Pipe dreams

One thing this renovation has made crystal clear to me is how little I actually know about construction and how houses are built. My respect for architects, building engineers, and contractors has skyrocketed now that I have seen just what is involved in putting up a building, even something as relatively minor as our project. It's not just a matter of nailing some 2 x 4's together and slapping on drywall.

A good example of my naivete is the water pipe issue. Wagner was going over the day's progress with me one evening when he casually mentioned that they had put in the water pipe for the garage apartment. Prior to this renovation, when I heard the words "water pipe" I had a mental image of one of those big concrete culverts you sometimes see sitting at the edge of highways, or at the very least a heavy duty cast iron pipe a foot in diameter. So I peered into the foundation area of the garage and, not seeing anything that looked remotely what I thought a water pipe should look like, asked Wagner "where's the pipe?" I was gobsmacked when he pointed to a teeny tiny blue hose poking up out of the ground. I told him it was too tiny and flexible to be a water pipe, and he laughed and said it was 3/4" diameter. Who'dve ever thunk all the water coming into your house would be going through something so tiny.