Plumbing next to a garage wall.

[torontonian]

I have a small power room that shares a wall with an attached garage. Currently the plumbing runs straight up through the floor from the basement. As part of a remodel we are installing a new vanity. The one we purchased sits several inches up from the floor, thus making the currently plumbing setup not ideal. My question is, can I safely install the plumbing in the wall adjacent to the garage? My plan was to spray foam, or install 2" rigid foam in the wall to help insulate the pipes and prevent them from freezing. We are located just outside Toronto Canada, so it gets quite cold in the winter.


Regards,

-Torontonian

 

[Terry]

I don't know how cold that is there,
In Seattle I could get by with insulation between the pipes and the outside wall.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[torontonian]

Thanks Terry,

It can easily get down to 0deg F with the windchill, but would probably be far less inside the back of the garage. Most certainly below freezing though.

I guess my only other option is to run the pipes up through the floor and into the vanity. If you looked under the vanity the pipes would be exposed, but would be hard to see standing up and probably look okay.

Thx. again.

-Torontonian

 

[Gary Swart]

You need to understand that insulation does not provide heat. Insulation is inert and only slows heat transfer. It does not prevent heat loss or gain. Given a low temperature of 0*F, your pipes will freeze. In fact given time, they will freeze at 32*F. I would figure out a way to keep the pipes inside the cabinet.

 

[Sixlashes]

The plumber who originally plumbed the sink was on the ball. I'll bet he even winced putting the sink on an exterior wall at all. Form follows function, it is much smarted to have it work well than look pretty. Beauty is in the eye of the guy paying for the repairs if it fails. Keep the pipes out of the wall. That is the way they do it in North Dakota and the Norsemen know a thing or two about a thing or two...

I assume the room you are installing the new sink in is well heated since you did not mention any previous problems. If not, find a way to move it. Getting a plumber involved would pay off.

 

[Kingsotall]

I wince when I even just see supplies coming out of an exterior wall.

 

[torontonian]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I will for sure look for a way to keep the water pipes out of the wall. Most likely straight up through the floor. However, what do I do about the drain? I assume I have no choice here but to have this in the wall. Seeing as there would be no standing water, I think I should be okay? Today it runs straight through the vanity to a side (interior) wall, but the new vanity is not that wide and does not reach as far as that wall. I don't think I can run that properly through the floor and get the proper venting etc.


-tn.

 

[Gary Swart]

You don't have the freezing worries with a drain. Other than the P trap which is going to be inside anyway, the drain lines are empty except when the actual process of draining is occurring. Since that water is well above freezing to start with and moving water takes longer to freeze than standing water, drains do not freeze.

 

[Frenchie]

Can you change the layout, to have the vanity against an interior wall?

Is there room to build out an empty wall, in front of the existing wall?

It's also not that big a deal to replace the existing plumbing with more attractive pipes - as for a wall-mounted sink, or clawfoot bath-tubs - so the exposed pipes aren't ugly...