A beautiful new home in Savage, Minn., located in an up-and-coming community south of the Twin Cities, is a show-stopping, 4,696-square-foot residence of a longtime local builder and his family of six.
Of course, when any builder constructs a dream home, it always includes the best products. So, this builder chose Uponor for the PEX plumbing, fire sprinklers and radiant floor heating systems to ensure his family only experienced the best, most reliable, safe and comfortable systems in their home.
According to the builder, Uponor offers the complete package — removing a lot of the leg work out of the project timeline, helping it to stay on schedule and on budget. Using the same product throughout the entire home improves efficiencies and installation consistencies. And, the flexibility and thoughtfulness that goes into the design of an Uponor system is second to none.
Signature Mechanical, the installing contractor, had installed Uponor systems in the past for both commercial and residential structures. The crew was familiar with the benefits of using PEX over other less durable materials, especially when it comes to the flexibility of the tubing.
“If I had been running copper, I’d have tons of 90-degree turns just to get from point A to point B,” explained Doug Kupp, foreman at Signature Mechanical. “But with Uponor PEX, I can just pull the tubing through easily. It also helped in a lot of tight spaces.”
One of the most appreciated aspects of the Uponor systems was the “speed of installation,” said Kupp. “The radiant was a piece of cake.”
For the radiant floor heating system, Signature Mechanical installed 3,400 ft. of Wirsbo hePEX™ tubing throughout the home to ensure an even, comfortable, energy-efficient warmth during the cold Minnesota winters.
The project, however, did not come without its challenges. The home features vaulted ceilings on the top floor which gave the installers a bit of trouble when laying out the design to incorporate 50 sprinklers for the Uponor AquaSAFE™ fire sprinkler system. Signature Mechanical received help from Uponor Design Services to navigate each nook and cranny in the home.
“The building’s design was a challenge,” said Kupp. “Figuring out where to put everything was the hard part because of the extreme pitch of the vaults.
However, installing the fire sprinklers themselves was easy.” Once all the systems were installed and the home was complete, the builder was able to move his family into a modern, energy-efficient home that will keep them comfortable — and, more importantly, safe — for years to come.
