Busy Walls…Happy Workers?

One of the consequences of having an open first floor layout is what Paul Winters is calling “busy walls” (some of the workers have a different name for them…). The Electricians, Plumbers, Heating, and Automation guys are all fighting for interior wall space. Walls in the center of the house are particularly desirable and the “L” Shaped House has precious few of them on the first floor.

The first photo below shows two of these walls in the area between the kitchen and dining room. At the left is the narrow stub wall that Mike Kloti and Paul Winters added in the design specifically to accommodate lighting switches. As you can see this wall also provides a path to the second floor for hot and cold water and an inlet for the central vacuum. It is especially telling to note that the heating guy was “kicked out” of this space and had to install his cold air return in the floor right in front of the wall. The interior walls on the right between the kitchen and laundry room are also brimming with electrical, plumbing, heating, and automation infrastructure.

In the next photo we see the wall between the kitchen desk and laundry from an angle that also includes the short stub at the end of the dining room arch. This section of interior wall has the main heating duct to the second floor in front and two cold air returns behind as well as electrical switches & outlets and a plumbing waste line. The third photo shows the foyer closet walls where the heating guy has installed three cold air returns leaving room for only one plumbing vent and a couple of electrical switch boxes.

 

The next photo shows the interior walls where the gas fireplace will be installed between the living room and music room. This space is also housing a central vacuum inlet, a waste line from the master bath, a cold air return, and a bundle of home automation wiring. The last photo shows a pair of cold air returns cut into the living room floor next to the stairway. The heating folks would prefer to place the returns in the walls but once again the open floor plan is forcing compromise.