hans_idle
New Member
Hello everyone. I've been looking for a good resource like this site for a while. I finally stumbled upon it when someone referenced it over in the John Bridge tile forums.
I'm doing a complete bathroom remodel. I'm in the planning stages right now. Trying to work out a couple of questions. The master bath is on the second floor, right above the kitchen. I point this out because the kitchen is beautiful (remodeled a few years ago) and I'd prefer NOT to have to rip open anything from below.
The questions I have are as follows (and I see some of these topics elsewhere so I'm putting in the solution that I got from other threads):
1) There are 2 sinks in the master bath. With the new cabinets in place, everything shifts over about 2 feet. So I need to move the supplies and drains 2 feet to the right. The supplies come across the bathroom under the floor and up through the cabinet floor. The joists run perpendicular to the direction that the cabinets move. I expect that I'll remove the cabinets, cut away some of the subfloor, use elbows to move everything over. This means drilling some holes in the joists to get the copper pipes over 2 feet, since the joists run perpendicular to the cabinets. I'm guessing I can't do the elbows above the floor since the cabinets will be sitting on the floor and the 2-foot move would put the current lines outside the new cabinets. But is drilling holes in the joists "allowed"?
2) As for the drains, these come out of the wall behind the cabinet, but I believe they also come across the bath under the floor. I say this because the wall is an outside wall and I don't see pipes going up from the basement. So I would do the same thing here by putting elbows on them under the floor and drilling holes through the joist to get the pipe 2 feet over. Then come up. Again, is drilling holes in the joist allowed?
3) The new cabines and the new whirlpool tub will have granite tops. Aside from stronger cabinets, does anything typically have to be done to the floor to support the load? The floor is 2"x10" on 16" centers. The tub will have about a 9" surround on all 4 sides of granite, so I don't think that will be enough weight compared to the 2500lbs that the floor is supposed to be able to hold for the tub. To put it in perspective, I'm removing a whirlpool tub that is the size of Canada (~240 gallons to overflow) and replacing with a smaller tub (~150 gallons to overflow). So I'm guessing the floor under the tub will be fine. Just not sure if the cabinets are going to be okay.
4) I've toyed with adding a tankless water heater for the master bath, but I'm not sure if I want to tackle that now. I'd have to run a new supply line from the basement to the 2nd floor and do all the plumbing. I might re-plumb the bathroom to accept a tankless heater in the future (since I'll have the walls open), but then cap off the pipes that I don't use. I envisioned putting a valve on the lines that come up now, followed by a "T" that future connections could go to. That would allow me to isolate the master bath from the other plumbing on the 2nd floor.
5) I'm weekend warrior (although a quite accomplished one). But I haven't done much plumbing. What is the best source of national and state plumbing codes? I just want to make sure I'm not doing something stupid. I will be applying for all the permits (construction, electrical, and plumbing) so I'm sure they will keep me in line, but I'd like to know ahead of time.
Thanks!
I'm doing a complete bathroom remodel. I'm in the planning stages right now. Trying to work out a couple of questions. The master bath is on the second floor, right above the kitchen. I point this out because the kitchen is beautiful (remodeled a few years ago) and I'd prefer NOT to have to rip open anything from below.
The questions I have are as follows (and I see some of these topics elsewhere so I'm putting in the solution that I got from other threads):
1) There are 2 sinks in the master bath. With the new cabinets in place, everything shifts over about 2 feet. So I need to move the supplies and drains 2 feet to the right. The supplies come across the bathroom under the floor and up through the cabinet floor. The joists run perpendicular to the direction that the cabinets move. I expect that I'll remove the cabinets, cut away some of the subfloor, use elbows to move everything over. This means drilling some holes in the joists to get the copper pipes over 2 feet, since the joists run perpendicular to the cabinets. I'm guessing I can't do the elbows above the floor since the cabinets will be sitting on the floor and the 2-foot move would put the current lines outside the new cabinets. But is drilling holes in the joists "allowed"?
2) As for the drains, these come out of the wall behind the cabinet, but I believe they also come across the bath under the floor. I say this because the wall is an outside wall and I don't see pipes going up from the basement. So I would do the same thing here by putting elbows on them under the floor and drilling holes through the joist to get the pipe 2 feet over. Then come up. Again, is drilling holes in the joist allowed?
3) The new cabines and the new whirlpool tub will have granite tops. Aside from stronger cabinets, does anything typically have to be done to the floor to support the load? The floor is 2"x10" on 16" centers. The tub will have about a 9" surround on all 4 sides of granite, so I don't think that will be enough weight compared to the 2500lbs that the floor is supposed to be able to hold for the tub. To put it in perspective, I'm removing a whirlpool tub that is the size of Canada (~240 gallons to overflow) and replacing with a smaller tub (~150 gallons to overflow). So I'm guessing the floor under the tub will be fine. Just not sure if the cabinets are going to be okay.
4) I've toyed with adding a tankless water heater for the master bath, but I'm not sure if I want to tackle that now. I'd have to run a new supply line from the basement to the 2nd floor and do all the plumbing. I might re-plumb the bathroom to accept a tankless heater in the future (since I'll have the walls open), but then cap off the pipes that I don't use. I envisioned putting a valve on the lines that come up now, followed by a "T" that future connections could go to. That would allow me to isolate the master bath from the other plumbing on the 2nd floor.
5) I'm weekend warrior (although a quite accomplished one). But I haven't done much plumbing. What is the best source of national and state plumbing codes? I just want to make sure I'm not doing something stupid. I will be applying for all the permits (construction, electrical, and plumbing) so I'm sure they will keep me in line, but I'd like to know ahead of time.
Thanks!