Clean out needed in bathroom?

Hi,

I live in San Diego, CA, and I am trying to convert a storage room into a second bathroom. The building is only one floor. I connected the drainage pipes of my bathtub (on the left side in the picture) and the drainage pipe of the sink (right side) to the drainage pipe (3â€) of the toilet with a waste cross. The fourth arm of the waste cross goes under the fountain (behind the wall) across my living room and is connected to the main drain pipe (4â€) with a Y with 45-degree-elbow combo. This running is approximately 10 feet. I had an inspection, but it didn’t pass. Apparently, I need a cleanout since the running is > 5 feet and the bathroom is not above the first floor. Is that right? The inspector would not tell me specifically. Is a cleanout even necessary? Can’t I use the toilet bowl to snake out a plug. If not, where would be the best place to put the cleanout. I don’t want to put it outdoor if I don’t have to since I would have to go through the foundation on the left wall. Would a cleanout tee (placed horizontally) work in between the bathtub drain and the existing waste cross? Can I put a removable floor tile over the cleanout? Or is there a regulation against that? Or a cleanout tee (placed vertically) in-between the sink drain. What are the advantages of a cleanout tee and a Y-shaped cleanout? In the California Plumbing code, it specifies that I need a clearance of 18â€. Is that 18†in front of the cleanout, or to either sides?

Is there anything else wrong with my pipe layouts. Do I need to replace any of the venting pipes? I am not sure whether or not I can connect all three of the drain pipes together with the waste cross?

Any suggestion is appreciated. Thanks …Matthew

http://mattiejojo2007.googlepages.com/bathroomconversion

(click on image to enlarge on the webpage)

complete redo

1. You CANNOT use a sanitary cross in a horizontal line, and usually not in a vertical one either except in specific situations.
2. You CANNOT use sanitary tees for connections to horizontal lines.

Given these two restrictions, EVERYTHING you have under the floor is in violation of the plumbing codes. The toilet vent, where you have it placed, is completely ineffective. This is about the only situation where using the toilet as a cleanout makes sense, but even then I would prefer an dedicated cleanout to avoid the nuisance of removing and resetting the toilet.

Did an inspector look at this and say nothing? Every fitting you have used is wrong.

You don't snake a line through the toilet bowl, but it is acceptable to REMOVE the bowl and snake that way. That is usually accepted as OK, in lieu of a dedicated cleanout. But cleanouts are a great convenience, and if you can figure out how to work one in, that is good.

No rule against putting a removable floor tile over a cleanout, but that may be a janitorial headache for the room.

You need 18" on each side of the toilet centerline, meaning the alcove must be 36" wide. And you need 24" clearance in front of the bowl.

Normally you would have run the large line to the lav on the right with a cleanout in the cabinet using long sweep fittings.

Like the others have mentioned, you can't use santees on their backs.

Aren't santees on their backs acceptable for venting?

Terry said:

Normally you would have run the large line to the lav on the right with a cleanout in the cabinet using long sweep fittings.

Like the others have mentioned, you can't use santees on their backs.

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loafer said:

Aren't santees on their backs acceptable for venting?

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I think that's the only time that they're acceptable on a horizontal line.

Aren't santees on their backs acceptable for venting?

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Not for some time now.
All fittings below grade must be run as waste fittings.
That means combo's on be on their backs for venting, but not santees.
The Santee can be vertical, not horizontal.
There isn't an inspector on the West coast that would pass that plumbing.

FloridaOrange said:

I think that's the only time that they're acceptable on a horizontal line.

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Terry said:

Not for some time now.
All fittings below grade must be run as waste fittings.

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I stand corrected

thanks for everyone's response.
So, I will change the 3 sanitary tees connecting the vents to the drain pipes with long sweep wye tees.

Terry, so if I were to change a segment of the sink's drain pipe from the 2" to 3" and put in a recessed tee cleanout (3") before connecting back to the 2" drain pipe of the sink (right side of the picture). That should fix everything, right? The clearance will be > 24" front and 18" to both sides of the cleanout.

thanks