This week my primary goal is to get our water working again.  Currently we have removed all plumbing back to the main valve on the wall so we have a blank canvas with which to work.  I’m packaging all the mechanical items in one compact 13″ deep corner between our front wall and a chimney.  This tiny space will contain our gas meter, water heater (acting as both a boiler and a water heater), pumps, distribution manifolds, and all the associated plumbing.

In the Sketchup image above you can see our Noritz tankless water heater (white) at the top with its 3″ PVC intake and exhaust pipes and 3/4″ gas line (yellow).  On the right, our three zone supply (top) and return (bottom) manifolds.  These will have 3/4″ PEX running to smaller manifolds (very top) on under each floor which will make 2x 3/8″ PEX circuits through the floors.  If you were wondering: missing from this sketch are all the valves, water pumps and PEX tubing.  One day.

After the planning, the next step, and my job for the night, is to get the 3/4″ pressure treated plywood mounted to struts hung from the joists.  This is the same technique we used for the electrical panels last weekend.