How to Repipe

[Jeff H Young]

little bits and pieces photos and provided info not good need plumbing help. some poor work the tub isn't plumbed right nothing is . if you draw something that makes sense we can help

 

[NeedPlumbingHelp]

little bits and pieces photos and provided info not good need plumbing hel. some poor work the tub isnt plumbed right nothing is . if you draw something that makes sence we can help

I attached a drawing in the last post. Is there something on there that I can elaborate on? I want to add that the part where you see the shower and roof vent in the drawing is where I cannot see, fully. I am not sure how things are plumbed for that shower, just that I know the roof vent is somewhere in there.

Wwhitney nailed it on his previous post where he said…

So in the original pic, there's a 3" PVC san-tee on its back, and now from the "opposite side" pic it looks like just above that san-tee on its back, there's an upright 3" san-tee, whose side entry connects to the yet another san-tee on its back, this time with a 1-1/2" side entry. And this third san-tee has the other WC connected to its inlet, and the 1-1/2" side entry connects to that saddle tee in the original picture.

 

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[James Henry]

From what I can tell, your plumbing is a disaster and who ever did it didn't know what they were doing. My advise to you is to tear out the ceiling and expose ALL of the plumbing and take a picture of the Whole piping system so people can give you an accurate assessment of what needs to be done. Include a drawing of the fixture layout in the room and any vent connections and exits. If your going to fix it, fix it right.

 

[Jeff H Young]

shower or tub whatever it is looks unvented. santee branches are only good in vertical position as well.

 

[NeedPlumbingHelp]

From what I can tell, your plumbing is a disaster and who ever did it didn't know what they were doing. My advise to you is to tear out the ceiling and expose ALL of the plumbing and take a picture of the Whole piping system so people can give you an accurate assessment of what needs to be done. Include a drawing of the fixture layout in the room and any vent connections and exits. If your going to fix it, fix it right.

Will I be able to redo plumbing under the showers without tearing them out?

The thing that seems strange, is, I went outside and looked at the roof vent, again, and the vent appears to line up with the toilet, not the shower.

There is no piping that goes up to a vent from where the toilets are, though.

If the tub is unvented, how does it drain ok? I don’t understand.

 

[Reach4]

If the tub is unvented, how does it drain ok? I don’t understand.

The purpose of a vent is to keep the trap from siphoning empty, which, in turn, keeps smells and gases from the living space. A bad vent does not cause bad draining.

 

[James Henry]

My advise to you is to tear out the ceiling and expose ALL of the plumbing and take a picture of the Whole piping system so people can give you an accurate assessment of what needs to be done. Include a drawing of the fixture layout in the room and any vent connections and exits. If your going to fix it, fix it right.

 

[NeedPlumbingHelp]

The purpose of a vent is to keep the trap from siphoning empty, which, in turn, keeps smells and gases from the living space. A bad vent does not cause bad draining.

With that said, why do toilets need a vent then, if they always have water?

I thought no vents cause air pressure issues, like vacuum?

 

[Reach4]

With that said, why do toilets need a vent then, if they always have water?

Good point, and toilets are special. They need a real vent downstream so that the slug of water has a place to push air. That downstream real vent could be pretty far along. The need for a venting that an AAV can provide helps the slug of water from producing a vacuum that could slow the flow. Toilets are usually wet-vented, and the venting of the upstream things is important so that the slug of water does not suck out the water from their traps.

A toilet can be vented well after the flow turns down.

If you have a drainage blockage, a bad vent can make that worse. But by itself, a bad vent (except for that toilet), will not cause bad draining. It is important to have that real vent downstream of a toilet working.

 

[NeedPlumbingHelp]

Good point, and toilets are special. They need a real vent downstream so that the slug of water has a place to push air. That downstream real vent could be pretty far along. The need for a venting that an AAV can provide helps the slug of water from producing a vacuum that could slow the flow. Toilets are usually wet-vented, and the venting of the upstream things is important so that the slug of water does not suck out the water from their traps.

A toilet can be vented well after the flow turns down.

If you have a drainage blockage, a bad vent can make that worse. But by itself, a bad vent (except for that toilet), will not cause bad draining. It is important to have that real vent downstream of a toilet working.

Thanks. That helped my knowledge base.

The reason I don’t want to cut the ceiling underneath the last shower we can’t see, is because it’s a high ceiling that is on stairs. I don’t have a fancy ladder that can handle that, and I don’t want to spend money on something like that for a 1 time use. The piping can be replaced when I renovate that bathroom in the next few years. We just need to know how the venting is set up back there, right?

What about going to the attic and trying to look at the vent from there? Would that help?

On the other shower with the ABS s-trap… if the shower is used every day, is there water in the trap to protect from methane and other gases coming into the bathroom?

 

[Reach4]

Hopefully the drawing makes sense with all the pictures I have uploaded.

Do you understand that you have not posted " a scaled floor plan of the bathroom(s) and walls, with all the fixture locations, and all the locations of the DWV pipes you can see or know about."?

Scaled in this case does not mean anything like exact. I think it means roughly to scale.

 

[Jeff H Young]

need plumbing help . using a shower often still needs to be plumbed correctly , needs to be properly vented

 

[NeedPlumbingHelp]

Do you understand that you have not posted " a scaled floor plan of the bathroom(s) and walls, with all the fixture locations, and all the locations of the DWV pipes you can see or know about."?

Scaled in this case does not mean anything like exact. I think it means roughly to scale.

Ok, but I still haven’t seen the vent, except from outside the house, above where the toilets are.

I looked at the ABS s-trap picture some more. It appears that the shower farther back in the picture has a PVC s-trap. I still have no clue where the plumbing vent above the toilets on the roof goes to. Would it be helpful to see if there is a horizontal run in the attic that connects to the vertical vent?

 

[Jeff H Young]

s traps not allowed either

 

[NeedPlumbingHelp]

Ok, so I think I figured it all out. The picture I attached earlier that shows to the right with the saddle valve… What if the end of that line goes to the sink, AND up to the vent? It is a 3 inch pipe. If it just went to a sink, it would be smaller. I checked inside the vanity of the sink, and coming out of the wall is not 3 inch. I attached a picture with it circled where it turns and goes up.

So if the sink to the right of the Ferncos in the drawing is also where it goes straight up to vent, will that venting be sufficient for the toilets? Do I still need the 1 1/2 inch line inbetween those 2 spots in the picture from one of the previous posts?

I updated the drawing. Can I please have your thoughts? Is this “upstream” vent sufficient for the toilets and showers? I am assuming this is not going to be optimal for the showers.

 

[Jeff H Young]

no and that saddle? what is that? needs work

 

[NeedPlumbingHelp]

no and that saddle? what is that? needs work

Care to elaborate? You have been providing quite short answers.

That saddle is original to the plumbing in the house from the 70s.

It is my understanding that 1 vent pipe can vent many fixtures. The vent connects to the horizontal run. If the toilets are also connected to the horizontal run on the next branch, how is that not sufficient for venting them? Answers with detailed explanations are the helpful ones.

 

[Mr tee]

The tub drain is wrong, you have an S trap going into a san tee on its back. Neither is up to code. Also, the die cast slip joint nut is about corroded off and the top one is missing. I would use brass nuts.

Your problem with a combo and elbow being too high can be solved by using a wye and an elbow.

You can download and print isometric graph paper which makes it much easier and neater to draw. You will probably need to study up a bit to know how to use it.

 

[Jeff H Young]

sorry short answers because I cant make sence out of muchof this . ok the house has been plumbed wrong for almost 50 years , I cant see any way to help until better pics or drawings come in , but will try when I can. If I see something horribly plumbed I figure a little help to point it out

 

[Jeff H Young]

The tub drain is wrong, you have an S trap going into a san tee on its back. Neither is up to code. Also, the die cast slip joint nut is about corroded off and the top one is missing. I would use brass nuts.

Your problem with a combo and elbow being too high can be solved by using a wye and an elbow.

You can download and print isometric graph paper which makes it much easier and neater to draw. You will probably need to study up a bit to know how to use it.

The Op not doing any of this thats been suggested