Domestic water supply is a pipe circuit from the riser, which usually runs in the toilet, to consumers. The complexity of the piping scheme depends on the location of the plumbing fixtures. It will not be difficult to lay out water supply pipes in the apartment with your own hands if you have the skills to work with a welding machine that solders plastic pipes, and correctly draw up the layout of the pipe products.
Water system design
It is necessary to begin to carry out water supply with the preparation of a project, which is drawn in sketch form on a sketch in paper. Plumbing fixtures are distributed on the apartment plan, to which water pipes will be stretched. To consumers from the riser passing through the floors, it is necessary to draw lines indicating pipes, so that the distance to be connected has a minimum length.
Pipe wiring in apartments is assembled according to a tee or collector scheme. The first is plumbing fixtures connected to the pipe in series. The second - a collector with several connecting pipes is installed. One with a larger diameter is connected to the riser, the others with smaller diameters are connected in parallel with the consumers.
The first scheme is easier to install and more economical in terms of material consumption. The second is more efficient in terms of water supply. Water will reach each consumer in the required volume and with a constant pressure. But this scheme is complex, with a large consumption of source material. In small apartments, choose a tee wiring.
After choosing a method for distributing water pipes and creating a sketch, you need to calculate how much material will go to the water supply. Since the diagram on paper is made to scale, it will not be difficult to calculate the lengths of pipe sections that are summed. Here, on the diagram, the installation locations of fittings: tees and bends will be clearly visible. It is necessary to calculate their number.
In all apartments, technological holes were made in the walls and partitions for water supply. If the layout of the new wiring changes, you will have to make new holes with your own hands using a punch. This is not always a simple process, especially if you have to hollow load-bearing structures.
Water pipe
The ideal option is a polypropylene pipe. The advantages of the product include low cost, ease of connection using a special welding machine, which operates on a 220-volt network.
On the market, polypropylene pipe is presented in two versions:
- for cold water supply (blue strip on the outer surface);
- for hot (red bar).
The second one can be used in cold water supply; the first one cannot be installed in hot water supply. Fittings are standard, withstand temperatures up to + 95 ° C.
Stages of installation of a water supply system in an apartment
To begin installation of a water pipe made of propylene in an apartment with your own hands, you need to put pipe wiring places on the walls. In some cases, laying is carried out on the floor. Marking is done with a pencil or chalk. It is important to set the lines on the same damage from the floor.
There are two types of installation:
- hidden;
- open.
The first - water pipes are laid in the gates, which are made in the wall or floor. These are grooves with a depth of 1.5-2 diameters of stacked pipes. After the installation is completed, the strobes are sealed with repair compounds: cement-sand, gypsum, plaster or putty.If the strobes are made in the floor, they are poured with screed in the process of leveling the floor base.
An open installation method is to fasten pipes to walls using plastic clamps (clips). The latter are attached to the wall surfaces with self-tapping screws on the dowels.
Mounting Features:
- if hidden wiring is carried out, the hot water supply pipe is always laid to the right of the cold water supply line or from above;
- in an open circuit, a hot water circuit is mounted on top of a cold water pipe;
- if the total length of the water circuit does not exceed 10 m, pipes with a diameter of 20 mm can be used;
- if this parameter is in the range of 10-30 m, it is better to use pipes with a diameter of 25 mm;
- if the length of the water supply exceeds 30 m, it is recommended to install pipes with a diameter of 32 mm.
In the collector scheme for the formation of a water supply system in an apartment, a large number of pipe circuits are used. To reduce them, a combined version is often used - one pipe is carried out to each room, and plumbing fixtures are connected to it separately through a collector.
Pipe installation
According to the sketch made, pieces of pipes are cut. It is better to measure their length by gates and cut with a special pipe cutter. Instead, you can use a hacksaw for metal. The main requirement is a flat cut end.
When applying size to a pipe, it must be borne in mind that its ends will be soldered into the fittings. Therefore, each end is slightly extended by 1.5-2 cm.
The main requirement for the welding process is to heat the product to the required temperature and insert it into each other without rotation.
Installation itself can begin from the riser to plumbing fixtures or vice versa. The pipe sections laid in the strobes must be fixed inside the grooves. There are several options, the simplest is to screw a self-tapping screw into the shtroba and tie the pipe to it with a knitting wire. If a small diameter pipe is used to carry out water supply in the apartment, you can not mount it. A repair compound will hold the water supply network inside the grooves well.
Eyeliner for plumbing fixtures
There are two ways to connect a plumbing fixture to the plumbing system: rigid and flexible. The first option requires high accuracy of bringing the pipe to the plumbing fixture. The error is allowed within 1-5 mm. But this type of connection has a big plus - the lack of an intermediate element. One threaded connection is used for docking.
More often they use a flexible type of connection using hoses (sleeves), however there is some type of equipment that can only be connected firmly. These are gas-fired heating boilers or columns, as well as storage towel rails and storage water heaters.
Flexible eyeliner is easier to connect. Here it is not required to accurately lead the pipes to plumbing fixtures. But this kind of connection has its drawbacks:
- two threaded joints, which are always a potential leak point;
- the quality of the hoses affects the long-term operation of the connection point.
Hoses on the market are represented by two modifications. The polymer version is used to connect a washing machine and dishwasher. The connection is made with plastic union nuts. Stainless steel braided hose nuts are chrome-plated or made of brass. In both cases, rubber or polymer gaskets are installed inside the union nuts.
