end. Kick it's ash mang.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

This is the kind of challenge I live for.

Promise me you'll post more picts pf the rough-in.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

futz said:


> Heh :laughing: Ya, I whine and snivel. Then I go at it and get it done. But I love to whine about it first ya know. :laughing:


 Goes with the territory.

I bet laying out the groundwork to line up with all of those PSL's and glue lams was a head scratcher.

Really nice clean work on the heat loops, btw.:thumbup:


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

futz,

thanks for sharing the photos, as always the Plumbing looks great.

good luck gettin round all those beams.


HOw much does a home like that cost?


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

GREENPLUM said:


> HOw much does a home like that cost?


It's a custom, so I don't know, but I'd probably peg it somewhere between 800K and a million (not wildly expensive around here).


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

How do you keep other contractors out of there before they do those pours? You'd think they'd be stepping on that radiant pex tubing, tearing it up before they put the concrete in.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

DUNBAR PLUMBING said:


> How do you keep other contractors out of there before they do those pours? You'd think they'd be stepping on that radiant pex tubing, tearing it up before they put the concrete in.


I pretty much have it to myself at that stage. Everyone else is waiting for the slab to be poured and back-framing to be done, and for the plumber (me) to get his above slab DWV in, before they come in. Sometimes you'll get an electrician or a framer doing some little thing, but pex is pretty tough, and they usually step between the pipes anyway. Once the loops are done and inspected (Monday inspection) it gets poured as soon as possible - often the same day as inspection. Vandals could do a ton of damage, but we don't have much vandalism problems here in Delta.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

looks like a fun one for sure. I have drilled those LVLs before, with engineers written approval. How many square feet is the house? Not used to seeing so much exterior wood on a house with a 800k price tag around here. Pics of the rough-in, as WD noted, would be nice.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

gitnerdun said:


> looks like a fun one for sure. I have drilled those LVLs before, with engineers written approval.


Me too, but we try to avoid it if possible.



> How many square feet is the house?


I don't have the plan handy, but the heat loss says 1913 sq ft. Seems like more to me... probably because I've traversed every single square foot on my knees, tying and nailing down heat loops. 



> Not used to seeing so much exterior wood on a house with a 800k price tag around here.


What do you mean? What do they use where you're from? Prices are stupid-high here though - 800K isn't a lot.



> Pics of the rough-in, as WD noted, would be nice.


I don't take, or post, as many pics as I could. I usually don't bother for anything run-of-the-mill. I assumed most people don't care to see it. If there is interest I can take and post lots more pics of lots of jobs. I carry the camera pretty much all the time now. And I have TONS of unused web-hosting capacity, so I can post the pics in better quality than if I had them hosted here at PZ (100K jpg limit - what a joke :laughing


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## suzie (Sep 1, 2010)

Are a majority of the homes in BC heated by radiant heat? just wondering. second question do you put down any thermal barrier


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

suzie said:


> Are a majority of the homes in BC heated by radiant heat? just wondering.


No, not the majority. But a large percentage are, especially here in the Lower Mainland. In cheaper houses, and up-country they tend to do more forced air. When things are slow here we tend to do less radiant and see more forced air. But forced air prices have gotten higher lately, so I guess hydronic is somewhat more competitive now than it was.



> second question do you put down any thermal barrier


Well, look in the pics above. You see all that styrofoam under the mesh? There's level compacted sand, vapor barrier, 3" styrofoam, mesh with the loops tied to it and then the concrete slab on top of it all.

Upstairs there's nothing. Just loops on the deck and 1-1/2" of concrete poured on that.


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## AKdaplumba (Jan 12, 2010)

800K is more then average in the lower mainland..


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## mssp (Dec 15, 2009)

starting one similar to this in a couple of weeks. not looking forward to it. Will take pics when we start.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

futz said:


> What do you mean? What do they use where you're from? Prices are stupid-high here though - 800K isn't a lot.
> 
> I don't take, or post, as many pics as I could. I usually don't bother for anything run-of-the-mill. I assumed most people don't care to see it. If there is interest I can take and post lots more pics of lots of jobs. I carry the camera pretty much all the time now.


A house similar here would be mostly concrete exterior and cost about half, unless the finishes are gold or something. Don't knock yourself out with the pics, mostly curious as to how your pipes get tucked away and outa sight.


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## smoldrn (Oct 4, 2010)

Looks about as much fun as one of those Lindal Cedar Homes I did years ago. Had to put some thinking in to route those pipes. Can still smell the smoke from my brain.:laughing:


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

AKdaplumba said:


> 800K is more then average in the lower mainland..


Probably so, but here in South Delta a typical new house is in the 750K range. For around 470K to 500K you can buy a rotten, falling down grow shack.  Whatever... I'm a renter for life (unless I move way out in the sticks, where there is no work)... it sucks...


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

smoldrn said:


> Looks about as much fun as one of those Lindal Cedar Homes I did years ago. Had to put some thinking in to route those pipes. Can still smell the smoke from my brain.:laughing:


If its the same as what I'm thinking of I did a Cedar Home in the early 80's that was lots of fun...

4" thick solid block walls...

All pipes and wiring was run interior along the walls...

Just had to make it look pretty but damn not any kind of home I'd be interested in owning or doing again...

At least it was all copper back then...:whistling2:


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## Greenguy (Jan 22, 2011)

futz said:


> Probably so, but here in South Delta a typical new house is in the 750K range. For around 470K to 500K you can buy a rotten, falling down grow shack.  Whatever... I'm a renter for life (unless I move way out in the sticks, where there is no work)... it sucks...


Yep prices suck, that's why I bought in Coquitlam only cost me 600k for a 3bed room. 

I got two custom homes on the go right now one in west van very similar design the owners only want 1 vent through the roof, was a pain to rough in. He's got radiant and zoned AC going in. The other in Vancouver house has radiant in the basement and forced air on the main level as well up stairs.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Greenguy said:


> I got two custom homes on the go right now one in west van very similar design the owners only want 1 vent through the roof, was a pain to rough in.


I get so tired of stupid customers having a freak out over vents in the roof. The second the novelty of the new house wears off they never look up there again. Nobody, not the owners, not the neighbors, nobody, notices or cares if there's one or five or ten plumbing vents. </rant> :laughing:

How about some pictures!?



> The other in Vancouver house has radiant in the basement and forced air on the main level as well up stairs.


That's a strange combination. Using hot water coils in the air handler? Or just a normal furnace?


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## Greenguy (Jan 22, 2011)

futz said:


> That's a strange combination. Using hot water coils in the air handler? Or just a normal furnace?



It's pretty normal for the higher end homes to have both systems, running both a boiler and a furnace or heat pump for AC. As I had it explained to me people like the feel of warm to the feet with a cooler air temp. The house in Vancouver has a separate heating system because it's a basement suite, fire codes don't allow for 1 furnace to serve both the basement suite and the rest of the house. 

If your spending a million+ on a house might as well make it comfy.

Edit: The west van house has a brass or something roof going on it hence the look they want to achieve with minimal mechanical vents through the roof line.


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