Rough in inspection question

[apparentgenius]

Hi,

I'm currently plumbing my 2 story home under construction. I plumbed all of the 1st level and passed the under floor rough in. I am now completing the second floor and am almost ready for my final rough in inspection. My inspector wants me to fill the entire DWV system with water for the test

My question is, once I have installed the tubs, how do I block the first level tub from overfilling so that I can fill to the second floor? I have 2" balloons, but I don't know how I would use them on the tubs with the drains installed.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
glen

 

[Jimbo]

Generally, you would complete ALL the rough BEFORE installing fixtures on the first floor.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

tubs

Depending on the kind of waste and overflow fittings you used, there are test kits that seal the overflow and drain openings.

 

[Sixlashes]

If you have access to the tub drain, pull the p trap assembly out of the 1-1/2 inch trap arm and put a balloon or test plug in the end of the trap arm. You will have quite a bit of pressure at this level once you fill the stack to the roof level. Approx 1/2 pound of pressure per foot of elevation.

 

[hj]

test

The problem with that is that a strict inspector would then want the P trap connection retested when the trap is reinstalled. This problem is why we install cleanouts on every riser so we can plug them and just test the upper section after it is installed.

 

[NHmaster]

Have you ever seen a test plug blow out on a hydrostatic test? Fun, fun, fun.

 

[Sixlashes]

Talking about a mess: I was testing a 2 story house with a daylight basement and a 12/12 roof. The top of the vent system was 40+ feet above grade. I had the system filled up and was walking around waiting for the inspector. I noticed a small seep around the test ballon in a closet flange in the basement floor.

Stupid me figured I could add a little air to the test balloon before the inspector showed up and not have to haggle over whether the leak was around the balloon or the fitting itself. Needless to say, when I touched the air valve for the ballloon, it shot out of the floor over my head and I experienced a 3" stream of water in the face that reached waist high.

The general contractor was the owner (and a good friend of mine) and he is still laughing about it to this day. He will never let me live it down. I am just glad he didn't have a camera handy.

 

[Sixlashes]

I would ask the inspector if you can remove the tub's p-trap for the soil top out inspection. Since you normally do not test the rough in with any fixtures installed, it should not be a problem. I never had to test the soil stack with a tub installed. Maybe those Western Washington inspectors weren't too bad after all ...

Like HJ said, you can install a test tee to isolate the lower floor and test the second story and up through the roof. This works best if your layout is planned in advance and you have an easy way to isolate your vent system going back downstairs. It will get time consuming and expensive if you need to cut in numerous test tees and have to purchase numerous test balloons.