I’ve always loved doing plumbing because it’s a very interesting three-dimensional challenge to install drain, waste and vent piping in a new home or a large remodeling job. Because I was also the lead carpenter and builder on my jobs, I was able to think ahead to ensure that all the framing and rough lumber was installed so it would not have to be butchered to get in the pipes.

Last month, Amanda, who lives in South Carolina, reached out to me. She wanted to know how she could get money from the original plumber who put in the drain pipes in her home. Amanda received some bad advice from some other plumber or remodeler who told her a toilet drain pipe had been installed wrong by the original plumber.

Amanda paid the new plumber to cut out the perfectly fine pipes and install new ones with more gentle bends in them. What a shame she wasted so much money! She could have spent less than $50 and arranged a simple phone call with me to ask me if she was getting good advice. But that’s water over the dam.

Here was Amanda’s situation. The toilet drain pipe ran in between two floor joists for about 5 feet. It then turned down using a normal 90-degree fitting – some call it a short-bend L – and immediately connected to a sweep 90-degree fitting that was rotated 90 degrees so the toilet waste could continue its journey to the sewage plant running under the floor joists but now perpendicular to the joists.

She was told the short 90 was improper. I asked her if she had ever had a clog in the eight years since the house was built. Her answer was no. Here’s why she never had a clog. The short 90-degree fitting resembles the exact change of direction toilet waste would encounter if the pipe was connected to a standard tee fitting. Plumbers for many decades have installed horizontal toilet drain pipes that connect to tee fittings.

When you flush the toilet, the water and waste head directly down and immediately hit a 90-degree fitting under the toilet flange. This 90-degree fitting sends the water horizontally toward the tee fitting maybe 1 or 2 feet away. When the wastewater gets to the center of the tee, it takes a sharp turn and heads down again. Think of a river going over a waterfall. This is a completely acceptable configuration – after all, it’s worked well for Mother Nature for millions of years.

Tear out the plaster or drywall, and you’ll discover this exact configuration in millions of houses and buildings all across the United States. Plumbers have used tee fittings since the early 1900s and still use them today. In fact, I used this exact configuration two years ago when I recorded my video about flushable wipes.

In many situations, the vertical pipe that leaves the bottom of the tee fitting is just a vertical stack. This pipe might be 8 or 9 feet tall. Think of a plumbing stack as a chimney. Waste water goes down the stack as smoke goes up a chimney.

At the bottom of stacks, the best practice is to install a sweep-90 fitting. These fittings have a slightly greater radius than a short 90 fitting. The longer radius is very friendly to drain-cleaning snakes. This is exactly why plumbers have used sweep-90 fittings for decades.

In Amanda’s situation, she had an acceptable piping setup. It’s just that her stack was only 3 inches tall. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve done this before where I’ve had to have a horizontal drain pipe tuck up against floor joists in a basement or crawlspace. I’ve never had clog issues.

It’s possible that Amanda misunderstood the advice she was given, or the plumber giving the advice wasn’t clear. All change-of-direction fittings buried under a slab should never have any 90-degree fittings. If you need to change direction under concrete or other buried piping conditions, say in a sewer line, you use two 45-degree fittings. It’s a best practice to separate the 45-degree fittings by at least 6 inches if possible. This is an aid to drain cleaning snakes.

You can have a 90-degree fitting under a slab, but it needs to be either at the base of a stack, as I’ve already described, or it can be under a toilet that sits on a slab. If there’s a clog at these two locations, it’s usually remedied by installing a clean-out tee just above the base of the stack or removing the toilet to inspect the 90-degree fitting.

If you want to know more about plumbing drain lines or the mystical plumbing vent lines, I have several videos for you on my website askthebuilder.com. Just type “plumbing videos” into the search engine once there. If you have questions about your plumbing drain pipes, look for the Ask Tim navigation link, and type your question to me. I’d love to be able to help you save time and money.

Subscribe to Tim Carter’s free newsletter and listen to his new podcasts at askthebuilder.com.

The post Ask the Builder: Putting in plumbing drain pipes appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Air conditioners on a roof of the industrial building with blue sky and clouds in the background. https://shp.com/2018/08/07/designing-hvac-systems-to-last-in-schools/

This article was written by Emergency Air, an Arizona-based AC service and repair company.

A commercial building these days is hard to imagine without a good HVAC system. As the climate becomes more extreme and unpredictable, it only makes economic sense for anyone who owns and operates a commercial building to ensure the comfort of the people who work, do business and shop there.

There are several things to consider when looking for a new HVAC system for your commercial building in the market. Here are some of those critical factors that need to be considered in your advertising HVAC installation.

The costs

Given the upfront cost of a commercial HVAC unit and its installation, it is normal for a building owner or manager to be tempted by the cheapest option. However, a cheap commercial HVAC system is likely to have more than a few drawbacks, from a much shorter lifespan to poor performance. However, that doesn’t mean you should buy the most expensive system on the market. Just make sure you are getting quotes from multiple HVAC contractors so you can make the necessary comparisons for life, performance and system efficiency, among other things.

The size of the building

The larger the building, the higher the comfort requirements. Make sure you choose an HVAC system that is the right size for the building so that residents and visitors are comfortable whatever the weather. If you install one that is too small for that, expect higher energy costs as your HVAC unit will work harder and longer to keep everyone cool. If the HVAC system you choose is oversized, the entire building will be cooled and heated inconsistently due to the frequent short cycles. It will also be difficult to dehumidify the air with the much shorter on and off cycle.

To get the right HVAC system for your commercial building, contact your trusted HVAC contractor who will perform a load calculation to assess the size of your property and its other properties, as well as cooling and heating needs. If you operate a large system, you can also use the load calculation of an air conditioning system to determine whether you need more than one heating or cooling system for it.

The type of HVAC system you need

Commercial HVAC systems come in a variety of brands and models including:

• Single split systems– A single shared HVAC system is known as such because it is “split” into two main components: the condensing unit, which contains the compressor, condenser and condenser fan, and the ventilation unit, which houses the expansion device, evaporator and fan Evaporator fan. Single-split systems are compact and cheaper to install than a central system. They take up less space, making them ideal for small offices, shops, cafes and restaurants.
• Multi-split systems– While a single split system consists of a compressor and an air outlet, a multi-split system usually uses a single larger outdoor unit to power up to four indoor units. This setup allows a multi-split system to cool multiple rooms at the same time, making it perfect for larger commercial spaces such as retail stores, offices, and doctor’s offices with multiple walls and floors. Even if you are connected to a single outdoor unit, you can operate and control each indoor unit independently with its own remote control.
• VRF systems (variable refrigerant flow)– Unlike traditional HVAC systems, VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) units use refrigerant lines instead of lines to cool or heat rooms in a commercial facility. What makes them a great choice for commercial buildings is that VRF systems are highly efficient and can achieve energy savings of up to 30% to 40%.

Contact your HVAC contractor to find out what type of commercial HVAC system will best fit the landscape of your building.

The current status of your sewer system

Does your building have a central management system that has been in place for years?

If so, you might want to have one HVAC technician Check the current status before installing your new heating and cooling system. After all, old ducts are more likely to have leaks, making your HVAC operation inefficient and therefore costly to you. If your plumbing is causing problems, your HVAC technician can recommend any repairs, adjustments, or renovations needed before proceeding with the installation of your new HVAC system.

The geographic location of your building

It is possible that your building will heat or cool in a certain way due to its geographic location. Regardless of whether the location of your building on the map is intentional or totally unintentional, you should still opt for an HVAC system that can handle the heating and cooling functions associated with its location. If you don’t take into account the geographic location of your building and its heating or cooling effects, your HVAC system could run inefficiently throughout its life. When choosing a new commercial cooling and heating system, always make sure that you are only working with HVAC contractors that you can trust. This is the only way to get the right HVAC system for your commercial building.

The post Key Concerns When Putting in A Industrial HVAC System appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.