Dear plumbers please give me some ideas

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Anton Morozov

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Jan 28, 2020
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Location
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Hi everybody! This is my first post. We are located in Wayne, NJ.
We purchased out first house recently and we had a few issues with interior French drain. Out basement was finished with tile in the floor. Tile had to be cut off and sheetrock cut about 2 feet of the ground. It was super plugged up with iron and even clearing up the pipes would not help. We had to dig it out and install a new system with a 4 inch pipe. Anyways after installation we realised that company that did the job put 2 cleanouts in the floor too close to sheetrock. Now we cannot finish the walls because clean-outs are about an inch into the walls. Any ideas on what can we do to finish it up and make it look as nice as possible and still have access to them? We can't find a matching tile since its Italian and discontinued so similar tile will throw it off as it is. After we put the rest of the tiles down it will stick out only half an inch of the floor but it will need more room to unscrew and come out. Also, base molding will be installed on the bottom so we don't know how to make it work. We don't want foundation block to be visible and cold air to come thru the wall since it's our playroom for the kids. Any ideas please share. Maybe you have seen similar problem in somebody else's house. I will include some photos to show exactly how its installed. Putting some type of furniture on top of it to hide it is not a solution.
Thanks
 
Yes I have one of those in another room but those are good if piping or a clean out is fully hidden inside the wall. With current situation I would have to trim the bottom because it won't go over the lid and it would need like an inch of gap to make a room for the cover to be able to untwist. It wont look good with a see thru hole over it
 
Anton, so sorry for your mess!!!
Your best solution is to have the licensed contractor who created this mess address the issue as makes sense. Or arbitrate.
You can't fix stupid work.
McGyver might be able to come up with something (that is a humorous reference to an Americana cultural television character).
 
Company that was doing drainage is just doing that and that's it. They have in contract that everything afterwords is not their responsibility just like any other company that specializes in this.
I'm doing all the work by myself with my friend. I have been burned so many times with hiring companies for this or that. I'm not sure if it's our luck or just the area where we live is full of scammers ), but basically if I want to make it right I have to do it myself unless it's something that I cant do.

The french drain is sealed under concrete and to move the pipe by an inch would require to redo the whole project. It's easier to just figure out solution for this I think
 
Plumbing-wise, when we lay out clean-outs and everything else, we use string lines or actual boards to make sure we are hitting the proper locations before the pour. Easy-peasy.
Really sorry.
 
I was referring to the pipe. Did you use ABS, metal, ? A picture is worth a thousand words. Build out wall with furring strips, then add a drywall trap door? Lots of options. Just post a few pics, and we will give you cheap ideas.
 
Post LOTS OF PICTURES, close up, far away, of everything that needs fixing or re-arranging.

It sounds like some kinds of boxes or frames can be built to maintain access, but we need good clear PICTURES to advise you.

Meanwhile, you ALWAYS need to keep plenty of extra tile after a job like that, so you don’t end up screwed like you are now.
Lesson learned!

If you can’t match the tile, you can find contrasting tile that looks good, an accent color, not a matching tile.
 
I dont where they went as well, but anyways I took a few more to show what kind of tile I found. It's somewhat similar to what I have and shouldn't be too notisable.
Clean out is almost flush with the floor, if it sticks out it's not by much, but it would interfere with sheetrock by a half inch or so. It only openes by going up, so I would need like a an inch or so clearance to unscrew it all the way up and put to the side.
 

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I have a fix for you

turn the cavity behind behind the CO into a recessed book shelf

use glue, to adhere sheet rock to the block wall.
then frame the opening with 1 x 8 x cut to length
dress it up with some molding around the edge

you will have a book shelf recessed half way into the wall

OR.
If the idea of a book shelf half in /half out does not appeal to you
then make the shelves flush with the wall. instead of a book shelf it will be a nick nack
type of thingy

OR. nice spot for a hidden hinge and concealed compartment

Personally
I would bust the floor. and move the pipe..but thats just me
 

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Turn the bump out s into what look like support pillars. Common items in many basements, people will just ignore them.
 

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