Question regarding clean out placement in backyard.

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Mike_D_S

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I have a feeling i'm not going to like the answer, but I need to ask anyway about clean out location.

First off, the background info. I'm located in Houston, TX but in the unincorporated city. I hired a local contractor to do some upgrades to my backyard, remove old in ground spa and existing patio, pour new slab for covered patio and then an additional slab on the side for an outdoor kitchen. The guy did the demo and pour of the new patio slab, but then things got weird as the guy just disappeared on me. He's not answering his phone and it's not taking voicemails. Guy had some local references who I talked to and seemed decent, so at this point I just hope nothing bad happened to him. The main problem is I can't ask the guy that did the work what he was thinking.

So my buddy was over and I was telling him about the guy going awol and while we were looking at the slab he asked me a question about the clean out access. The original patio had a 4" clean out flush with the top of the old patio slab about 2 or 3 ft from the side of the house and then there is a 2 1/2" clean out on the exterior wall under the kitchen sink. I had wanted a sink for the outdoor kitchen and when the guy poured the new slab he didn't leave the clean out access. He did put in a 4" drain line that runs at 90 degrees to the main drain and runs about 15 ft run out from under the new slab then comes up stright out of the ground where the outdoor kitchen will be.

So I have a couple of questions:
1. Is a 4" clean out required? Will the 2 1/2" one on the side of the house serve the purpose?
2. If i need a 4" clean out access, does the clean out have to be in line with the main drain? Can I use the drain line for the outdoor kitchen as the clean out?
3. If I need to have the clean out on the main line, can I just have it added at the end of the patio slab (about 15 ft from the house) or do I have to break out a hole in the new slab and add the clean out back in?

Thanks for reading down this far. Obviously I don't want to have to break out a hole in the new slab, but I also don't want to end up with a clogged drain and not be able to do anything about it.

Thanks,
Mike
 
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hj

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quote; 1. Is a 4" clean out required? Will the 2 1/2" one on the side of the house serve the purpose? 2. If i need a 4" clean out access, does the clean out have to be in line with the main drain? Can I use the drain line for the outdoor kitchen as the clean out? 3. If I need to have the clean out on the main line, can I just have it added at the end of the patio slab (about 15 ft from the house) or do I have to break out a hole in the new slab and add the clean out back in? 1. this is an easy one to answer. NO! 2. You can put it anywhere it will access into the main line and the kitchen drain is NOT adequate 3. A good plumber will install "2 way cleanouts" so the line can be accessed in either direction so it can be anywhere in the main line. 4. I just had a customer who had to pay a lot of money to find and elevate his cleanouts because the landscapers buried them. Who is screwing with the site and editing to make the responses a single "run on" paragraph?
 
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Mike_D_S

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HJ,

Thanks for the reply, I've been out of town for a few days so just saw the reply.

Basically my take away here is that it would be best to have direct access to the main drain line via a two way cleanout and I could add said 2 way clean out inline with the main drain at the end of the new patio slab rather than having to put a hole in the new slab. The two way cleanout will allow access back under the patio and also downstream as needed.

Thanks,
Mike
 
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