Help with plumbing for bathroom remodel

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Joined
Jan 23, 2021
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Location
Media, PA
Hi,

I'm remodeling a bathroom. The vanity never drained well - very slow and had to be plunged every few months. Please take a look at this 1 minute video and let me know your advice.

Thanks!

Video
 
What is the pop up assembly?

I snaked it yesterday. I encountered some resistance, I think where the slant starts diving down a foot or so before the main soil pipe.
At the 90+ degree bend just before the main soil pipe, I could not get the snake to go any further. After snaking it, I poured water from a pitcher into the pipe, and after the pipe filled up, it was barely moving, just like when the sink was installed. So I think the issue is at that 90+ bend and I need to replace that with smoother bends. I'm thinking PVC and 22.5 degree bends to make it really smooth.

I'm also thinking that, since I encountered some resistance a foot before the 90 bend where the pipe starts diving down, that I could replace that whole run with something that slants at the same rate all the way to the main soil pipe. This would mean removing that sub floor, which I am going to do anyway to insulate and seal because there is tons of cold air coming in. So I could run the new pipe thru a hole in the floor joists by using a hole saw and get the same angle all the way so the water runs faster and has no sharp turns all the way to the main soil pipe.
 
If your going to remove the floor anyway you could change to pvc and change the short sweep 90 to a long sweep 90 and install a dandy clean out before the 45 drops down so you have more than one place to snake from if you can get one just before it enters the main put one there also
 
Yea good idea thanks! But I was going to install the clean out above the vanity floor. Because when the floor is back in, how would a clean out at that point help me? Maybe I just don't understand what you mean.
 
Cut the pipe as close as you can to the main stack and then tie on there and run your pvc up to the vanity.
If you can't get a vent in the wall then at least put an AAV in under the vanity and this will help alot.
 
Thanks!

I ordered the AAV and it will be here tomorrow.

I cut the pipe close to the 90 degree bend and then got a pipe wrench on it and got it turned out. The pipe there was 90% clogged by thick sludge.

Once the pipe was out the opening to the main was also 90% clogged by really hard stuff. So I cut out some more of the floor and got down in that crawlspace and cleaned it out with a screwdriver, a brass brush, vinegar and water, and a rag. Nice and clean and clear.

Then I threaded the new PVC connection into the threaded opening and it went in nice and smooth. Do I need anything around that PVC thread, like teflon tape? or is it fine with nothing?
 
Thank you! I read about it on the inner web and some dude said to just use the compound and not tape, then I went to Lowes and asked the dude there and he said to use the compound, so that's what I did before I saw your post. I think it will be fine. I put it on as tight as I could by hand.

I'm so happy I found the root of this issue. I've been here 20 years and had a slow drain the whole time. It was almost completely clogged. I have remodeled the whole rest of the house but this bathroom was semi-remodeled so it was last. It has been a nagging problem for so many years and I knew I had to pull up the floor to get it done. So glad I did it right.

While removing the cement from the basement to remove the supply pipes I also figured out how to get heat into that cold bathroom so that's another issue that has been there for 20 years.

So happy! Thanks so much for the help!
 
Is the copper looking pipe with the 90 bend coming from a tee a waste line or a water supply? Looks big enough for waste but I've never seen that type of drain pipe (not that I've seen a lot). That tee fitting doesn't look like a dwv fitting.
@frodo, what do you think of this? I've never seen this type of setup before.

If that is the drain, the short sweep 90s are prohibited for use in drains. It requires long sweep 90 instead-- for the very reason you're here: short 90s clog more easily.

I'm glad you found out how to get heat into the bathroom!
 
If you haven't ran your pipe yet when you come out of the main pipe run two 45's together which will
make a long sweep as Zanne was suggesting. You can use a 45 and a street 45 together. Just a suggestion.
 
I did not do anything after the threaded part. I was going to use this "90 sweep" since I think it was smoother than two 45s but I don't have the 45s here to compare. But I am pretty sure this looked way better. What do you think?

8JZpG7T.jpg
 
I have some info for you that you not going to like
Code says that if you work on an older house that is not code compliant. The code will not make you bring the system as a whole up to compliance. BUT, you are required to bring the line your are working on up to compliance.
So, why am i saying this?
the fitting that you are tying into is a threaded san tee,
a san tee can only be used in a vertical position. It may not be used in the horizontal
this means the fitting that you are tying into is non compliant and must be changed from a san tee to a combination wye 8th bend.
which in my opinion is really a blessing, remove the tee, and now you have access to the old pipe and can clean it out. this will make your drains, drain faster and last longer

btw, nice desk top. I like that wood
 
It's reclaimed hemlock from a barn made by an Amish craftsman. Thanks. I'm going to try to get the same type of wood for my bathroom floor.

OK, well why wouldn't I like that? It sounds like it will make it drain better and I think this is a great idea and thanks for pointing it out.

I see that the main has those double strap things, does that mean that it just comes apart at those and each one of those is a separate piece and I just need to remove those bands and change out one part?

And the reason for the code is that it will flow better?

If I understand you correctly, it looks like I will be replacing one section of the 4" waste line that looks like about 6" long based on the bands I see.

The new 6" waste line would have a combination wye 8th bend with 1.5" coming out of it.

I guess I'll just take it apart and then take the threaded section to the plumbing supply and ask for the combination wye 8th bend and how to connect it to the PVC.
 
To answer your first question. WHY?
a san tee is only to be used in the vertical because it is shaped too accept water that falls straight down
a combo routes the water along the long radius in the horizontal.
a tee, laying on its side, is problematic in that the solids bunch up in the turn
first-lady2.jpg
 

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