"Honestly, I've started taking pics of everything before drywall goes up, and even then, something always slips through the cracks."
Yeah, photos help, but they're never foolproof. I started labeling pipes with painter's tape and sharpie before drywalling—saved my sanity more than once. Those inspection cameras are great too, but honestly, nothing beats a detailed sketch or diagram tucked away somewhere. Learned that the hard way after spending a weekend chasing phantom leaks...fun times.
"nothing beats a detailed sketch or diagram tucked away somewhere."
Diagrams are solid, but honestly, I've had times where even my own sketches left me scratching my head months later. Pipes shift slightly during install, or you make a quick adjustment and forget to update the drawing... been there. Photos help, labeling helps, but there's always that one sneaky fitting you swear you'll remember and then don't. Maybe it's just inevitable that plumbing documentation is always gonna be a bit of a headache?
Yeah, diagrams are great in theory, but in practice they're rarely foolproof. One thing I've found helpful is snapping quick photos at different stages of the install—especially before walls go up. Then I scribble notes directly onto the pics with a basic photo-editing app. It's not perfect, but it beats trying to decipher my own cryptic sketches months later... and saves me from tearing out drywall just to find that one elusive fitting.
Haha, I feel your pain on the cryptic sketches—I once drew something that looked more like abstract art than plumbing.
"Then I scribble notes directly onto the pics with a basic photo-editing app."
I do something similar, but I also toss in random objects for scale, like a soda can or my boot... weirdly helps me remember what's what later on.
I get the idea behind using random objects for scale, but honestly, I've found that can backfire. Once used my coffee mug to show pipe size—weeks later, spent way too long wondering why I'd photographed my coffee break under the sink...
