▪ I once had a plumber rough-in a bathroom that an architect had designed for me. Later, the plumber suggested a much improved lay-out that required him to rip out and replace the piping. The lesson here is that you should consider having your contractors review your architect's plans for any valuable design suggestions.

▪ Building inspectors usually require "clean outs" for your sewer lines. These are access ports that allow for the sewer line to be cleared of any possible obstructions, if necessary. You should tell the plumber where you want the clean out to be located and that you don't want it sticking too far out of the ground. If you don't do this, you could have an unattractive plastic pipe (with a cap on it) sticking out of the middle of your front yard.

▪ During a recent renovation, I had water leaking from behind a wall during a rain storm. The leak was near a vent stack (a vent pipe that runs vertically through the roof to allow gases to escape), and it only happened after a heavy rain. The plumber insisted that the vent pipe was not the source of the water. However, when he got on the roof and poured water down the vent stack with a hose, sure enough, the water appeared again. It turns out that he had not properly tightened the connection (behind the wall) between the vent stack and the house plumbing. We had to rip out the wall and start over again!

The lesson: check the tightness of the plumber's connections before the drywall goes up.

▪ Plumbers need to drill holes in some of the pieces of wood (that go inside of the walls) so that their pipes can travel through them. I once had a plumber drill a hole in a piece of wood while it was resting on my beautiful old hardwood floor. the drill went through the piece of wood and damaged the floor. Tell your plumber not to do anything that could damage your hardwood floors!

▪ If you have a growing family, you might want to consider this: Rather than put in a large water heater now, install a 50 gallon tank, with the expectation that you will add another 50 gallon tank later if you need it. (50 gallons is plenty for a family of three, with average water useage).

▪ We all need to do our part to conserve resources. There are plenty of environmentally friendly plumbing upgrades that you should consider, such as high efficiency water heaters and appliances, hot water circulation systems, and water saving shower heads and toilets.

Plumbing in House Renovation- Part 1

Former builder and instructor of "Save Time and Money in Home Remodeling" cont. ed. course at Emory University