(Things have been crazy so I am catching up…) Now that framing is done, we move onto MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing). This whole process took about 3-4 weeks. Different subs were in and out every week and the windows were also installed during this period.

Mechanical: The HVAC guy started by installing the ducts and vents throughout the house. We had to discuss where to install the return vents. Contractor said to put it up on the wall near the ceiling in the family room… I think this maybe makes sense from an efficiency standpoint (it would better pull the hot air and keep it cool), but aesthetically I am not having it. So it’s going on the floor in the family room instead. We will work around it.

It definitely got a little crowded under the house with all these pipes and ducts fighting for space.

Eventually he installed the actual indoor units as well. The heat pump has these coil things hanging around outside in and the walls ready to be connected to the outdoor part of the unit.

Electrical: I walked through the house with the electrician and pointed out where to put all the outlets, recessed/flush mount lighting, which switches to control which lights etc. He started by just nailing in the little electric boxes in each location to make sure I liked the set up before he started the actual wiring. We had to add about 25 extra lights/switches/outlets from the original plans because the contractor actually *had* to demo more walls than the architect expected. So tack on an extra $6K to the bill for that.

Plumbing: The plumber mostly just did his thing. I had to have the bath/shower valves (the part that goes inside the wall) ready for him at this point, but we don’t need the actual trim (the handles and shower heads) for a long time. Basically you have to choose the brand of shower fixtures you want pretty early, but you can take your time with the actual finish design.

Also around this time they did some kind of leak test where they pressurize the system or something. They found some leaks…