khedrei
Member
I am trying to help my friend look into roughing in a bathroom in an old house that she just bought. Not sure if it's worth it. I am fairly knowledgeable but the fact that the house is old scares me a bit. I don't have any experience dealing with the old metal fittings and I know nothing about how the main stack attaches to the sewer line to the city sewage.
The basics.
House is about 50 years old. Maybe a more. There is 1 bathroom on the main floor which is actually just above where she is thinking to put the bathroom downstairs.
The drain from that bathroom is metal, I am guessing cast iron but I suppose it could be lead. It runs in the floor joists to the end of the house where the laundry area is and down the wall into the floor. I am assuming that is the main sewer connection. Here is the confusing part for me. The bottom 3 feet or so of the foundation wall is a bit thicker than the rest of it and the stack is actually buried in the concrete. I am only able to see a little bit of the side of the 3" pipe. The 'Y' cleanout however is sticking right out and fully accessable. The laundry tub also runs right into the contrete and dissapears from view. I really wish I had taken a picture. below the 'Y' fitting though, the pipe is completely burried in the concrete and not visible. I would assume it continues down into the floor. The problem is I don't know what these connections look like.
Here are my questions.
-What do I need to be concered with if I were to rough in a bathroom in an old house? From what I have seen on TV some of these main sewer lines used to be clay pipes, they were often broken and a big mess to deal with once the floor gets ripped up.
-How complicated/difficult is it to tap into the main drain once the floor is ripped up.
-Is there a limit on the length of run from where we want the bathroom to where the main sewer connection is? It's about 18-20 feet right now.
I am basically thinking about cutting a nice big trough on the floor and digging it out, then paying a plumber to come in and do all the pipe properly and I will fill it back in myself. Any thoughts as to what someone may charge to do this type of work if the grunt stuff was already done? Not sure if I am allowed to ask, but is there anyone in the GTA that may be willing to come do it?
The basics.
House is about 50 years old. Maybe a more. There is 1 bathroom on the main floor which is actually just above where she is thinking to put the bathroom downstairs.
The drain from that bathroom is metal, I am guessing cast iron but I suppose it could be lead. It runs in the floor joists to the end of the house where the laundry area is and down the wall into the floor. I am assuming that is the main sewer connection. Here is the confusing part for me. The bottom 3 feet or so of the foundation wall is a bit thicker than the rest of it and the stack is actually buried in the concrete. I am only able to see a little bit of the side of the 3" pipe. The 'Y' cleanout however is sticking right out and fully accessable. The laundry tub also runs right into the contrete and dissapears from view. I really wish I had taken a picture. below the 'Y' fitting though, the pipe is completely burried in the concrete and not visible. I would assume it continues down into the floor. The problem is I don't know what these connections look like.
Here are my questions.
-What do I need to be concered with if I were to rough in a bathroom in an old house? From what I have seen on TV some of these main sewer lines used to be clay pipes, they were often broken and a big mess to deal with once the floor gets ripped up.
-How complicated/difficult is it to tap into the main drain once the floor is ripped up.
-Is there a limit on the length of run from where we want the bathroom to where the main sewer connection is? It's about 18-20 feet right now.
I am basically thinking about cutting a nice big trough on the floor and digging it out, then paying a plumber to come in and do all the pipe properly and I will fill it back in myself. Any thoughts as to what someone may charge to do this type of work if the grunt stuff was already done? Not sure if I am allowed to ask, but is there anyone in the GTA that may be willing to come do it?