Add a toilet - What does it entail?

[Pistol_Pete]

My daughter is buying an eighty-year-old house. She thinks it would be a good idea to add a half bath, sink and toilet, in place of the current laundry area. Could you guys give me some general information about how the drain from the new toilet will hook up to the sewer? I certainly am NOT going to attempt this myself, but I'd like to have enough information to talk intelligently to a plumber when and if that time comes.

The house has a basement under this area, and there's a big black sewer pipe coming up from the floor. There's some kind of fitting or fittings on this pipe, where all the drains from the house connect. Some of the existing drain lines are iron, some are plastic. Then the pipe continues up to become the vent on the roof.

So what would a plumber have to do to add more pipes to this sewer line? I think the existing laundry drain could be repurposed to become the washbowl drain, but another laundry drain would have to be added wherever she decides the washing machine will end up. And of course there's the toilet outlet; how would that get connected?

I realize I'm not giving much detail, but I don't need a detailed answer either. Actually, she hasn't even bought the house yet, and it's in a different state, so I don't know any more than I have already written. I just would like to know generally what this job entails. By the way, I don't need any info on the supply side. I have a pretty good grasp of how that works, and the pro will be handling that as well.

Thanks for any replies

Pete

 

[Seaofnames]

Depending on how much asbestos is in the drywall and how far away a connection point is for the toilet the price could be from $500- $5000

The floor and some of the walls will have to be ripped down to get access to all pipes involved and hopefully the waste pipes are sized properly. 80 year old pipes may be a problem as well if they are galvinized pipes. Once you get under the basement slab they could also be drain tiles which could have partial blockages, low spots etc.

There are a lot of factors to condsider when moving fixtures around in an old house. If your daughter has it inspected, try to find out if any of the piping is original galvinized and what kind of condition it is in.

Like I said it could be done cheap, or it may have to be a partial/full repipe of the house depending on many things.

Would the local government have anything to say about doing work to an old house like that?(like antique status or something?)

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jastori]

It sounds like a relatively "standard" remodel situation for an older home, the way you described it.

Much of the new drain work can probably be done from the basement. They will need to run a new 3" or 4" drain from the new toilet location and tie it in to the main stack (likely 4" cast iron pipe). Most likely, the new work will be plastic (PVC). The sink will need a 1.5 or 2" drain either tied into the new toilet drain, or directly to the main stack as well.

Each of the new fixtures will need to be vented, which is why you will probably need open up some walls in the new bathroom area. Hopefully there is an adequate vent accessible from the bathroom areas running up to the roof, so you only need to disturb walls in the one room.

 

[Gary Swart]

It doesn't sound like an impossible job since there is access to the drains. As pointed out earlier, venting could present more of a problem than the actual drain lines since they have to go up. Your best course of action at this time is to make a list of what you would like to have and more or less where you would like it to be then get several bids on the job.

 

[Gardner]

Assuming the washer drain is properly vented, you know you have some sort of vent available in the area. That will help.

 

[Pistol_Pete]

Thanks for your replies. The room in question is plaster and lath construction, and there is nothing above but an unfinished attic, so venting shouldn't be too much of a problem. Yes, I'll have to fix walls, but I will be fixing LOTS of walls before it's all over. (Daddies, don't let your daughters grow up to be home-owners.) The house is not in an historic district, and several houses she looked at have many different modifications inside, but not many have exterior mods.

The thing I am curious about is how will the plumber tie into the stack? It looks like there's already a bunch of pipes going in there. Can there ever be too many?

Thanks,
Pete

 

[Jadnashua]

SOmetimes you have to rebuild bits to add in new...the cast iron can be cut, new stuff spliced in. If there is a straight section that has enough room to add a new fitting (often a Y) to the new branch, it's often not huge. If you have to rebuild a bunch, it can add time and materials, so therefore more cost.

 

[hj]

toilet

The only "intelligent" thing you have to tell the plumber is "where you want the toilet". HE will decide where and how the piping will be run, regardless of anything you may tell him about doing it.

 

[Terry]

The only "intelligent" thing you have to tell the plumber is "where you want the toilet". HE will decide where and how the piping will be run, regardless of anything you may tell him about doing it.

There isn't much we can advise about from here.
Your plumber will be able to see the entire situation, and will know the local inspectors.

 

[Pistol_Pete]

Actually the answers I have gotten have been exactly what I hoped I would get. Especially the reply from HJ who said the plumber would probably splice and/or rebuild the cast iron piping, and the others who talked about venting, which I hadn't even thought about.

I am leery of just telling the plumber where I want the toilet and letting him have at it, without understanding at least a little about what's going to happen. That leads to experiences like the guy who started the recent thread "Getting Ripped Off?" He got some answers like, "Why didn't you do have the city turn it back on?", and "Why did the plumber replace the valve owned by the city?" I would add, "Why didn't you post questions to this forum BEFORE starting, and maybe you wouldn't have had the problem". I hope having a little foreknowledge will prevent my being in a similar situation.

But the bottom line is -- I got some very good information here, and I thank everyone who replied. This forum is a gold mine.

 

[hj]

job

IF the plumber is going to rip you off, nothing you tell him or ask him will prevent it. That is why you have to make a wise decision as to who you hire. But, anything you learn about it beforehand, unless someone actually sees the job, may have ZERO bearing on how it is, or can be, actually done.

For example, recently I had a customer call about replacing an ejector sewage pump. It was at the bottom of a 12' manhole, and he wanted to know what it would cost to replace and revise the piping. He had a bid for $3,000.00 from another company to replace pump and cover, add a shutoff valve, replace the check valve and revise the disharge and vent piping. After looking at it, I told him all that had to be done was replace the pump and check valve. Then convert the entire manhole in a pump pit, throw away the pump cover at the bottom which would be completely inaccessible when the pump failed, then raise the electrical outlet to the top of the pit, let the vent vent the entire basin, and tether the pump so it could be removed from ground level. All of this cost half the price of the other bid, and created a system that did not need two men and a ladder to service the pump, and avoided a "hazardous access" situation. He THOUGHT he knew what he needed and told me so. I KNEW he was wrong and told him so. Fortunately he was a sensible person and thus did not waste a lot of money.