ABS vs PVC drain lines in concrete slab? Advantage for one vs the other?

Hi,

I'm in the process of renovating my basement (40year old house), and have 2 BackWaterValves that haven't been touched in 40 years. I am fairly confident that when I try to open them the bolts will shear off and I will be forced to replace them.

My slab is probably 3-4" thick, and the BWV sit probably about 12" below the top of the slab. All drainlines in the slab are cast iron. I assume that they are just sitting in dirt, but may be surprised when I break the slab to find them sitting on gravel (although I doubt it).

So now my question is the following. My local Home Depot/etc carries ABS BWVs. I can get PVC BWVs from a plumbing supplier. In either case, I will need to connect the BWV to the cast using Fernco's.

So, is there an advantage to using PVC over ABS? I have other ABS drain lines in my house from when I renovated my kitchen (again connected to the galvanized/cast drains using Fernco's). I have no personal preference of one over the other, except that ABS is more easily obtained from HD.

Any thoughts and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Eric

If you already have ABS in your house thats what you should stick to, keep in mind that it's not a good idea to glue the two together, regardless of what some will tell you that has been banned is some areas, luck.

shacko said:

If you already have ABS in your house thats what you should stick to, keep in mind that it's not a good idea to glue the two together, regardless of what some will tell you that has been banned is some areas, luck.

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I guess my original post was unclear to that extent. My ABS is on a completely different floor; does that matter at all? I know that you cannot glue abs to pvc, no matter what adhesive is used.

Thanks,

Eric

Well technically you can use ABS to PVC transition glue under the NPC of Canada but you're only allowed to use it to joint your washer box to your abs stand pipe.

Use ferncos and use ABS.

Thanks for the confirmation. I had figured as much, but something jogged my memory about seeing most plumbers on Holmes always using white PVC piping, and was wondering if there was a reason/advantage for it.

Thanks,

Eric

benze said:

Thanks for the confirmation. I had figured as much, but something jogged my memory about seeing most plumbers on Holmes always using white PVC piping, and was wondering if there was a reason/advantage for it.

Thanks,

Eric

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Where I live, in BC here, we NEVER use PVC for plumbing piping.

The BWV material is immaterial. The only reason for using a material is usually because the supply houses in an area usually only carry one or the other, but seldom both.

Thanks for the replies. ABS it is.