Planning the long fix

Michael and I went out to lunch yesterday to discuss the plumbing repair, which he's confident we can do ourselves. I am pretty sure we were the only people at The Last Resort Grill - probably the only people in Athens - with Taunton's Plumbing Complete on the table, talking about PEX.

The plan is to remove all of the polybutylene pipe, so basically replumb all of the connections to the second floor. We'll attach the new 2nd floor hot and cold lines where the old lines were, thread the plumbing up through the wall and correctly attach it to the studs, and connect to the fixtures in the 2nd floor bathroom. Michael thinks some of the lines from the main line to the fixtures (tiolet, bath, and tub) are PVC, so if they look fine we may leave those. All the drains are fine; we just need to do the supply lines.

To get access we'll need to open up some drywall. The ceiling in the first floor bathroom - above which the burst pipe occurred (see below) - is squishy. Our homeowner's insurance is sending someone out to look at it on Tuesday, and said for us to not wait - go ahead and open it up so they can see the situation. Because we have a pedestal sink upstairs, we'll need to get into the wall behind it, which should be pretty straightforward to open up and then patch.



We developed a list of what we'll need to do and buy. Michael thinks we can do this in 2 days of steady work.

To do:

• Find out if we need a permit or some kind of inspection process for this work from the city.
• Figure out the exact path of the lines in question from the basement to the second floor - and where we'd like them to run.
• Deal with the insurance company process. They apparently will cover ceiling repair but not the re-plumbing, and we have a $1000 deductible, but once we have them in the house this should become more clear.
• Figure out what the rules are for disposing of dead drywall and pipes. Do they go in the trash? If the amount is too big for our can (it will be), can we haul them to the dump? (I think we actually have a dump!)

To buy for the plumbing:

• 3/4 inch PEX line for the main supply lines (hot and cold). It comes in 100-foot lengths, which is probably about right.
• 2 ball valves so we can shut off the water line by line in future if necessary.
• 1/2 in PEX line to go from the supply lines to the fixtures. Try to get less than 100 feet.
• Fittings to tie into the existing lines in the basement (currently capped), which are 3/4 inch PVC with a male fitting.
• Fittings to tie the new 1/2 inch line to the fixtures (see what's there).
• Fittings to attach the 3/4 inch line to the 1/2 inch line at the branches off to the fixtures.
• 90 degree angle fittings for any curves - PEX kinks if you try to bend it much.
• A PEX crimper tool and crimper rings for all fitting connections.
• PEX cutting tool.
• Special stapler to attach PEX to studs.

For prep and cleanup:

• Drywall cutter.
• Heavy duty trash bags.
• Plastic drop cloths and tape to seal off work areas.
• Dust masks.
• Shop vac (this will probably be useful long-term, so it makes sense to buy.)
• If needed by path of lines, drill bits to drill holes for PEX to go through studs.

This sounds like a lot of work, but I am actually really energized by the project. Cool weather (supposedly coming after this week of 90 degrees) would be a big help.