Planning the plumbing

[lcs]

I have a stooopid question about planning out the plumbing. What's the best, most accurate way to determine the length of pipe and the number/kind of fittings? How much will I need to take into consideration the length of pipe that is inside the fittings - which is how much usually?

Can I just get close measurements and adjust from there? I don't want to spend a lot of time going back and forth shaving off a millimeter here and there.

I've imagined myself saving all our paper towel and toilet paper rolls and mocking up the plumbing that way. :spin2:

[motojoe1988]

Multiple trips to h.d haha. Or measure 3 times and fewer trips. Good luck.

[Gorgok]

You could do multiple trips, or 2 trips. Get enough 45s, 90s, tees, etc that you can do many designs. Once you got the one you like, return the rest.

[Wills612]

You could do multiple trips, or 2 trips. Get enough 45s, 90s, tees, etc that you can do many designs. Once you got the one you like, return the rest.

90's and 45's are practically free, buy extra you will use them down the road. Plan out how many unions, ball valve and gate valves you want. PVC pipe is also pretty cheap so buy a few sticks.

[jpjr]

Defiantly draw it out on paper first. That 30 minutes or so of a sketch will help a ton! I would at least double what you think you need on ball valves and unions. One thing I did for the unions and ball valves is step them up a size. If your using 1" PVC, get 1 1/4" fittings and reducers. The inside of those are actually a little smaller than the PVC and will cause more resistance. What I thought was enough ended up being way too few! Get the contractor packs of the 90's, 45's and couplings. Makes those very inexpensive items even less! Trust me, you will use them at some point. I purchased some cheap clear containers at walmart and have them all separated so when I start a new project its a lot easier to make one trip to lowes/HD and not 3-4. Also, invest in a pair of PVC cutters.... I started cutting with a hacksaw and what a pain and messy! With these, you can cut the pieces a couple inches longer than you think and with four clicks of the tool...its cut shorter, and clean!

Good luck with your project!

[lcs]

Thanks guys!

I've done a couple drawings, but without any measurements, just to get a rough idea of where pipes would go. I'll do that next. Good suggestion on the contractor packs :thumbsup:. I was looking at those cutters, they're nice and not expensive. I've cut PVC for one small project using a hacksaw and yeah, a pain and messy!

Good luck with your project!Thanks!! :)

[bad santa]

You will usuall have 1/2" of PVC going into each fitting. So if you need to have a PVC section be 13" then cut it at 14" to account for what goes into the fittings. I would also dry fit your plumbing untill you have everything cut and set up and if you like the way it came out then glue it all up.

[degibson84]

i drew out my plumbing plans then bought a few extra 90s just incase it didn't work the way i planned. Then i just bought a 10ft section of PVC for each drain and return. this might be more than you need but my sump is in the next room over so i needed plumbing to go through the wall

[rocking]

first off need more info on the tipe f systom your trying to make ?i