Working at St. Boniface College has been interesting, in a nostalgic way.  This job incorporates some of  the latest, breaking technology when it come to heating and cooling a building.  Yet at the same time we are using some of the most tried, tested and true plumbing systems around. 

The majority of construction sites today use plastic drainage and sometimes plastic water lines.  But this job takes a step back in time using only cast iron and copper drainage.  In fact, no plastic is being used on this job.  Some people may think that this type of construction is archaic, but in many respects it can’t be beat.  One benefit is that the drainage system is rigid and sturdy.  Many times when you receive plastic pipe from the plumbing wholesaler, it is bowed because of sitting outside in the hot sun.  Not so with cast iron.  Another benefit is that cast iron is quiet.  In residential applications, you can always tell when someone is using a plumbing fixture because you can clearly hear the water moving through plastic pipe.  Cast iron is almost silent. 

And probably the greatest benefit to using cast iron and copper is that it is very easy to “fire stop.”  This means that there has to be a way to control smoke transfer from one room or suite to another.  Because cast and copper won’t melt, all that is required is a little fire wool around the pipe and then some fire caulk around any pipe that travels between floors or rooms.  With plastic, fire collars have to be installed on every pipe through a penetration, and these collars are quite expensive. On a commercial job, you may have hundreds of pipes passing through fire penetrations.

So for the most part, it has been both fun and interesting to work with plumbing materials that have been around for 12o years.

In the month that I was on vacation I had another journeyman manage the MPI claim centre on Lexington Ave.  This job is now in its final stages, so I’ve been asked to start a new project.  This new job is on a new building at the University of St. Boniface.  It is a training facility for nurses, which means that they will have actual working  hospital rooms to train the nursing students in. 

This job is a very interesting one to me in that it includes the following:  geothermal heating and cooling, a full mechanical heating and cooling system, plumbing and medical gas piping for the vacuum and oxygen lines that are in the simulated training rooms.  Nothing in this building is typical and every floor is different, so it will make for a job that holds your interest but at the same time will require thinking throughout the different phases.

As this job is getting underway, I will be back and forth between the Nursing Pavillion and helping to finish the mechanical room at the MPI claim centre.  In my next blog I’ll try to incorporate photos of the mechanical room as it comes together.

One nice thing about being in a trade is that you don’t have to bid for time off or work on a seniority basis.  When you want a vacation, all you need to do is talk to the boss.  Last summer I had talked with the owners about taking a three week vacation, which they didn’t bat an eye at. 

After running four jobs in the last year I was due for a good long vacation, one that would make me forget what day it was and remove any stress in me.  Being that it was our anniversary, we decided to go to Europe for three weeks.  The funny thing is that three weeks turned into a month as we ended up getting delayed by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland and we got an extra week in Venice.  Not a bad deal! 

The owners were very understanding of our situation and were happy that we arrived home safely.  Once I got home though, things needed to get done.  I went to the office the next day to stop in and say ”hi”, and I was handed the blueprints to a new year-long job.  They said, ”you can start there Monday”.

Its going to be a very busy summer for me with many projects on the go so this vacation was perfect timing to prepare me mentally for the next year.

Installing most drainage systems becomes pretty routine after a while, but every once in a while you have to work with new challenges.  At the MPI job that I’m on right now there are two very large roofs on the building: one for the main building and one for the garage.  Because the roofs are so big, many roof drains need to be installed.  When all the drains connect in the basement of the building there is so much rain water gathered together that a 12″ diameter pipe has to be used to handle all of the flow. 

Other obstacles come with using pipes and fittings that big as well.  Because of the weight of the water in the pipe and the force behind it, it has to be braced from swaying when under heavy demands.  You have to really plan out your route, making sure that there wont be any obstacles even close to the piping system.  Applying the primer and glue to the fittings is fun as well, because you can’t just dab your brush into the glue and onto the pipe. It would take too long to get around the fitting, and your glue would already be dry by the time you completed the circumference.  Instead you have to dump the glue onto the pipe and work it around with a brush.  Once you’ve primed and glued, you’ve got to push as hard as you can to get the pipe into the fitting.  You have to have a minimum of two plumbers working together on it but it works a lot better with three or four. 

Once it is all put together and hung from the ceiling it looks pretty amazing.

Over the last few blog posts, I’ve mentioned that the latest job that I’m running is the new MPI claim centre on Lexington Park. We seem to be making good progress in some areas but are held up in others.

For instance, because the building is so cold, we haven’t been able to install any plastic drainage. In order for our glue to set properly, it needs a working condition of at least -5 degrees Celsius. So our focus for the last little while (before we get temporary heat) has been to install as much of the steel heating mains, run-outs, and tie-ins as possible.

This means roll grooving 4″, 3″, and 2 1/2″ pipe, and threading 2″ - 3/4″ pipe.

Even this can be a bit of a challenge in the cold. Our RIGID roller groover uses hydraulics to squeeze a groove into the end of the pipe. This doesn’t work very well in -25 degree weather. So we have two roller groovers on site: one we keep in our heated job trailer, and the other on the job site.  When one freezes up, we take it into the job trailer and swap it for the warm one. As you can imagine, this slows down production and costs the company money.  But regardless, we’re still plugging along and putting in a quality installation.

For years, the world has been looking for ways to cut down on pollution, waste, and destruction of the environment. Many of their attempts have been to clean up what has already damaged the earth.

With the way the new MPI claim centres are being built, the environment is taken into account from the day we break ground to the day the job is done. And it doesn’t end there. These buildings are made to run as efficiently as possible, maximizing natural resources to use as little energy as possible. This project was set up using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (LEED).  There are five categories LEED considers to make this building as environmentally friendly as possible: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

As a trade on site, we have to make sure we are using materials and solvents that won’t be detrimental to the environment. We also recycle as many materials as possible and install energy efficient heating and cooling systems. Part of what makes this building energy efficient is that it uses a geothermal field for heating and cooling. Through underground wells, water absorbs the heat from the earth and channels it into the building.  Because the earth is always 10 - 15 degrees Celsius, you need only a little more help from a heat pump and boiler to bring it up to the desired temperature.  In essence, the earth does the majority of heating, saving much natural gas and electricity.

Heat Pump

We are all encouraged to do our part for the environment, but sometimes I wonder if we really can make a difference. But with this new generation of “green buildings,” it’s nice to see that, along with our own personal contribution, others are trying to take care of the environment from the ground up.

Normally you would never expect to see +2 Celcius in the middle of January, but when it happens for a week straight you have to take advantage of it!

In order for us to rough in our plumbing in the main floor at MPI we have to use a core drill to drill all of the holes for our plumbing to come up from the basement.  A core drill or diamond drill is like a giant hole saw with small diamonds in the bit for cutting through concrete.  In order to cut through fast and not wear out the bit, water is added while drilling.  So as you can imagine, core drilling doesn’t work the greatest in -30 degrees. 

Originally we were going to wait for the walls on the main floor to be enclosed and the building to be heated before we did our core drilling, but since we had such nice weather we took advantage of it.  We were able to core all of the holes for the plumbing and heating penetrations in only three days!  The next week we roughed in all bathrooms, kitchen areas, as well as the heating mains into the main floor which put us ahead of schedule for the job, which in turn puts us in good with the general contractor, engineers, and building owners.

As good as things go on a job, they all come to a screeching halt without tools.  Just before Christmas, thieves broke into my job site and stole about $11,000 worth of tools.  So as you could imagine, the next day was a wash.  No tools means no work.  Unfortunately for my apprentices, I had to send all of them home because a full day’s worth of production was lost.  Along with that came a full police investigation and an insurance claim.  Within a couple of days we were able to recoup most of our tools and start up again. 

The problem seems to lie with the  fact security isn’t offered at job sites from the beginning of the job.  It seems that every job that we are on, the security starts after there is an incident.  We do our best to lock everything up properly, but they still find a way to steal our tools.  Hopefully in the future we’ll recognize the foreseeable problems and address them from the beginning.  In that way there won’t be any lost time on the jobs and we won’t have to worry about stolen tools.

Some work days are easier than others.  On certain days you look at blue prints all day, order material, and solve job related issues.  Those days are tough on your mind, but easy on the body.  Today was completely the opposite, no problems, no orders, just working hard.    The heating and cooling system at the new MPI claim centre is quite involved and heavy duty.  In the middle of the hallway on a trapeze hanger system, we have 3- 4″  mains, a 3″  main and a 1 1\2″  line.  Getting them up in the ceiling space and onto the hangers is another job in itself.  Each length of 4″ pipe weighs 230 lbs and is awkward to carry because they come in 21′ lengths.  We came up with a good game plan and the job went pretty smooth.  In just 5 hours of work, we hung 190′ of 4″ steel pipe.  At the end of the day we were all exhausted, but you feel good about yourself for being able to accomplish a lot.  In my next blog I’ll have some pictures attached so you can see how it all looks when it’s done.

At the start of every job many things need to be organized such as materials, tools, equipment and layout. Of all the things that can make your job run smooth,  good communication between the different trades is most important.  Years ago trades worked on a first come - first serve basis, meaning “I put my material there first, so that area is mine.”  Over the years tradespeople have started to work with each other on a more civil level.  At the start of the job that I’m working on now, we had a coordination meeting between myself, the electrician, and the sheet metal installer.  The ceiling in the hallway of this particular job is very busy.  So together between the 3 of us we were able to map out in an orderly fashion just how all of us would install our pipes, conduit and duct work.  So far so good.  Everybody has a clear idea of where they are going and how to stay clear of the next trade’s equipment.

That half hour of conversation between the three trades has probably saved days worth of labour and arguments.  It’s always a good idea to take the time, organize, and work together to make your job run smooth.