Adding a utility sink

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Dbhyslop

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Hi everyone,

I'd like to put a laundry sink in my basement with a Liberty 404 to send the wastewater to my plumbing stack. I've been reading up on the subject and understand that I need to vent the pump.

The problem is this is a bear of a stack and I'm not sure how to interface the vent into it.

photo (1).jpg

I haven't touched this thing: it's as it was when we moved in a few years ago. Toilet is the iron pipe on the left, vent is the one that goes straight up. The big copper pipe on the left comes from the shower, the one on the right from the bathroom sink. You can see the way the previous owners made a trap and standpipe for the washer drain. I'd probably take that apart and use it to bring the wastewater in, but I'm stumped about how to vent it.

I have little experience with plumbing, apart from an occasional sweat solder; however I'm a seasoned DIYer who's willing to put in the time and effort to read, learn and practice to do a project right without cutting corners. The drain stack in my home seems unusual compared to what I'm used to seeing in books and on the web, so I thought I'd ask if you pros have any tips for me.

Thanks!

Dan
 

Dlarrivee

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You would be better off using plastic pipe to go up inside an upstairs wall and through the roof, or connecting to the existing vent in the attic...

Do you plan to dump both the new sink and the washer into the new pump setup?
 

Cacher_Chick

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I installed the Liberty drain pump in my own house, and am happy with it.

You cannot vent the basin into the stack in the basement. You are going to need to go up through the roof with a new vent or find another vent in the attic that is going out the roof that you can tie into in the attic.

The existing laundry drain connection is not proper either, but I'm guessing you already knew that.
 

Jimbo

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The washing machine is not vented. And you cannot tie into that stack until you are 42" above the floor. And are you sure it is JUST a vent? It doesn't carry waste from an upper floor???
 

Dbhyslop

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I have no problem running a pipe through the wall, but I'd like to avoid cutting yet another hole in my roof if at all possible.

Unfortunately I don't think I can tie into the stack vent in the attic, either. If there's a way to saddle one onto this pipe, please let me know!

photo (2).jpg

I understand that the washing machine drain is not good, but it hasn't been a high priority until now (I recently finished insulating, wrapping and re-siding the entire house and replacing all the doors and windows). Hopefully I can address that now when I install the sink. What if I put the washer hose into the new sink, plumbed the sink pump into the wye currently used by the washer, and then vented the pump separately up the wall? When you say 42" above the floor do you mean the foundation floor or the living floor of the house? The cleanout on the stack is 55" off the foundation floor. I'm certain nothing else drains into this stack, all the bathroom drains are visible in the basement photo and there's a bedroom closet on the other side of the wall. The kitchen has its own stack that goes through the foundation about 15' away. The drain pipes meet up in the yard and go into the septic system.

The house's original washing machine drain was a pipe going through a hole in the foundation with a hose attached. Out the wall and straight into the soil! This is Rhode Island where homeowner and contractor alike treat building codes as suggestions. Don't get me started on the rest of the house...during a tropical storm three years ago I found water dripping into the basement through the fusebox. The meter on the outside of the house was filled with water!!!
 

Dbhyslop

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hj, I posted before seeing your reply. Is that a legitimate way to plumb one of these? In that case the sink drain is basically the vent, and would be no different from having a normal trap and just venting the Liberty into the room?
 

Cacher_Chick

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The problem with HJ's suggestion is that the pump basin will harbor some stinky stuff which may contaminate the whole house. I would go through the roof with a new vent. If you are not up to installing the flashing, a roofer could have it done in about 15 minutes.

It would be more trouble, but you could cut off the exiting stack in the attic and install a tee in it, but that would be way more work and result in need the existing roof flashing needing to be replaced anyway.

Jimbo's reply was a little short. If you were going to connect a vent to the existing stack, it would need to be at least 42" above the bathroom floor.

If you dump the washer into the laundry sink, then you could remove the existing washer trap from the stack and use that connection to the stack for the drain, as long as you install a seperate vent through the roof.
 
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Dlarrivee

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If you don't want to punch a hole in the roof, you're going to have to open up a wall and tie into the stack above all of the other drains...

Sort of a pick your battles thing.
 

Dbhyslop

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Thanks for the advice, everyone!

It looks like I'll go ahead and send a pipe up the wall and through the roof. My hesitation was only that 1) it's cold outside and b) I have enough things sticking up out of my roof.

I can always be counted on to do the right thing in the end, but sometimes it might take a few days to convince myself that I have to :)

Dan
 
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