Are you looking to build your dream home? While many things go into planning a home, and much of it is quite exciting, one area you cannot neglect is your residential plumbing plans. While it certainly is not something at the forefront of everyone’s mind every day, it can lead to headaches when a problem occurs that might have been avoidable with better foresight.
That is why it is important to plan your home’s plumbing carefully from the beginning, as even the most beautiful homes can be ruined by poor plumbing systems. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you plan the plumbing for your dream home.
Centralize Your Plumbing
One way to help mitigate any problems in the future is to centralize your plumbing which will help your plumbers out when they come around to diagnose the problem. By centralizing everything – such as the water softener, water heater, furnace, sewer connection, and sump pump – plumbers will have a better chance of understanding the problem when everything is close together instead of having to figure out where everything is in the first place.
Whether you decide to keep it all in the basement or on the main floor, keeping everything centralized will save you time and headaches should future problems arise.
Have Plenty of Water Shut-Off Valves that Are Accessible
As houses age, plumbing problems like water leaks can become a common occurrence in many homes. To make matters easier and isolate only the affected areas, including plenty of water shut-off valves will allow you to shut the water off in specific locations without having to shut off the water for the entire home.
Additionally, you want to make sure the builders place the valves in easily accessible areas, as some homes have their water shut-off valves in difficult places to reach, like beneath the house in a tight crawl space. Having it easily accessible will allow you to quickly shut off the water in an emergency like a bursting pipe.
Install Water Softeners
If you live in an area known for its hard water or are otherwise experiencing hard water issues, you may want to consider installing water softeners. Even if you don’t anticipate any immediate problems, installing them sooner rather than later can save you many headaches and money, as it can be challenging and costly to install water softens in the future.
Shared Wet Walls
In many homes, every room that has its own plumbing has a dedicated wet wall. A wet wall is where the sewer lines, water supply lines, and vent stacks are housed, with most houses having their own wet walls for bathrooms and kitchens.
What many people might not realize is that by sharing the wet wall across different rooms, you can reduce your building cost. You need to consult with your builder and ensure the rooms that would normally require their own are placed near enough to each other that they can share a wet wall.
Have the Sump Pump Drain Far from Home
One sure way to ruin an amazing plumbing system is to have your sump pump discharge water towards your home’s foundation. If that were to happen, the water damage to the foundation would slowly break down the material, compromising the structure’s integrity. That is why it is important to communicate early on that you want to have the sump pump drain far from the home’s foundation to prevent problems down the road.
Work with Professionals to Create Your Residential Plumbing Plans
If you want to have the best plumbing system for your home, then working with professionals should be your first step. Consider Flamingo Plumbing & Backflow Services to help draft expert residential plumbing plans for you and build the perfect plumbing system for your dream home. To learn more about our services, contact us today!
