I am sure these exist somewhere, but I thought I would share my quick tips (things I would do or not do again) on this plumbing business:
<ol>
<li>SpaFlex is tough stuff. I eventually parked the idea of using it and moved on to conventional PVC. Wasn\'t hard hooking the stuff up, but you better have a good idea of where it will terminate and how it will sit in the sump.</li>
<li>This is a good mechanics trick for keeping stuff off your hands. When glueing PVC together, use latex gloves. That purple stuff seems to get everywhere on those first couple tries. By the end, I was getting the purple primer right where I wanted it. However, I would still use disposable latex gloves (You can get them at Publix in the cleaning section).</li>
<li>Teflon tape sucks. Burned first time out when one of the bulkheads leaked. I switched to Ace Hardware Liquid Teflon and it worked like a champ. The guy in the store told me marine epoxy is the real deal. I would use Liquid Teflon again, but might consider 100% silicon caulk instead.</li>
<li>Sharpies rule! First time was \"glue as I went\" that quickly ended in disaster. The second time around I cut all the pieces then marked them with a sharpie. I basically put a plus mark on each joint where a pipe would be glued. Afterwards, I simply primed, glued and lined up the sharpie marks vertically and horizontally.</li>
<li>If you are going to glue the return section fully, use a repair coupling for the part that goes into the sump. This allows you to raise and lower the pump a few inches as well as turn it in the sump.</li>
<li>Sit in a ventilated area or get a fan. Whew that stuff can give you a wee bit of a headache.</li>
<li>Buy the ratcheting PVC pipe cutters at Home Depot for 11 bucks. Even if you are doing vinyl tubing these things rock. They make several that are more expensive, but I can\'t imagine needing anything better. I am astonished an 11 dollar tool performs so well.</li>
<li>If you don\'t live right next to an ACE, do yourself a favor and pick up a couple (or more) coupling pieces. This will allow you to chop already glued PVC assemblies and reuse them or simply extend a section you mis-measured.</li>
</ol>There are lots more posts and discussions that talk about the basics to more advanced items, but these are my "things I wish I knew before I started" tips. Also, I am sure there are more than I am remembering now but these are certainly top ones in my list.
<ol>
<li>SpaFlex is tough stuff. I eventually parked the idea of using it and moved on to conventional PVC. Wasn\'t hard hooking the stuff up, but you better have a good idea of where it will terminate and how it will sit in the sump.</li>
<li>This is a good mechanics trick for keeping stuff off your hands. When glueing PVC together, use latex gloves. That purple stuff seems to get everywhere on those first couple tries. By the end, I was getting the purple primer right where I wanted it. However, I would still use disposable latex gloves (You can get them at Publix in the cleaning section).</li>
<li>Teflon tape sucks. Burned first time out when one of the bulkheads leaked. I switched to Ace Hardware Liquid Teflon and it worked like a champ. The guy in the store told me marine epoxy is the real deal. I would use Liquid Teflon again, but might consider 100% silicon caulk instead.</li>
<li>Sharpies rule! First time was \"glue as I went\" that quickly ended in disaster. The second time around I cut all the pieces then marked them with a sharpie. I basically put a plus mark on each joint where a pipe would be glued. Afterwards, I simply primed, glued and lined up the sharpie marks vertically and horizontally.</li>
<li>If you are going to glue the return section fully, use a repair coupling for the part that goes into the sump. This allows you to raise and lower the pump a few inches as well as turn it in the sump.</li>
<li>Sit in a ventilated area or get a fan. Whew that stuff can give you a wee bit of a headache.</li>
<li>Buy the ratcheting PVC pipe cutters at Home Depot for 11 bucks. Even if you are doing vinyl tubing these things rock. They make several that are more expensive, but I can\'t imagine needing anything better. I am astonished an 11 dollar tool performs so well.</li>
<li>If you don\'t live right next to an ACE, do yourself a favor and pick up a couple (or more) coupling pieces. This will allow you to chop already glued PVC assemblies and reuse them or simply extend a section you mis-measured.</li>
</ol>There are lots more posts and discussions that talk about the basics to more advanced items, but these are my "things I wish I knew before I started" tips. Also, I am sure there are more than I am remembering now but these are certainly top ones in my list.
