Rough In Mechanicals
Once the framing is complete and the roof shingles are installed, we can begin “rough in” for the mechanicals. Mechanicals are electric, plumbing, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), low voltage, and fire suppression systems.
Rough in refers to the work necessary to connect the mechanicals from the public utility services to the electric panel, furnace, water heaters, air conditioning units, plumbing fixtures, etc. and make them operable at the end user points. Almost all of this work is behind what will be the finished walls, so once your home is complete, you will not be able to see most of what was done.
Our plumber and HVAC contractors first determine where plumbing lines and venting for the HVAC system will be. After the plumber and HVAC contractors have installed their respective components, the electrician and low voltage contractors will run conduit, and place switch and outlet boxes. After that, our fire suppression contractor will install fire sprinkler heads and the associated sprinklers system components. When these are complete, the plumber will connect the fire suppression system to the water supply line.
Completing the rough in mechanical process typically takes 4-6 weeks. Before starting we will need a schedule of the plumbing and lighting fixtures, appliances, cabinet layouts, security system, data hardwire locations, built in details (such as window boxes, or bench seating in kitchen), speaker locations, coffered ceiling design. If we do not have this information, there will be delays to the closing date and added cost to modify the systems that were installed. In order to work within our preferred timeline, we ask our clients to have these decisions complete by the start of framing.