Over the coming weeks I plan to revive a small backlog of still unpublished icehouse rehabilitation drafts / posts-in-progress (updates that never made it off the workbench). It’s time to tie up loose ends or to braid them all together. It’s time to conclude one project before beginning a new one. To prime the metaphorical pump — and begin blurring my metaphors even earlier than normal — I’m starting somewhat unceremoniously this morning with “gas egress”. With what?!?! Today we recap the plumbing vents and exhausts for the icehouse transformation.
Plumbing Vents
Looking back a little less than a year after the icehouse plumbing vents and exhaust fan copper covers were installed (the final step in this project), it’s worth acknowledging how such simple solutions were not immediately evident.
Let’s start with the purpose of a plumbing vent (aka vent stack). This critical part of the wastewater system regulates air pressure — enabling the system to drain effectively — while evacuating offensive odors.
Because of the incredibly compact plan of the icehouse, determining where vents would be routed took more consideration that normal. And to further complicate the decision, I wanted to avoid any penetrations through the standing seam roof. I also did not want to rout any of the externally visible mechanicals out the east facade to avoid altering the historic view from Lake Shore Road. Due to these restriction and the location of the mechanical room on the north side of the building, we decided to cluster all through-wall penetrations on the north elevation.
In addition to the vent stack, several addition plumbing related penetrations were necessary for exhausting the boiler, intaking fresh air to the boiler, and outletting the exhaust fan.
Exhaust Fan
Somewhat unendearingly referred to as a “fart fan” by contractors, the exhaust fan evacuates air from the bathroom. This represented the only notable challenge in terms of routing the ductwork from the ceiling of the bathroom to the exterior wall. I didn’t want to compromise the structural integrity of the bathroom ceiling / loft floor joists. Ditto for the structural integrity of the wall studs. Fortunately the cabinetry which I designed into the north (and south) of the icehouse loft afforded a ductwork routing option to simplify the journey from fan to exterior duct.
Copper Covers
I’ve mentioned before that all through-wall vents at Rosslyn are copper, so we needed to line up a custom tin knocker to fabricate the requisite exterior finish pieces for all of these penetrations.
The name “Tin-Knockers” is a historically established construction slang name for sheet metal workers as they “knocked on tin” when working with sheet metal and installing it particularly as duct work and ventilation. (Source: Tin Knockers)
We were fortunate that Troy LaBounty, a skilled local tin knocker agreed to fabricate all of our custom copper needs from flashing (See “Flashing Flashback“) to vent covers (See “Custom Copper Covers“. Here’s a scrapbook recap of the final chapter of our plumbing vents and the exhaust fan journey.
Kudos to Troy for knocking out three custom copper covers for the icehouse vents plus a copper sleeve for the boiler exhaust. (Source: Custom Copper Covers)
Clustered on the north facade within the vicinity of the mechanicals closet, these penetrations are a necessary evil in a standalone building with plumbing, heating, etc. Fortunately the materials, preparation, and implementation have diminished the visual impact of these potentially unsightly penetrations by echoing existing design elements and accelerating the aging and oxidation process of the copper. (Source: Patinated Penetrations)
After many months in the works… Supi installed… the patinated penetrations bringing to a close yet another task from the icehouse rehab finish schedule. (Source: Patinated Penetrations)
Clustered on the north facade… the materials, preparation, and implementation have diminished the visual impact of these potentially unsightly penetrations by echoing existing design elements and accelerating the aging and oxidation process of the copper. (Source: Patinated Penetrations)
Note the temporary spacers behind the fastening hardware facilitating installation of final fasteners when they arrive. (Source: Patinated Penetrations)
Ta-da! A decidedly unsexy construction punch list accounted for, and the results are considerably more pleasing to the eye than one might have imagined.
Thanks, Ben, John, Brandon, Troy, and Supi!
What do you think?