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Cabin Crawlspace and plumbing...

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Cabin Crawlspace and plumbing... (post #185781)

daveyespos on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 12:35 (updated 03/07/10 - 03:28) 
in

Hi All,

My wife and I just purchased a 800 sq. ft. cabin near Corning NY on 20 acres around it.

We are planning on adding a well and running water fairly soon. I just wanted to get some advice on how best to protect the pipes from freezing once we run our plumbing. The cabin currently has no insulation under the cabin floor and no skirting around the cabin. So it's a bit of a blank slate! :)

The floor joists are 2x10, the cabin walls are 2x6 and insulated.

Thanks for the help!

Dave from Rochester, NY

-A +A

Will it be occupied at all (post #185781, reply #1 of 7)

by DanH in reply to daveyespos [original] on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 12:59

Will it be occupied at all during freezing weather?  If so, will it be occupied more or less continuously (at least most weekends), or only occasionally?


We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

Hi Dan, Thanks for the (post #185781, reply #2 of 7)

by daveyespos in reply to DanH [original] on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 14:36

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the reply. Yes we will be doing year round living there. I'm attaching a photo...

I have done some research. Seems like a multi pronged approach might be the way to go; heat tape around the pipes. Skirting all the way around, Insulation in the floor joists; obvious stuff to me - I'm just wondering what else - and will that even work. It get's cold; occasionaly below zero but mainly in the teens...definitely cold enough to freeze things!

Thanks for any further thoughts!

DAve

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Use PEX along with your other (post #185781, reply #3 of 7)

by DaveRicheson in reply to daveyespos [original] on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 04:03

Use PEX along with your other insulation protocall.

I've been banging my head (post #185781, reply #4 of 7)

by wane in reply to daveyespos [original] on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 06:38

I've been banging my head putting in and taking out water systems for cottages for way to long, here's a link to the only way it should be done (http://www.cottagewatersupply.com/).  This takes care of your supply, as for distribution and drain lines these should all be internal and sloped to common drains that you can just open to drain before going.  Use bell traps instead of p-traps on shower drains.

Dave,   Aside from using (post #185781, reply #5 of 7)

by crazycorms in reply to daveyespos [original] on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 18:09

Dave,

 

Aside from using 3/4" pex  tubing throughout your cabin, it is imperative that your pressure tank be located in a well insulated and warm location.   We re-plumbed our camp with 3/4" Pex, heat tape, and insulated skirting around the perimeter.  We got a couple of frozen areas but it takes a while to get everything just right and draft free.  Next time, I would consider building an insulated chase to run the plumbing and heat tape through.  Take your time and plan it out well, the slightest breeze can freeze the supplies in the coldest weather.

check out the link above (post #185781, reply #6 of 7)

by wane in reply to crazycorms [original] on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 06:21

check out the link above

AH!! Good excuse to buy a (post #185781, reply #7 of 7)

by junkhound in reply to daveyespos [original] on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 06:57

AH!!

Good excuse to buy a used backhoe or bobcat!

Here is what I'd do if living there year around. 

Dig a basement under that cabin and pour 6" or thicker concrete walls or 8" block (block likely easier) with 2" external styrofoam insulation to below 6 ft down or more.  Gravel under the floor covered with poly sheet, no insulation under the floor. 

For the size and shape cabin in the pix, I'd most likely dig and install the basement right next to the cabin, then slide the cabin over onto the new foundation/basement. 

On my external pumphouse, did a ground temperature calculation and superinsulated the pump house so that the ground heat up thru the floor would keep the inside of the pumphouse above freezing for the worst case recorded temp  (which is only  zero degF here, colder where you are).

Of course, if the cabin is simply a place to live while you build a bigger house, then just do the drain and pex items already advised.

 

Have fun

BTW, put camo netting over the hole while building, slide the cabin over during a weekend, that way you can likely avoid the pain of any permits!