Half-Plumbed: Is this a DIY-able Baasement Bathroom Install?

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PRNDL

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Hi Folks!

First time poster but long time visitor. I'm wondering if you could help me decide if the plumbing - specifically the venting - in this bathroom install is something I can do.

Like many, I spent lockdown finishing out the basement of my 15 year old house. I have one room left and it has the plumbing in it:

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From left to right we can see: radon vent, black thing in the floor (hopefully a backflow preventor), a floor drain for the condensate from the AC unit (behind the unit, not shown), a 2" pipe with an AAV presumably for the floor drain, a WC/CO stub up, another 2" pipe capped, and the main drain from the two floors above.

This is where the main goes into the slab. Interestingly (?) the street is 180 degrees from the turn of the pipe.

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Lav and Vent - this is where I want to drain a lav in one room and a slop sink in the other room.
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The WC stub. Centerline is a little over 17" from the concrete wall.

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What I hope is a backflow preventor - I've never seen one!
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And the AAV.
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Above all this, running parallel to the wall is the drain line that has the master bath, hall bath, and laundry. The left is the branch to the hall bath, the right is the drain from 2nd floor bath.

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At the end of this branch is the master bath (shower, WC, two lavs) and the drain from the laundry.

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SO! How to vent this? There is only one vent pipe on the exterior of the house and it is above the main drain. Is it possible to tie into the laundry drain somehow? Or would that lead to sewer smell coming in the laundry room?

Many thanks for all your assistance!!
 

Reach4

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SO! How to vent this?
I will presume "this" means the lavatory and the toilet, plus the new "slop sink".

If you are covered by IPC, and I think Michigan is, then you would glue a trap adapter atop the "Lav+Vent" pipe after cutting to the right height. Above that you would put a short length of pipe and atop that another AAV.

Into the side of the trap adapter, you will run the p-trap for the lavatory.

I don't know what the existing AAV is for. I don't know what the marking on that pipe says before "+ vent".

For the slop sink, you would add in a wye or sanitary tee in the vertical 3 inch pipe. You would vent the trap arm of the slop sink before that wye or santee, probably with another AAV. It would be possible to use one AAV for lavatory and slop sink, but you cannot run the slop sink with the lavatory drain, unless you know that lavatory is not wet venting the toilet. I expect that is wet venting the toilet, and that is why "+vent" is on the pipe. You might show us a sketch for more detailed suggestions. I am not a plumber. I don't see a good candidate for a dry vent
 

PRNDL

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Thanks for your reply! I moved to MI from MN where the AAV is not code - I had no idea these things existed! Turns out the kitchen sink and the hall lav both use them.

I think I will pare down my build as I do not want to cut into the existing 3" and eliminate the utility sink. I will put an extra large sink in the new bathroom though...

Now for the supply side of this build - how do you splice a T into an existing plastic line installation? I'm planning on running rigid copper down the wall and to the fixtures but I'm not sure what fittings are needed to connect the two type.
 

Reach4

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Now for the supply side of this build - how do you splice a T into an existing plastic line installation? I'm planning on running rigid copper down the wall and to the fixtures but I'm not sure what fittings are needed to connect the two type.

You have pex with expansion fittings. One possiblity is to use a Sharkbite tee. Those accept pex and copper both.
brass-sharkbite-brass-fittings-u362lfa-64_100.jpg
https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-1-2-in-Push-to-Connect-Brass-Tee-Fitting-U362LFA/202270522

What are the markings on one of your PEX pipes?

You could also look into these:Watts® AquaLock™ Push to Connect Lead-Free Brass Tee at Menards®
 

PRNDL

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Thanks!
I have UPONOR AQUAPex tubing with black plastic fittings throughout the house. The builders ran rigid copper up from the water heater and water softener to the pex so I was just going to follow their lead...
 

Reach4

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Sharkbite tees have built-in inserts for pex. Those can be optionally removed for copper.

Thanks!
I have UPONOR AQUAPex tubing with black plastic fittings throughout the house. The builders ran rigid copper up from the water heater and water softener to the pex so I was just going to follow their lead...
The reason for the water heater might be because many don't want PEX less than 18 inches pipe from the water heater. The softener... maybe that was put in by somebody else.

You could use pex for your new stuff, but expansion tool is not cheap. And would you want to mix in crimp/clamp fittings? You can use those on AquaPex PEX A too. Your idea of copper makes sense. I would use type L copper with blue ink, rather than M with the red ink. Red and blue Aquapex seems to have disappearing from stocks. They have "white" (actually translucent) with blue or red ink. They have red and blue sleeves to go over pex. I used "white" pex to and from my water softener, and I can see some some color difference on the input and output lines. Clearly my iron filter leaves some iron for the softener to clean up.

You might want to peek under the duct tape that you suspect hides a backwater valve cleanout.
 

Jeff H Young

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prndl, What's the big deal cutting a 3 inch PVC ? This all looks straight forward , if you can do this other work I don't much challenge with installing laundry sink.
 

PRNDL

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Heh, that 3" is the main sanitary drain for the whole house. I don't know how you can cut it and slip in a wye when it is tied to the slab on one end and the rest of the house at the other! It's no big deal though, that sink would almost never be used and I'm planning on using a kitchen sink in the bathroom which is more than big enough. Plus, eliminating that sink reduced my chances of leaks by 50%!
 

Reach4

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I don't know how you can cut it and slip in a wye when it is tied to the slab on one end and the rest of the house at the other!
Jeff and others do. The method involves two shielded couplings.
 

Jeff H Young

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Yes 2 shielded couplings some times you can just use one with a glue on coupling on bottom.
kinda loosing me on the rational, maybe you don't want or need a laundry sink in which case don't waste time, energy ,or money . I'm just saying it is DIYable not that big a deal or the whole job might be too much your choice
 
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