Most insane plumbing project ever?

[MACABUS]

For my first DIY plumbing job ever, I decided to install a spa shower with 6 Kohler WaterTiles, rainfall head and handheld – all with separate valves and three separate pressure loops.

Just finished sweating it all together – and no leaks!

Check out the photos and let me know if you think this is the most insane DIY project ever.

 

[FullySprinklered]

My first thought is that the valve might end up buried too deep in the wall once the tile board and tile are installed. However, I'm totally unfamiliar with the hardware and I don't get a good depth perspective from the photo. Very ambitious in any case for a first timer.

 

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[MACABUS]

My first thought is that the valve might end up buried too deep in the wall once the tile board and tile are installed. However, I'm totally unfamiliar with the hardware and I don't get a good depth perspective from the photo. Very ambitious in any case for a first timer.

Thanks for your input "fullysprinklered".

I was so completely obsessed with horror stories of plumbers who hated installing these WaterTiles that I fabricated a sample of my travertine tile and cement board with a layer of Kerdi and thinset – then measured the installed fixtures at least 5 times to ensure they would fit exactly within the enclosure.

 

[Plumber69]

My first thought is why?

 

[Dj2]

The title of the post, "Most insane..." is right on...

 

[MACABUS]

My first thought is why?

Well, I only have a 100 sq. ft. master bath, and decided to make the redo as great as it could be. 12x24 Vein-cut travertine on walls and floor, top of the line Kohler fixtures, and my elbow grease for the plumbing work.

Plus, I got all fixtures and premium tile at cost, so my response to you is "why not?"

 

[hj]

Impressive, but overdone. The balancing loops do absolutely nothing other than use up a lot of time, pipe and fittings. I would have used FIP outlet tees for the body sprays. Where does the pipe going to the left go to?

 

[CountryBumkin]

Nice work.
I did something similar (3 body spray, rain head, spray wand) but I used PEX. It's a lot easier to work with but you need support for each valve in the right place (of course).

I read (either here or maybe Fine Home Building mag) that a balance loop was needed (or at least recommended) when there are multiple spray heads (i.e. body jets) otherwise the stream from the multiple heads will not be equal in spray/strength.

 

[MACABUS]

Impressive, but overdone. The balancing loops do absolutely nothing other than use up a lot of time, pipe and fittings. I would have used FIP outlet tees for the body sprays. Where does the pipe going to the left go to?

Thanks for your input"hj".

Actually, I spoke with an engineer at Kohler about balancing loops and showed him a schematic of my spa shower – he was 100% sure that I would have problems without them in a multiple WaterTile installation.

There are several videos on YouTube that show the dramatic difference in pressure without the loops – especially with an upper and lower WaterTile on the same line.

My main concern was that I have one shot at getting everything right before the walls are covered with cement board, then Kerdi, then expensive large-format travertine. Putting in balancing loops is a relatively small price to pay for peace-of-mind.

BTW, the pipe on the left goes to a hand sprayer with rail.

 

[WorthFlorida]

I've read somewhere on this forum that after a certain number of shower heads the drain or drains must be a minimum size. You might dump more water than one drain can handle. If you have any kids that might want to play in the show while your not home you could have an overflow.
How did you leak test? Where all of the outlets capped off with at least one with a valve to purge the air out and keep the pressure on for a day or two.
Any pics yet on the completed project? It looks impressive.

 

[MACABUS]

I've read somewhere on this forum that after a certain number of shower heads the drain or drains must be a minimum size. You might dump more water than one drain can handle. If you have any kids that might want to play in the show while your not home you could have an overflow.
How did you leak test? Where all of the outlets capped off with at least one with a valve to purge the air out and keep the pressure on for a day or two.
Any pics yet on the completed project? It looks impressive.

Thanks WorthFlorida,

Yes, I was quite obsessed about the whole drain situation. As I've heard many horror stories about "showers gone wrong."

My goal was to create a custom linear drain with a nearly "invisible" slot at the shower wall – with a full 18 gallons per minute flow that this system will put out.

After navigating many plumbing and building code websites, I settled on a 5/16 slot over about 6 feet – which was almost double the grate-free area that my local code requires.

And just to be safe, I actually built a model of the drain system at 1/4 scale and tested it multiple times to make sure it drained correctly – and without any "gurgling" noises.

The attached photo shows the "over-engineered" drainage systems that utilizes both the 2" bath drain and the 1.5" shower drain.

 

[chefjeff]

Incredible work for the DIY! And the scale replica for the drain experiment is awesome.

Any photos of the final shower? What are your thoughts on the bodysprays? How is the pressure with all of the bodysprays on vs just half of them?

 

[DIYorBust]

I'm super impressed, but what does it do?

 

[Fitter30]

Looks good but no water hammer arrestors.

 

[Reach4]

Looks good but no water hammer arrestors.

No quick-closing valves, so I don't think arrestors are needed.