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The Johnsons' Repiping Experience
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Another Kitec Update, Part 12
Some have written to ask about our own repiping experience with Town & Country Mechanical. The short answer is, great. For some additional thoughts, please read on. As a general rule your plumbing contractor will do whatever you want them to do. In that regard, it is important to make your requests known well in advance of the work to be performed, if they were not already detailed and spelled out at the time the contract was signed. I say this because unfortunately a few people will invariably decide late or change their mind about something just before or even while the work is underway. That can be frustrating for all parties, especially for the contractor. While not intending to do so, I regretted the need to put T&C’s patience with me to the test. As I had expected, they came through with flying colors. They want to please the customer and, as I had previously written, no payment is expected unless the customer is completely satisfied. And later, when a minor part snafu arose, necessitating a delay I had caused, Cesar, their lead plumber, smilingly told my wife in Spanish that he will be saying a prayer for me, although he did not confide to her the nature of what he would be asking for. Cesar is an experienced plumber, having worked for several years on new home construction for Cox & Sons, a subcontractor to Del Webb, both at Summerlin and here in Sun City Anthem. There is a good chance he worked on your home when it was under construction. You can be confident that he knows what he is doing in directing the work of the crew that accompanies him and since he performs all of the necessary solder work. We were told in advance that the first day would be spent in cutting holes (inside and outside) to access the plumbing and fittings and in running the Wirsbo PEX pipe from main water supply line in the garage to the water heater and from there through the attic to the various fixture locations to connect to the sinks, toilets, and tub & showers. The day was uneventful and the crew was gone by mid-afternoon. Day two was our day without access to water. But no water does not necessarily mean no water or no use of the bathroom. Since Olga and I both take medicine in the morning that encourages our bathroom use, we decided to forgo those pills for the day. Water was available from our reverse osmosis water supply and from refrigerated bottle water so that was not a problem. And, as we learned, we could use the available bathroom facilities at least once without having to rely on the neighbors or by going to the Anthem Center. As many homeowners have noted, your presence at home will be required during these repiping periods. While there is no work imposed on you the homeowner, you will invariably feel a certain degree of stress associated with the presence of workers moving about in your home, frequently moving back and forth from the garage (the staging area) to various locations within the house and into the attic. If you have a ladder, especially a tall ladder, you may be asked if they can borrow it, but that’s not a requirement or your responsibility. We just happened to have available a tall ladder. Speaking of the garage, homeowners have managed to build in (permanently) all sorts of cabinets, tables, and cases along the walls of their garage, without a thought to covering up access to this or that plumbing line on the other side of the wallboard. Also, garages are typically used for all kinds of storage, items which may have to be repositioned to accommodate the repiping effort. Knowing that such access may be an issue, the homeowner may wish to address this issue ahead of time, although the plumbing crew will do what’s necessary to gain the access they need to accomplish the work. Regarding T&C’s repiping efforts and performance, we were very pleased. Although the T&C crew would have preferred an earlier starting time on day two, between 6 and 7 a.m., the actual starting time was a bit later. Nevertheless, and despite the larger size of our home, the crew was ready to turn the water back on by mid-afternoon, which was a pleasant surprise. However, some delay was caused by the installation of a new Symmons shower valve in the master bath. As a result of the 13” width of the trim plate, the valve itself had to be repositioned slightly so that the trim plate could be mounted without it running into the seat of the shower’s vertical grab bar. The good news is that all was accomplished in due course. The crew was careful in cleaning up after themselves, using a power vacuum cleaner to pick up dust and debris that had fallen to the floor wherever they had worked. On the matter of clean-up, I should note that there were only three areas within our living area that were visibly exposed to any dust or debris. I mention this as this goes to the potential issue of the need for professional housecleaning services as I do not believe that our repiping experience is that unique. Most access issues were addressed on the outside of the home. The three visible locations within the home’s living area included: 1) behind the refrigerator; 2) the master bath toilet area (which provided access to both the shower and the toilet); and 3) a wall in a short hallway next to the garage door (which provided access to the sink and toilet in the powder room). As one can readily visualize, the square footage involved in any potential cleanup effort within the living area was exceedingly small. Of course, each model home will present a slightly different arrangement. For our purposes here, T&C’s plumbing job was completed in three days. The City had to do their thing. They inspected the repipe work (called rough plumbing) after two days. A-OK. T&C then insulated the lines in the garage and in the attic, followed by another City inspection, which also included a water pressure test. A-OK. Then the stucco crew arrived, a subcontractor to T&C that performed the stucco, drywall and painting. Another City inspection examined the drywall and stucco preparation. A-OK. Then the drywall taping, applying texture to the wall’s surface with painting to follow. Then the City performed what they referred to as “final” inspection to determine 1) whether the homeowner had any questions and was satisfied; and 2) whether the walls (inside and out) were completed to the point of not showing any unwanted visible signs that the work had been performed. A-OK. Work started on the 6th of August and the City’s final inspection occurred on the 22nd. A few production days were lost while we waited for the City to show up, or while expecting them to do so but not seeing them until the next day. While we recognize that expectations and and experiences will differ, Olga and I were very pleased and completely satisfied with our experience with T&C. Those having questions are invited to call anytime to 617-8172 or send an email to rljohnson32@cox.net.
Here is what was included in our repiping job:
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