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Stages

The job, in the order it happens

01Permits and bids
02Underground
03Rough-in
04Top-out
05Trim-out
RRemodels

Image Credits

Every photograph on Trench to Trim comes from Wikimedia Commons under a public-domain, CC0 or Creative Commons license; the drawings and charts were made for this site.

Updated

Photographs

Each photo below is listed with its photographer, its license and a link to the original file. Photos were cropped to fit the page layout, and where a maker's name or logo showed on a part it was blurred or painted out; nothing else was changed. Creative Commons licenses are explained at creativecommons.org.

  • Image 21: A bathroom with the wall beside the toilet opened to the metal studs and old backing during a remodel. By Dennis Sylvester Hurd, CC BY 2.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 22: Black cast iron drain fittings joined with band clamps to a copper pipe, running between wood floor joists. By Achim Hering, CC BY 3.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 23: A small white expansion tank hanging from a copper water line, with a second copper line and valve beside it. By Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 4.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized; maker names blurred or painted out.
  • Image 24: A bathroom stripped to old wall boards and subfloor, with water supply pipes and a drain pipe sticking up where fixtures were removed. By Forest Service - Northern Region, Public domain (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 25: White plastic sink drain with a trap and tailpiece inside a kitchen sink cabinet, a dishwasher hose behind. By Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 26: A dull grey lead water service pipe exposed in a deep hole dug in brown soil. By IntangibleArts, CC BY 2.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 27: A long slim linear drain along the back of a tiled walk-in shower behind a glass door. By JohnFRWhipple, CC BY-SA 3.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 28: A chrome angle stop valve on a copper water supply below a sink, with the copper riser connected and a white drain pipe beside it. By Tomwsulcer, CC0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized; maker names blurred or painted out.
  • Image 29: A new white bathroom vanity sink with a brushed nickel faucet on a dark cabinet below a mirror. By Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 30: Wood-framed walls of a new building with no drywall, pipes and wiring run through the open studs. By National Institute of Standards and Technology, Public domain (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 33: The brass body of a shower valve seen through a hole in the tile, its pressure-balancing cartridge in place before the trim goes on. By Tomwsulcer, CC0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 34: A roll-in shower with no curb, its floor running level from the bathroom to a center drain, with grab bars, a fold-down seat and a hand shower. By YellowstoneNPS, Public domain (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 35: A brass shower valve body with white plastic water lines connected, set in an open wall cavity before the trim goes on. By Tomwsulcer, CC0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 36: A torch flame heating a copper pipe joint to solder it. By neffk, CC BY 2.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 37: The threaded ends of white plastic water supply lines stubbed up in front of a bare tiled wall, waiting for a fixture. By marsupium photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 38: A chrome thermostatic bar shower valve on a tiled wall, with its temperature dial at one end. By Wiki LIC, CC BY-SA 4.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 39: A recessed washing machine outlet box in a wall, with hot and cold hoses on its two valves and the drain hose in the standpipe. By Tyler Meachum, CC BY-SA 4.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized.
  • Image 40: Two black water softener tanks with a control valve on top, a grey brine tank beside them, connected by braided hoses to the water lines. By Muselsom, CC BY-SA 4.0 (original on Wikimedia Commons). Cropped and resized; maker names blurred or painted out.

Illustrations and charts

The two-color drawings (marked "Illustration" under the picture) and the stage charts on each page were made for Trench to Trim. The drawings show typical situations, not a particular house, and are not to scale. Every word and number on a chart also appears in the text of its page, with its source.

Report a problem

If you hold the rights to a photograph here and the credit is wrong, the Commons file page linked above shows how to reach the uploader; corrections are made when a credit is found to be wrong.