Have you ever felt an earthquake? Do you remember what that was like? Imagine what a house experiences during an earthquake: it has to bounce, bend, stretch, and sway, hopefully all without structural or superficial damage. Now think what a tiny house on wheels must endure in everyday travel down the road.

Each component of a house on wheels must be engineered to endure the jarring gauntlet of potholes, speed bumps, rumble strips, railroad crossings, and stop-and-go traffic, and come out unscathed on the other side. Though largely invisible, a tiny home’s plumbing is no exception to this rule, and is among the most important systems to preserve intact in a tiny home.

At Seattle Tiny Homes, we know how vital a sturdy plumbing system is, both for the comfort and quality of your living experience as well as the protection of your home. We commit to providing you with leading-edge technology that will keep the water flowing for many years to come.

Ben Klassen, our craftsman in charge of construction, wants to show you some of the secrets of our tiny homes’ plumbing, which he says can be one of the most complicated steps in the building process. With years of experience in remodeling and new construction, Ben calls Wirsbo plumbing hardware, which comes standard in all our new units, a “bullet-proof system.”

Produced by Uponor, Wirsbo AquaPEX crosslinked polyethylene tubing is both simple to install and highly reliable. The strength of the AquaPEX tubing and of the compatible ProPEX expansion fittings makes it an ideal fit for homes on wheels, whose water lines, among other unique stresses, can be susceptible to freezing. Not to worry, says Ben, as the Wirsbo system can withstand freezing. That said, each home comes with low-point drain valves for easy winterization, just like an RV.

Before our tiny homes are finished, you can see parallel half-inch red and blue (hot and cold) AquaPEX pipes threading their way around the house, connecting kitchen, bath, and laundry areas. The elbow and tee joints we use to route the plumbing through the house are attached to the tubing with the ProPEX expansion fitting system, using a tool designed specifically for that purpose. These expansion joints allow for more flow capacity than standard crimp or clamp connections, and the tight bends achieved with AquaPEX tubing help save space, which is always at a premium in a tiny home.

The finished product—which uses no glue or minimal threaded connections—only grows stronger with age, producing a plumbing system that will last a lifetime. That’s why you can rest easy in our tiny homes after a long and bumpy day on the road, knowing that, though you can’t see it, you are surrounded by premium plumbing that won’t let you down.

Wirsbo plumbing benefits include:

• Glueless, threadless connections that strengthen with time
• Freeze tolerance
• Space-saving joints and tight bends
• Full-bore joints and fittings that don’t restrict flow

As you can see, proper plumbing in a tiny house is critical. If you would like to learn more or want to get started on your tiny house dream, contact us today!