Tiny House Construction: Plumbing & Electrical Rough-In

Posted on 31/08/2017 under My Tiny House Project

Tiny House Construction: Plumbing & Electrical Rough-In
Watch a time lapse to see what I have been up to: After many moons away from the project, followed by many more researching and planning the next stages of the build, some progress finally occurred in the house! A huge thank you to Brady who came over from Vancouver to help for the weekend. I was also fortunate to connect with Jake, an electrician who agreed to answer all of my (many) questions on the electrical planning as well as actually carry out the work. Thanks guys, I appreciate the support. The first job was to construct the toilet/shower room wall and install a loft bean above. It was nice to get the sawdust flowing again. I opted to screw the framing together, instead of dealing with the framing nailer. I like having an ‘undo’ button! img_7053 Something I had been meaning to get around to in the planning phase was figuring out a detailed layout of the plumbing (i.e. the bends and distributions of the pipes). However ‘decision fatigue’ stopped me getting this far by myself. I wasn’t sure how easy this was going to be, but I asked Brady to start looking in to how things could get laid out while I popped to the store to get supplies. By the time I was back he had it all planned out! After so much research, so much learning and so many decisions made it was a real treat to let someone else lead fore a while. Once he had a plan figured out we started working on putting together the plumbing ‘board’, fixing everything in to place using a PEX crimper I had rented for the weekend. img_7058-2 Brady and I also dry-fitted the shower, sink and started figuring out the drains. This involved cutting the first holes in the bottom of the trailer. This was a little nerve-racking, but successful! By the end of the weekend we had a descent chunk of the plumbing complete. The very next day after Brady left, Jake arrived to start the electrical rough-in. This too had taken a lot of work to get to this stage, so it was really nice to have a professional run the show, with me working as his ‘apprentice’. I also didn’t have to think too much and instead just did what I was told, which was refreshing. Jake had very kindly (and patiently!) assisted me over email and continued to talk me through everything, to make sure I understood what was happening. We got all of the gang boxes (for outlets and switches) installed, as well as fixtures for the lights and ceiling fans. img_8687 We also added some boxes to the outside of the house for power in (through an extension cord), ethernet in (for internet) and an exterior outlet that we will use to power lights on the (eventual) deck etc. img_8685 We will also be ‘bonding’ the electrical panel to the trailer… which once explained to me sounded like a very good idea. img_8688 After a couple of days ‘rough-in’, the first stage of the electrical work was done. It was great to make some more progress with the project and see the inside of the house taking shape. img_8690 I learned a lot from Jake (like what ‘3-wire’ and ‘home runs’ are), but mainly I felt reassured that I had made the right decision in not attempting to tackle this myself! Money well spent and a fun couple of days to boot. More to come in the autumn… I just need to convince the guys to come back.

One thought on "Tiny House Construction: Plumbing & Electrical Rough-In"

  1. Jessica Hawes says:
    September 14, 2017 at 2:09 am

    Glad to be back with you “on site”. That all seems to be going according to plan. Well done! Grandma