Installing rough-in's for future bathroom during whole house re-pipe

[Fixr]

Hi,

I will be repiping all of my water lines with PEX in the near future. During the repipe, I also want to rough in water lines for a future bathroom addition in the basement (bath, sink, toilet). The roughed-in water lines will be home runs from a central PEX manifold. However, the sewer drain lines for the bathroom addition are not yet installed. The space where the bathroom will go is in an open space in the basement, with no framing or electrical yet installed. The existing drain pipes also needs some work to bring them up to code but I am hoping to do that separately and hire out the work after I finish the repipe.

So I have a few questions to make sure I'm approaching this the right way from both a code and project planning perspective:

• Can I rough-in the water lines for the new bathroom, without having the sewer drain lines installed?
• What state do the rough-in lines need to be in to pass inspection? Since valves/fixtures can't be installed until after drywall is in, will I need to use PEX terminators without valves/fixtures?
• How long can I leave the water lines in rough-in state?
• The previous owner did some sub-par work on the drain lines, without a permit. Main issue is the washer/utility sink drain is not connected to the system (it's air gapped, lazy plumbing) and flows into an open floor drain in the basement. This is the same area where the new bathroom addition will go. When I repipe, will the inspector require the open drain to be corrected? Will I be forced into doing the drain work now? Or can the supply piping and drains be worked separately?

Thanks in advance,
Jay

 

[hj]

Why would you try to install water piping for an area which does not even have walls yet? The "new" lines will have to be inspected when the plumbing is installed, so you might as well wait until then to install them. What they will require to be "updated" will depend on the building department and inspector so ask them, not us.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Fixr]

Why would you try to install water piping for an area which does not even have walls yet? The "new" lines will have to be inspected when the plumbing is installed, so you might as well wait until then to install them. What they will require to be "updated" will depend on the building department and inspector so ask them, not us.

Thanks for replying. I'm mostly trying to be "efficient" so that I can pull the PEX to all final locations, and consider the water supply line updates done for all existing and future work in my home. Old galvanized pipes are severely corroded and that's my top priority. New bathroom can wait but wanted to tackle anything water supply related "while the hood is open."

PEX runs will all be through the ceiling of the partially finished basement, which is also where the new bathroom would go. Ceiling drywall needs partial demo for the PEX runs. 2 existing walls would be used for the new bathroom. The furnace has to be moved to make room for the other 2 walls of the new bathroom. After water supply updates are complete, within a few months I would hire out the drain plumbing work, get the new heating system installed in a different location, and remove the old furnace. I have to break this into phases for budget and timeline reasons.

My main question is, can I leave the water lines roughed in without them being connected to any fixture? Or do they need to be fully installed to fixtures to pass inspection? I know this is probably a no-brainer for a plumber but I'm pretty noob at this. I just want to make sure I'm avoiding future rework or complications with the inspection. If it won't pass inspection with rough-in's left uninstalled to fixtures, I'll just wait on the new bathroom.

Makes sense on the building department for the old work. I'll talk to them before I apply for the permit so I know what I'm getting myself into.

 

[Terry]

The inspector may require plumbing the washer if he is looking at the bath rough.
There isn't much reason to do too much with the water supply at this time. It will be looked at when when the waste and vents are looked at.
You will need to cap them. That's easy.

 

[Fixr]

Makes sense, thanks for setting me straight. Guess I'll put the new bathroom on hold until after the existing water supply lines are replaced. I see now that installing those water lines will take the same amount of effort now or later, and waiting also saves me from having a partially finished project in the house. Will get a couple quotes to properly finish the washer drain in case the inspector says I have to fix it.

I'll have empty PEX manifold valves waiting for the new bathroom homeruns. I think I need to install a small capped segment of PEX on those, correct?