Is this an S-Trap? Please help!!

dlarrivee said:

Every drain requires a vent... having one vent for all of them is called a wet vent and is likely not done legally in your situation.

Click to expand...

Pretty sure that's not 100% true. My roof would be badly littered with vent pipes for 2 toilets, 2 showers, a bath tub, 3 bathroom sinks, kitchen sink plus washing machine drain. That's 10 vent pipes!! Imagine an apartment building. It's entire roof would be vent pipes. I haven't counted the air vents on my roof but I know it's maybe 5-6 total. Usually a bathroom gets one air vent for the entire bathroom except in the case of my master bathroom where the tub and toilet are on an opposite, far away wall from the sink and shower. I think it has two.

All of my drains work perfectly with no backing and no slow drains. And My house was totally remodeled/added on to (nearly rebuilt) in 1997. The original section of the house dates back to 1910. I doubt it even had plumbing or electricity when it was built here in Southern Arkansas in 1910. It has a modern breaker box, modern plumbing, everything. There's really nothing 1910 about it. Just pointing this out because this house must be up to 1997 plumbing code since that's when it was completely redone. And the way it's done, it shares vent pipes between more than one drain.

This is how a typical small bathroom gets plumbed:


My mother's house built around the 60's I'd guess has 3 vent pipes. One for the bathroom, one for the kitchen sink and one for the washing machine drain. She'd have 5 if we go by your logic.. one for every drain. (Toilet, tub, bathroom sink, kitchen sink, washer drain).

Vents can be and usually are, joined together in the attic. Each vent does not have to be separate going through the roof.

Cubey I suggest you have a look inside a new home at the framing stage just after the plumbing rough in is done...

You're out to lunch. Every drain does require a vent, but that does not mean you need a roof penetration for every drain...

Vent lines are tied together and there will only be a handful of roof penetrations even in a modest sized home.

Also, there will generally be a stack that is capable of venting a handful of fixtures on it's own, this will usually be the largest vent coming through the roof.

As for apartment buildings, until you set foot on a commercial job site, I don't think you should be commenting there either.

derbarrett said:

So.... do you suggest that I drill through the I beam (see second pic)? I think the I beam is the reason why the bulider did not plumb through the wall in the first place. Also I think that the sink, toilet, shower, and bath are plumbed together and they are all connected to a vent (see link above).

Click to expand...

No, you should not drill through a steel I beam unless a structural engineer approves it. It was suggested that you build out the wall with furring strips so that you can clear the beam under the wall. Of course you will lose a little from the bathroom but it will then be to code.

If there will be a vanity hiding the drain, would he not be able to run the drain right next to the wall and then jog the vent with a pair of 30 or 45 degree elbows, back into the wall and up? That was how I did my kitchen sink. It is under a window so I didn't want the drain to be inside an exterior wall. It passed inspection at the time.

I have the same type plumbing in 2 kitchens. The house was built with no vents for these two locations. The drains go straight down. This is a 2 family home built in the 1950's or earlier.
I redid one side years ago.......all new PVC to replace the galvanized and I added a Studor AAV......It works fine and there is no smell issue. It is easily replaceable in a matter of minutes should a problem arise. The second kitchen will have the same setup shortly as I am just about to re-install the cabinets and fixtures......

Thats what I would do.....add an AAV.....

Cubey; An "S" trap is an "S" trap regardless of the machinations used to try to make it "legal". The best I could come up with, for your original drawing would be an "inverted G trap" because that is what it looks like. But even though "G" traps are NOT specified as illegal, yours would still not pass an inspection.

I would just as soon see an S trap as a trap with a Studor vent slapped on it. At least an S trap won't fail and since it's a kitchen sink it's going to get enough use that re-sealing the trap should it siphon is not a problem. Again, why over complicate things. Code clearly says that its a repair or remodel of the exsiting fixture without re-locating the piping he can put the S trap back in place. There is no reason to put together some convoluted mess of pipes under the cabinet that won't do squat anyway. My own house plumbing is close to 100 years old in the main house. Not a vented P trap anywhere and it works fine and there has never been an odor problem. I'm not advocating S traps here either but short of opening the wall and running a vent, slapping an AAV on it is a waste of time and money.

Tom Sawyer said:

...since it's a kitchen sink...

Click to expand...

Actually, it's a master bath which would be less prone to siphoning than a kitchen sink/dishwasher might. I had a bathroom with pedestal sink using an S trap for 12 years with no issues. The inspecter gave me a hard time about it at the time so when I renovated this year and put in a vanity, I cut into the wall and tied into a proper vent.

I'm confused how doing it properly would be a convoluted mess? Personally, a trap arm that goes straight into a wall looks like less of a mess than a mickey-mouse s-trap and prone-to-failure aav on top

There is nothing wrong with the drain running vertically through the floor. The problem is that you need a properly vented trap before the drain line drops down vertically. The purpose of the trap is to prevent sewer gases from entering the room. The purpose of the vent is to protect the trap from siphoning dry. Whether or not you can run a proper vent line depends on what is in the walls and *above* the bathroom. If it is extremely difficult to run a vent line, then the AAV is an alternative.

Cubey said:

Perhaps you could do this:

Click to expand...

What the hell is that supposed to be!!

The pipes go into the wall because they supposed have a vent on them that goes up out the roof or ties into another vent, running the pipe straight down thru the floor creates a s-trap which is illegal in most jurisdictions.
.................................................................................................

http://www.tonusa.com/Pic/Pic/products/tseries/t1000/t1000c.jpg[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the advice everyone!!!!