At Stellar Plumbing, we often get the question, “How long does it take to plumb a house?”
Read on to discover more about plumbing installation and why that question is sometimes complicated to answer.
Plumbing Components
When we think of plumbing, many of us imagine turning on a faucet or flushing a toilet, but these represent just a small part of a building’s plumbing system. Here’s a brief overview of plumbing project components.
Plumbing Fixtures
In addition to faucets and toilets, plumbing fixtures include bathtubs, sinks, and showers.
Pipes & Drains
These components bring clean water to—and drain wastewater from—plumbing fixtures. Pipes and drains are not only essential for sinks and bathroom features, but they also connect to other appliances such as dishwashers, fridges, and washing machines.
Sewer Lines
Sewer lines are the main lines that the drains lead into. Sewer lines carry the wastewater from the building and connect to a main sewage system outside the property.
Septic Tanks
New constructions that don’t get plumbed into municipal sewage systems will need to treat their own wastewater. These buildings require a septic tank located on the grounds.
Since all of these different plumbing parts must work together correctly, they become part of the new construction at specific times during building.
For instance, pipes that run under flooring need fitting before the flooring gets laid. However, the tub they run into needs a floor to support it. So the builder must run pipes, lay the floors, then install the tub and connect its plumbing. As you can see, it’s a complicated process.
New Home Construction Variables
How much time plumbing will take in a new construction depends on several things, including the following:
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- The size and shape of the building. A two-story building takes longer to plumb than a single-story building. If the building is a simple shape, such as a rectangle, it will take less time than one with lots of twists and turns to run the piping through.
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- The number and position of water-using features in the kitchen.
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- The number of bathrooms. More bathrooms mean more time. If a bathroom has multiple plumbing fixtures, it will take longer to plumb than a half bathroom. The position of the bathrooms also makes a difference.
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- The size, position, and features of the laundry room.
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- The type of heating. If the heating of a new construction is water-based, then that will add to the plumbing time.
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- The type of sprinkler systems — whether the building has safety and/or garden sprinkler systems.
Builders and their plumbing contractors must plumb everything in a new construction that uses water—so the more there is to plumb, the longer the work takes.
The Importance of Planning
New constructions have many moving parts and involve different specialists coming onto building sites as they are needed. Careful planning is essential, as mistakes can be time-consuming and expensive.
Construction managers create detailed schedules for building projects, but every specialist team has its own planning to do.
Bathrooms in a New Home Construction
To answer the question, “How long does it take to plumb a house?” let’s look at a small but significant part of the new construction—a bathroom.
Planning
The first step in a bathroom plumbing project is for the plumber and client to decide on a budget and choose fixtures. This decision is often a compromise between what the client wants and what they can afford. The plumber will listen to the client’s ideas and then share the options, from which the client will pick out the permanent bathroom fixtures. These include
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- Bathtub
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- Sink
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- Shower stall
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- Toilet and toilet seat
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- Taps and showerhead
The plumber then buys the fixtures and arranges their delivery to the construction site in time for the plumbing project to commence. At this stage, the plumber also arranges for any local permits necessary for the project.
Preliminary Steps
The first actual building part of a new construction is the laying of foundations, and during this stage, the plumber lays piping and drainage, bringing water to and eventually waste from the building. They also dig any septic tanks necessary during this period.
New Construction Plumbing Rough In
As the building grows, the builders create rooms within the structure.
Roughed-in plumbing, in the form of pipes without fixtures for a bathroom project, happens at the same stage of the project as the electrical writing and ductwork.
Large fixtures like bathtubs often need to come in before the framing of doors that might be too narrow to fit through. However, as we previously mentioned, they need floors to support them.
When the roughed-in plumbing is complete, an official inspection of the work will be necessary before building the walls and floors to cover it.
Finishing Up
After the walls and floors are complete, the plumbing team returns to attach the bathroom fixtures to the pipes and drains.
If everything goes to plan, from roughing-in to completion should take 3 – 5 days.
The Rest of the New Construction
Because the bathroom takes 3-5 days, this doesn’t mean that every different area of plumbing takes an additional 3-5 days.
Constructing a new building is like an intricately choreographed dance, with specialists moving in and out of areas to do their parts in the time they have. On the day that plumbers rough-in the bathroom, they may well rough-in other rooms that need plumbing as well. Alternately, perhaps on that same day, they might put the finishing touches on a kitchen they’ve roughed-in earlier.
So our answer to the question, “How long does it take to plumb a house?” is that every project is different.
When you bring a project to Stellar Plumbing, we will sit down with you, draw up a plan, and explain the time involved in completing it.
New Construction Plumbing Services
Our team at Stellar Plumbing of Elk Grove Village, IL, has 17 years of experience and countless satisfied customers. Be sure to read our reviews from previous customers.
If you have questions about a new construction, or if you are building a new home or business and would like an estimate from us on doing the plumbing work, we are more than happy to talk with you and your general contractor and draw up a plan and a bid. Please call us with any questions about Stellar Plumbing.
Please call our Stellar Plumbing team today at 847-979-4552 to learn how we can help you with your new construction project in or around Elk Grove Village, IL.
Author Bio:
Steve Prodanov
President at Stellar Plumbing Inc. With more than 17 years of hands-on experience, Stellar Plumbing is your trusted partner in Elk Grove Village and the surrounding Northwest suburbs.
