Bathroom remodel plumbing issues

Users who are viewing this thread

UrsinPhx

New Member
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi! My boyfriend and I are in the process of remodeling our guest bathroom.
We bought a taller vanity because I'm 6 foot and hate bending over. The problem is that the vanity plumbing hole is higher than the existing plumbing. We either have to cut out a lower hole into our vanity to make room for the plumbing or cut into the wall and move up the plumbing to adjust. Neither sounds fun! :( If we move the pipes up will it still drain properly and how would we go about doing that?

Also, is there a toilet brand out there that has an adjustable tank? The old one abutted the wall, and now that we plan to tile behind it there's not going to be any room allowance left.

Thanks for any advice.
Urs
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,458
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
The easiest solution would be to cut the back of the cabinet, and use a longer tailpiece on the lav drain.

Raising the drain in the wall, without seeing it, could be a "lot of work".

Some toilets have more space behind the tank then others.
Older toilets may have needed most of the 12" to fit,

Many new toilets have more room behind.
Some as much as an inch.

drake_spec_gif.gif


low-p-trap-cut-1.jpg


low-p-trap-cut-2.jpg
 
Last edited:

Seaofnames

DIY Senior Member
Messages
162
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Mission, BC
Website
www.boilermakers359.org
Yep. You are gonna have to drill another hole in the vanity. You could buy a piece of tin or some nice stainless steel, cut it to cover up the hole and around the pipe to make it look like its some kind of access panel or something.

As far as I know, there is no adjustable tanks for toilets, as this would not be code to ASME or ANSI. Must be fixed. There are diagrams showing all dimensions for all the toilet makers out there. I'd measure the center of the drain to the wall and see what works from there(its called the 'rough in' length). You may have enough room to get a toilet that is 2" closer to the wall and still have a hair of clearance left from the tank to the bowl. I wouldnt chance it though.

Get an elongated bowl as well.

Where are you located?

EDIT: Terry you ninja!!
 

UrsinPhx

New Member
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Thanks Terry! We will probaby cut out a hole in our $300 vanity! What a greenhorn mistake. We should have measured the plumbing height first before vanity shopping.
Urs
 

UrsinPhx

New Member
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Thanks Sea, I'm in Phoenix, AZ. Luckily the vanity has a bottom drawer that only stops halfway so we hopefullly won't have to cut into to that. The only thing I'm worried about is the wood brace in the back. I hope it is only decorative/cosmetic. The wood is pretty strong and not particle board.
Urs
 

UrsinPhx

New Member
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
The cabinet is hard to describe... it has a nice empty back to it but at the bottom there is a shelf and under the shelf is a drawer. The only thing that is in the way is the part of the shelf and some of the back drawer space. Anyways, all this is moot becuase my boyfriend decided to raise the pipes. After cutting a hole in the drywall, we found the main pipe. At the end it "Y's" out. One part going to the master bath, the other going to the guest bath which we are working on. My BF think's he can use a "T" pipe after cutting out the "Y" pipe and then add some configuration of fittings to raise the drain pipe up...the hot and cold copper pipes he plans to cut and add extensions and angle them out to raise those. Plus I think we would have to raise the pluming in the master to make sure there is no problem with the pressure/flow. One more thing. What to you plumbing professiionals think about "Snake bites"????
Thanks for your interest,
Urs
 

Seaofnames

DIY Senior Member
Messages
162
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Mission, BC
Website
www.boilermakers359.org
Shark bites.

I guess if you want to DIY, go for it, but as far as anyone with a half a grain of tradesman in them, would solder all joints. Yes they are approved for this and that, but they havent been around long enough to know if there are long term(10+ years) problems with them.

Learn how to solder or call a plumber.

If you decide to learn to solder yourself, test all connections for an hour with a pressure gauge. And please have some water around so you dont set your place on fire!

If you are worried about moving lines around, your boyfriend could also solder on a 1/2" pex adapter to the end of the copper pipe and run pex out to wherever you want without any soldering(risk of fire).

There are many ways to do this, good ways and bad ways. Make sure the boyfriend reads up on drainage basics before doing anything to the drain pipes. You can cause issues such as blockages, slow draining and the worst is sewer gas coming back up in the drain(improper trap/grade).

Good luck!
 

UrsinPhx

New Member
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi,
HJ, Sea, King (Turd Puncher--funny!) My BF wants to weld the pipes but for some reason when we turn off our main water supply, water still streams out of the hot/cold copper pipe. We opened up all our faucets to relieve pressure, turned off the toilet tank water/water heater and it still dribbles out. That's why we thought of the shark bites. We were going to use them as a last resort because you can't sweat a pipe that has water in it. We don't know why my patio home still trickles out water when the main is shut off....could it be a ball-joint problem? The handle that turns it off is one of those old red round ones. Is that why water still comes through? Anyways, this project is scheduled for this weekend...I'll keep you all posted. This project is taking a toll on our relationship for sure.
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,458
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
Not all shutoff valves work.

They can wear,
Be stripped
Haves a drop of solder in them,
Or something stuck in them.

You may need to shut the water off at the water meter, if the shutoff inside doesn't do it.

When you pick up your LP torch, no lead solder and flux, you will be soldering.

Soldering School
 

Attachments

  • solderingschool_fig19.jpg
    solderingschool_fig19.jpg
    2.8 KB · Views: 471
  • solderingschool_fig26.jpg
    solderingschool_fig26.jpg
    3.1 KB · Views: 498

UrsinPhx

New Member
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Well, no animals are gathereing 2 by 2 yet.... ;-)
My BF was able to sweat the connectiion to the left copper pipe, but the one on the right (cold) didn't hold up and started to leak. We stuck bread into the pipe and that worked great to stop the water flow while he sweated the connections but the cold pipe still didn't hold the solder. We finally got the Snakebites to fix the right pipe connections and bingo!...No leaks! Raising the drain up so we wouldn't have to cut into the vanity worked too after a Y, 90 degree elbow, and some straight ABS pipe. We turned the water back on and all the connections are holding. I hope this worked because we dry-walled the hole back up. Much thanks for your interest and suggestions!
Urs
 

UrsinPhx

New Member
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I have a before photo still in my camera, unforntuately I didn't get an after shot. BF was in a bad mood and now the hole has been dry-walled. Another challenge is we have a 10 inch rough-in for the toilet and all the toilets we looked at have a 12 inch. I saw at Home Depot a toilet offset flange? Will this let us get a normal toilet if we install it? Thanks!
Urs

offset_level_fit_flng.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Sparty007

Member
Messages
38
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I have a before photo still in my camera, unforntuately I didn't get an after shot. BF was in a bad mood and now the hole has been dry-walled. Another challenge is we have a 10 inch rough-in for the toilet and all the toilets we looked at have a 12 inch. I saw at Home Depot a toilet offset flange? Will this let us get a normal toilet if we install it? Thanks!
Urs


You can special order a 10" toilet from HD, they only stock 12" rough ins. Offset flange is a BAD idea. Unless you have no other toilet,

Most plumbing supplies carry both the 10" and the 12"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks