how to learn to plumb a tiny house?

I'm building a relatively simple tiny house in a rural area. I suggest if you're going to build in the sticks / in the boonies / in BFE that you have the skills or have asked around to find if there are any competent trades people willing to come to your abode. Neither of these options is true in my case. Therefore, I need to learn to plumb. Is there a straightforward book that will keep me out of trouble? You know, gurgling pipes, poop that doesn't flow to the septic tank, p traps that let smells come in the house, ... There will be no plumbing inspection as there is no inspector and there is no planning department so I'm not accountable to anyone except myself; and I would like it to be done right so as to cause no problems down the road. So far, I have found hammerpedia.com which is great for bathroom plans; looks to me like it completely describes everything you would need to plumb any one of 17 different bathroom plans, as far as I can tell.
But, in addition to a bathroom which is only a toilet and a shower, I will have a washing machine and a kitchen sink. So since I don't know anything about venting or pipe sizing etc guidance to a plumbing book or website for new construction would be appreciated.

We had the same problem with not being able to find folks willing to come to do a paid job.

Luckily dear hubby at one time worked for a plumbing company.

That is a really good way to learn and get paid to learn.

I found lots of "how to learn plumbing" YouTubes.

Best wishes.

When I was just out of school, I got hold of a Readers Digest home handyman type book that kept me out of trouble.

There are many more options for plumbing a tiny house. Today, you can help through internet sources, like youtube. But I think you have to take the help of an expert plumber for better working for your tiny home. First, you have to manage your budget for plumbing. It may take $1,000 on plumbing and $300.  Also, you can use Pex, copper, and CPVC. But CVPC is so easiest for working in my opinion.

$6800 is how much the plumber wants for labor and to drive back and forth. I'm buying all the fixtures and his price still does not include parts. That's not doable for me and I need to get moved into this house so if anyone has first hand experience of useful sources of information for plumbing I would appreciate your share. My concerns are the venting and getting the right slope on things.

Horsepucky!

Look around for a handyman, not a plumber and tell him what you need. It might be bad advice, but I know I could plumb a tiny house so that guy should be able to with ease.

Really it's not hard, don't quit on the idea of doing it yourself. If I was advising myself, I would say:

"Use pex for your supply lines. It's easy cause it's flexible and if you spring for the good pex clamper tool it's no problem to get a good seal. Use mechanical, "cheater" vents for your drain lines instead of cutting holes in your roof. For a small house I wouldn't worry to much about slope, just make sure it goes downhill.... 1 inch in 10 feet sounds good off the top of my head. More wouldn't hurt."

Howdy,

I got this book, 20 yrs. ago,

https://oasisdesign.net/greywater/createanoasis/

And then I found this, as usual,

https://permies.com/wiki/43124/Create-Oasis-Greywater-Art-Ludwig

denise ra wrote:$6800 is how much the plumber wants for labor and to drive back and forth. I'm buying all the fixtures and his price still does not include parts. That's not doable for me and I need to get moved into this house so if anyone has first hand experience of useful sources of information for plumbing I would appreciate your share. My concerns are the venting and getting the right slope on things.

I ran my vent pipe through the wall and then up so it would vent out above the roof. It may not be to code where you are but it works.

Regarding slope, some levels have a second set of lines that you can use get the proper slope. See picture below.

Resource-wise I referred to the Hammerpedia website and diy plumbing books from the library to plumb my house.  

In the Midwest right now, the trades shortage is so bad you probably don't want anyone who is available.  Anybody worth anything is booked solid as far as they want to write in their calendar.  

Pex supply lines are easy.  My only pointer is to avoid splices and elbows as much as possible.  The pipe will bend around most corners.

Grey water needs drain slope but is a little forgiving as long as you don't try to go uphill. Black is the pain, big pipe and critical for the slope; but I think you were doing compost toilet so no worries.

denise ra wrote:I'm building a relatively simple tiny house in a rural area. I suggest if you're going to build in the sticks / in the boonies / in BFE that you have the skills or have asked around to find if there are any competent trades people willing to come to your abode. Neither of these options is true in my case. Therefore, I need to learn to plumb. Is there a straightforward book that will keep me out of trouble? You know, gurgling pipes, poop that doesn't flow to the septic tank, p traps that let smells come in the house, ... There will be no plumbing inspection as there is no inspector and there is no planning department so I'm not accountable to anyone except myself; and I would like it to be done right so as to cause no problems down the road. So far, I have found hammerpedia.com which is great for bathroom plans; looks to me like it completely describes everything you would need to plumb any one of 17 different bathroom plans, as far as I can tell.
But, in addition to a bathroom which is only a toilet and a shower, I will have a washing machine and a kitchen sink. So since I don't know anything about venting or pipe sizing etc guidance to a plumbing book or website for new construction would be appreciated.

Have you got this all worked out, Denise? A floor plan would help and I could give you a list of all the things you need including what ABS/PVC fittings you need. Venting is very easy but it's best to keep all or as many plumbing fixtures sharing a wall, back to back. Which will allow you to keep the number of stacks exiting the roof.

Does/will this tiny house have a crawl space? Will it have an attic which is nice for joining up vent pipes so only ONE NEED EXIT THE HOUSE. Even without an attic one can frame in vent stacks/cover them with nice lumber/board hoarding so they don't de-beautify your beautiful tiny house.

The Canadian national plumbing code is available online for free to download: https://nrc.canada.ca/en/certifications-evaluations-standards/codes-canada/codes-canada-publications/national-plumbing-code-canada-2015

denise ra wrote: My concerns are the venting and getting the right slope on things.

I think this is getting overthought. Denise, all you have to do is look on the internet for a picture guide to GLUED pipe fittings. Toilets need BIG PIPE/BIG FITTINGS, all say 4 inch. The names are the same no matter the size of the drain/pipe.

ONLY TWO THINGS TO REMEMBER -

ONE, stick as close to a slope of 1/4"  drop per foot for all  horizontal runs. Too much slope means water runs faster which CAN cause solids to be left behind which can mean future blockages, POTENTIALLY!. This is especially true for long runs of the heavy solids, aka toilet waste.  A tiny house doesn't have long runs.

TWO, Once you get to the venting portions you can forget all about SLOPE because these are ONLY air lines which ensure enough air flow so there is no gurgling.

Your sinks, tubs, ... waste lines can all be 1 1/2" PVC [white] or ABS [black] drainline. Look at the pictures of the fittings and visualize what fitting it is that you need to join the pipes togther with to "snake" your way to the final drop into the main big waste drain line.

Here is an example of what I mean. This pictorial example uses 2" drain line with reducers to join up to the 1 1-2" p-traps on the sinks. You are looking at all the fittings you need to go from your sink to your main 4 inch drainline. It is basically the same thing as learning all the names of a large group of new friends at a large dinner party. "Nice to meet you Ms 2" x 1 1/2" Sanitary Tee".

https://s3.amazonaws.com/finehomebuilding.s3.tauntoncloud.com/app/uploads/2016/04/09111750/021229086-01_ld.jpg

Draw yourself a picture by standing in front of the wall  where the drain line will run. EXAMPLE: Bath sink: 1) 1.5 inch P-trap, 2)
1- 1.5" 90 degree elbow 3) 1- 1.5" x 1.5" by 1.5" sweep 90 degree and you are now running the lavatory wastes into the vertical 1 1/2 inch pipe in the wall behind your sink. Or maybe even the main 4" line, it all depends on the layout which means the FLOOR PLAN.

Same for the kitchen sink which might be on the same wall but opposite to your bath sink.  Even go to a Home Depot and pick these fittings up visualizing each plumbing fixture. I can see it all in my mind because I have done it enough times to be able to see it. You can do this too, it will only take you a bit more time. IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, it is only learning the names of a few different plumbing fittings. You CAN even buy a bunch extra and take the ones you don't need back.

As I said, if you give me/us a floor plan we could make a list of the needed fittings, with their NAMES so you could hand it to a Lowe's salesperson. The floor plan can be VERY cursory, you need not be an architect OR a draftswoman. You can cut the plastic pipe with a hand saw, and gluing the fittings/pipe together is child's play. YOU CAN SAVE BIG BUCKS AND HAVE THE SATISFACTION of doing it deniseself!

This is actually easier than framing.