The crawlspace was a dirt floor with decades of debris, exposed plumbing, and an oil tank that needed pumping. I had the tank cleaned out, dragged out the trash, then poured a thin concrete rat slab so I had a real surface to work on. While the joists were exposed I rebuilt the plumbing — new copper main, PEX trunk lines, PVC drains routed clean — so I'd never have to crawl down there again to chase a leak.
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Before What I started with — dirt floor, joists hanging full of old plumbing and posts shimmed up on whatever was handy.
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Before Old PEX and PVC strung up between the joists. Half of it was abandoned, half of it was still feeding the house.
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Before Looking out the bulkhead — exterior stairs rotting and the threshold full of debris before I cleared a path.
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Before Insulated copper supply lines and old shutoffs along the stone wall. All of this came out and got redone.
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During Shop vac on the oil tank during cleanout — easier than having a crew haul it before I'd done my pass.
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During Down with a flashlight checking framing and joist condition before I committed to the new plumbing layout.
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During New PVC drain run along the dirt floor, red shovel where I left off. One section at a time.
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During Routing PVC tight along the beam so it wouldn't catch any future work. Tools staged below for the next leg.
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During PVC plumbing and overhead wiring tacked clean along the joists where the foundation meets the floor.
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During EMT conduit bent down through the joists — anything new I ran got protected, not just stapled NM cable.
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During Crawlspace cleaned out, work light in, ready for the rat slab pour.
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During Fresh concrete down. Now I had a real floor to kneel on and a clean surface to mount anything against.
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Sill plate sitting on the old fieldstone — checked every joist bay before I closed anything in.
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During Opened the attic floor to chase a supply line through the joist bay. Easier to pull from above than fight it from below.
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During New copper water main and meter set in the basement corner, baseboard covers staged for the next phase.
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Old stone-and-block wall with the supply lines and shutoff cleaned up and labeled — anyone after me will know what's what.
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After Utility wall after: thermostat, PEX trunks, copper manifold, and the water heater all tied in clean.
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After Crawlspace finished — concrete floor, stone wall pointed up, copper and PVC running where I want them.
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After Last look at the crawlspace with the original stone wall exposed. From a dirt pit to a space I can work in.
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