When you look at the inside of a newly built custom home everything looks so pristine, new, and beautiful. If you like the scent of a new car, it doesn’t even compare to new home smell! The sheetrock is freshly painted, the moldings are nice and straight, the cabinets and fixtures are all perfectly installed. What a lot of homeowners don’t realize is that there is more than meets the eye in their new home! They see the beauty of the completed project, but may have no idea of how the walls are hiding the major systems of their new home. We would like to take this opportunity to discuss what’s between the walls of your new custom home on Long Beach Island.
During the construction of your new home there are certain materials that are installed at different times. One of the most important phases after the foundation and framing the home are what’s known in the industry as “roughs”. Roughs include rough plumbing, rough electrical, and HVAC. This is when all of your major mechanical systems are installed. This phase comes after the home has been framed, sheathed, and the roof is completed.
What are roughs in a new custom home on Long Beach Island?
Rough plumbing includes installation of all the plumbing lines and pipes for the sinks, tubs and toilets, as well as the appliances that need water like the dishwasher and washing machine. This is the time that all of the tubs in the home are installed. There are two kinds of plumbing pipes installed: supply pipes and waste pipes. Rough electrical includes the installation of all the wiring for things like outlets, appliances, switches, fixture mounts for lighting and fans, the breaker panel, and sub panels. Mechanicals for the rough HVAC installation include the furnace, ducting and air returns, exhaust ducts and units, vents, fireplace, air conditioning components, and hot water heater components. It’s very possible that the electricians, plumbers, and HVAC contractors are working side by side during the rough stage. In addition, all of these mechanicals installed must pass local municipal inspections before the builder can proceed further with the home’s construction.
Of course, there is a lot more to the rough installation process than we are able to cover in this article; however, we invite all of our homeowners to walk their home with us after the roughs are installed. We recommend they videotape the walls before we sheetrock so that they have a record of where all of the roughs are located between the walls. This can make a big difference if ever they need to access something, or they are doing work on the home after closing and need to know where these major systems are located so they don’t damage them. Stonehenge Building and Development has been building custom homes on Long Beach Island for over 20 years. We would love the opportunity to build your new home. Please contact us today for more details or to view our home plans.