May5

By Dave Bangar

Why Rough In Plumbing is Important In Custom Homes

Reading Time: 3 minutes

What You Need to Know About Installing Plumbing in a Brand-New Custom Home

When building a brand-new custom home from the ground up, everything is built from scratch, from plumbing and electrical to kitchen and bathroom finishes. 
With any custom home, having a high-quality rough-in plumbing system installed by a licensed professional is a crucial component of the home-building process. 
In this article, we will go over the two main types of plumbing work performed when building brand-new custom homes and why particular attention should be paid during the rough-in plumbing stage.

Types of New Home Construction Plumbing

There are two types of plumbing systems used when building a brand-new home – rough-in and finish. Below, we will explain what each term means and what type of plumbing work they entail.

What Is Rough-In Plumbing? 

Rough-in plumbing refers to the process of installing all of the plumbing infrastructure after the framing has been completed. This includes installing vents, sewers, connections, and water lines.
Below, we have listed some of the steps involved in completing the rough-in plumbing stage of construction:

• Routing pipes through wall cavities
• Running vent stacks to the roof
• Connecting drain lines and water supply lines to the sewer systems, septic system, or main water supply
• Connecting all of the pipes
• Laying underground pipes that run from utility connections to a primary structure
• Excavating when necessary

It’s important to note that all rough-in plumbing work must be completed after the framing has been put in but before any drywall goes up. The reason for this is that once the home is completed, the plumbing system will be hidden behind the walls and no longer be accessible to a building inspector when the drywall is installed.
Once the building inspector has signed off on all of the rough-in plumbing work, drywall will go up, construction will proceed and the finish plumbing work will be completed. 

What is Finish Plumbing?

Finish plumbing is completed towards the end of construction on your custom home once the flooring, cabinets, and tiling have been installed. Essentially, finish plumbing entails tying up loose ends and getting all of the plumbing ready for you to move in.

Below are some of the steps required when completing the finish plumbing work:

• Installing and connecting all of the plumbing fixtures (taps, shower heads, toilets, etc.)
• Making sure all of the caps on the drain and water supply pipes have been removed
• Installing the under-sink drain assemblies 
• Installing water supply values and water supply lines 
• Caulking, sealing, and testing connections 

Why Rough-In Plumbing Is So Important For Custom Homes

When building a custom home, you will need to obtain building permits and have all of the work inspected by a building inspector throughout different phases of construction.

Once the rough-in plumbing is completed, it will need to be inspected before construction can move forward. If the plumbing fails the inspection, it can delay the entire construction process. Before any additional work can be completed, the issues identified by the inspector must be rectified and the plumbing will need to be re-inspected.

For this reason, it’s so important to work with a team of plumbers with lots of experience doing rough-in plumbing work in brand-new custom homes.

One of the most common issues with rough-in plumbing identified by building inspectors is the integrity of the framing. The reason for this is that the rough-in process requires a plumber to cut holes in the timber frames so that they can run the pipes through them. If the holes are too big, they were made in the wrong spot, or too many holes were made, it can affect the integrity of the framing, which will be flagged by a building inspector.

Contact My Plumber Kelowna For All Your Custom Home Plumbing Needs

If you are building a custom home in Kelowna and want the best team to complete your rough-in and finish plumbing, contact My Plumber Kelowna today.
At My Plumber Kelowna, we have a team of licensed, trained, and highly experienced plumbers who can complete both the rough-in and finish plumbing in your custom home and ensure the work passes inspection the first time around.
Call us today at 250-601-0000 or fill out a form on our website and we will be in touch ASAP.