This summer our crews rebuilt the bathroom plumbing in homes that Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity is renovating in Spanaway and neighboring Elk Plain. Habitat renovates homes like these for income-qualified, first-time homebuyers, and each one needed its tub or shower replaced and its plumbing brought up to date. This is the first of three posts on that work.
What We Did
Each house was walked and measured in May, before anything was torn out, and the work started with demolition in June. On the 10th, James stripped the bathroom of an Elk Plain home down to the studs, taking out the old tub and its surround and the old water heater so the rough-in crew could follow. In another Elk Plain home that same week, Kendrick set a new left-hand tub in the opened wall, ran new drain and supply piping, and finished the whole scope the next day, ready for inspection.
On the 12th, in a Spanaway home, James took out an old shower and its surround so a new tub and surround could go in, and Aiden came out on the 23rd for the rehab work. Across these houses the scope also covered hose bibs, washer connections, the shutoff valves under the sinks and toilets (nine in each of the Elk Plain homes) and each home’s main water shutoff. Habitat supplied hybrid water heaters for these homes, and that part of the work gets its own post.
Why It Matters
- The walkthrough sets the scope. Each house was walked in May with the bathroom measured and every fixture written into the scope, so the crews arrived in June knowing what each home needed.
- Stripping to the studs exposes the old pipe. With the wall open, the crew can replace the drain and supply piping behind the tub instead of connecting new fixtures to old pipe.
- Shutoffs at every fixture limit the damage from a leak. With new valves under each sink and toilet and a working main shutoff, a future leak can be stopped at the fixture or at the house before it spreads.
Why Spanaway
Spanaway and Elk Plain sit in unincorporated Pierce County, so work like this is permitted and inspected by the county, and many homes here depend on wells and septic systems rather than city utilities. These neighborhoods are also close to home for us, because our shop sits where Parkland and Spanaway meet. More on our work in Spanaway and across Tacoma.
Planning a Bathroom Rebuild
Whether it is a single tub or a whole bathroom down to the studs, call us or request service and we will tell you what we find before any work starts.
More: bathroom fixtures and shower valves · remodel and rebuild plumbing · rough-in plumbing · plumbing in Spanaway
