Apartment project that I am working on

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phishfood

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Since I have joined this forum, I have been on quite a few different jobsites.

The company that I work for specializes in apartments, hotels, repetetive stuff like that where you are building the same bathroom or kitchen over and over again.

Anyway, today was my first day on a new project, and I snapped a few pictures to share. But unfortunately, one of them didn't turn out, and I managed to loose another one in email world.

So here is a picture of a ditch.

IMG_20120124_153911.jpg
 
Nice looking trench Phish. Whats the string used for?

Looks about 36" max. I wish I could get work in flat Florida.

I am about to start a sewer lateral job next week, my tie in is 11 foot deep and the building is up on top of a slope about ten foot higher then road level.
 
Thanks, Chris! I was operating, with a guy and shovel grading. The grade wasn't so hot, we had to do some more shovel work today before piping that section. It is 36" below finished floor level, minus~ 4" for below finished floor to the dirt. So the ditch is about 32" deep.

The string is used to mark where a wall will be once the building is framed. We will either bring piping up inside of the string, or use the string to pull a measurement off of. Getting the layout of the strings and the dimensions of the piping off of the strings is critical, otherwise it is jackhammer and PO'ed superintendant time.

Today's pictures:

mail.google.com1.jpeg

mail.google.com2.jpeg

mail.google.com3.jpeg
 
The shot on the left is of a floor drain and the kitchen sink drain that is also the vent for the floor drain. I installed this today, after I finished the digging, and before I worked out the dimensions for the AC chases in this building.

The center picture is of a back to back pool bathroom, women's bath on the left and men's bath on the right. The two green pipes sticking up are AC chases. During the building rough in phase, the AC contractor will utilize these to puch the refrigerant copper lines through between the air handler and condensing units.

The last one is of Jose on the mini excavator with Cladio in the ditch. They are digging out for the last two AC chases. The excavator is a Caterpillar 302.5, one of the small machines with rubber tracks. Not the best picture, but the sky sure is pretty.
 
Nice work, I like that mini-ex it's a pricy one I use a Bobcat 331 when I need one but would love to get one of those.
 
Also don't know how much you operate but a little trick to keeping a clean trench line is to curl your bucket and use the smooth side along the top edge of the trench on both sides to knock all the loose dirt into the trench as you go along if that makes any sense.
 
Yes it does. When the guy grading the ditch is having trouble keeping up with me, I will often do just exactly that. If I am having to hustle to stay ahead of him, I don't usually take the time.

I used to love the Bobcats, they broke down alot, but there was nothing that moved nearly as fast. The Cats have definitely gotten faster, though.

Do you mostly rent, or do you own most of your equipment?
 
Rent for now. With all the new laws going into place in CA it is not worth buying unless you buy new and thats expensive.
 
The first picture is of the water main tap that the site contractor installed over the weekend.

It is not the clearest. The blue pipe is 4" plastic, then a valve, then it reduces to 2" brass, then a tee with a plastic plug, then another brass nipple, then a threadxslip 2" PVC 90. Chris, is this common? I have had lots and lots of problems with the female PVC fittings splitting when used this way, to the point that I refuse to make up that kind of connection.

Another "interesting" thing to note is that our plans call for a 2 1/2" water main feeding the building, but the site utility plans call for a 2" feed. Makes no sense to me.

Alright, the second picture is of the water main that will be feeding the clubhouse under hydrostatic test. Yes, the gauge is reading right, I don't like leaks later on.
 
PVC is never allowed on a city water service. Out here once you transition to PVC you stay PVC until you get to the building then you transition back, you never mix and match parts.

We never transition with a bend. we always use a Female adapter then a 90 if it is neccessary. They are probably over tightening the 90 to the point of cracking it. You only need a few turns to seal it up and hold it on good.
 
Now that the pics are right side up, it looks like a great job. I just wish I understood plumbing better.
 
Phishfood, is the 2nd feed just to service the device without interrupting the water service? If so we do use a similar setup over on this coast but with a bypass and a 2ND device. Or is the spacer for a 2DN device and meter? Or am I way off base?

John
 
To be honest, that setup was installed by the sitework contractor. We only contract the plumbing in the buildings, including the final tie-in to the sewer and water. So I can't answer with real knowledge, but from what I can tell, the second feed is connected to the main input with a valve underground in between. My guess is that this is to allow water service to the project in the event that the main meter or the backflow device needs to be serviced. I think that this is the finished installation, with no later add-ons planned, so I am guessing that there would be no metering occuring if the bypass was utilized.

I was really hoping that Chris could offer some input on this setup, but he seems as confused as I am.:confused:
 
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