Placement of piping

[susan chalmers]

Recently we had our entire home re-plumbed! We were unfortunate enough to have Polubutylene pipes and after fixing 10 pin hole leaks we decided we wanted to stop worrying about it. It cost us $11,000.00. Today, while installing hardwood - the nails went through the water pipes because the pipe was against the basement ceiling. So, my question is: What is the building code for the required space between the pipe and the ceiling? (We had already finished our basement too!)
p.s. I am from Canada!

 

[Terry]

There isn't a code against that. We do try to keep pipes from being that close to the floor though, for just that reason. It may be that on the repipe that it was high in only that location, or...........not seeing how it was done, could have been run on the floor. Most floors are only 3/4" so there isn't even a good way to install it that close. Normally it's lower on the floor joists where we can use a screw without worry of going through anything like a floor.

With a floor radiant heating system, they may be on top of the subfloor before being covered, or sometimes taped to the underside of the flooring for better heater transfer.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

The only requirement is that if the pipes go THROUGH the wood structure they either be far enough back that "ordinary" nails or screws won't reach them or metal plates attached to the surface to protect them. "hardwood" is usually a floor material, but if you are using it for a ceiling, there is no way it could be protected from EVERY nail they were going to use to install it.