Moving Basement Toilet

robertc65

I asked this question once last year, but I wanted to just throw it out there again for comment. My basement bathroom is currently located in the middle of the of the basement. I would like to move it about 15 feet further from where the sewage pipe exits the house. My question is what are the chances I would be able to get enough fall in my sewer line moving it further away from the sewer. I know I'd have to jack hammer the floor but it seems this would only work if the existing pipe were deep enough under the floor so that when I run it 15 feet further I can get enough fall. I really don't want to jack hammer all the way back to the house sewer exit.

I guess another option is an up flush pump. Are these reliable? I just envision this thing full of sh$t after a while and me having to take it apart and clean it out. Yuuuuuk!!!!

Thanks

Rob

Double-A

To get a proper fall of 1/4" per foot, the end of the pipe in the new location will have to be 3 3/4" higher than in the old location.

Sounds quite doable. I think you will find your waste pipes were burried with enough depth to allow this move. Even a more shallow pitch of 1/8" per foot would work, but would not meet code for smaller pipe sizes.

As for sewage ejectors, they are messy to work on when they fail, but a good system can go a couple of decades with no problems.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

robertc65

Thanks for the reply. That sounds encouraging. I guess the only way to tell for sure is to start jack hammering around the current toilet location to see how deep the pipe is at that point. Is there any trick to this?

Thanks again

Rob

K2

Don't hit your foot. Seriously.

Electric jackhammer is ok for a little probing but when it comes to the real work get an air hammer. 60 pounder is usually ok for slabs.

robertc65

Thanks. Great tip.

Rob

Greg Di

Even better than a jackhammer is the phone book. Call a concrete cutting company. They will surgically cut a trench, haul all the crap out and leave no mess. It's worth every penny and is generally not very expensive.

tgeb

Stick a tape down the pipe as it is now, that should tell you how far below the slab the first 90 degree elbow is. Then simple rithmatic should let you know if it will work with the elevations you have.

No sense in busting up the floor if it won't work.

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Tom

www.gebcon.com

Mike Finley

Heh, Heh!

What is it? Measure twice, cut once? Sounds like in this case measure once is even better advice! Good one tgeb!

Double-A

Naw, a good plumber can hear the 'splash' when the water hits that elbow. Find an old-timer with a good hearing aid.

But seriously, tgeb has the straight poop on this one. Which is why he often has to flush twice.
<cue rimshot>

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

robertc65

Thanks guys. Taking off the toilet and sticking a tape measure in the pipe sounds like the straight poop to me. I'll let you know how it smells.

Rob

Double-A

To an electrcian, it'll smells like poop. To a plumber, it'll smells like Monday.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

robertc65

I'll neutralize it with 220Volts 1st.

LOL

Peladu

Poor tape measure.

Double-A

Naw, just be sure to use an old crappy tape measure, it'll feel right at home.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Peladu

Borrow a neighbors....

smellslike$tome

Look for a clean out located near the base of a stack nearby. If there is a lavatory that goes with this existing toilet it should probably be at that location. If it is an older house it may not have one at all. If it does, it will be easier and less mess to measure the depth of the pipe there rather than pulling the toilet. However if this is an older house all the fixtures may be tied in vertically in which case the bottom of the stack will be lower than the branch serving the water closet. Even so, you should still be able to use a small inspection mirror to determine where the water closet branch ties in and this will still be easier than pulling the toilet.

Also depending on what type of venting system is being utilized presently, it sounds as if you will very possibly need to provide an individual vent for the toilet. A toilet drain must be a minimum of 3" i.d. and is allowed a minimum of 1/8" per foot fall. A 3" line must connect to a vent/wet vent within a distance of 10'. You could upsize the pipe to 4" as long as you are of course connecting to a 4" line. This would give you an additional 2' before you had to connect to a vent or wet vented line. If you will be moving closer to the existing vent this may not be an issue but remember it's not the straight line distance between the vent and toilet but the linear developed length of the piping running from the toilet riser to the place it actually connects to the vent or wet vented line.

tgeb

Sounds like you may have to add a vent since you are planning on moving it 15'.

How do you know you are moving it away from where the sewer exits the house? We just did a basement slab cut where the plumber thought the pipe went out the front....it went out the back.
Have you found out yet how deep it is?

__________________
Tom

www.gebcon.com

Leo G

If you don't have enough grade for the pipe after 15' you can always build a pad and raise the bathoom up one step. Might not be the perfect solution but it would solve the problem easily and with about $50 worth of crete.

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Double-A

At 1/8" per foot fall, if you can't get two inches over 15 feet, you're in trouble. I'm willing to bet you have plenty of depth to make it fall even at 1/4" per foot. My only thought now is about venting.

Smellz makes a good point. BTW, any fixture downstream of a WC has to be individually vented, except another WC, and that must be in 'battery'. So, if you do find you're moving the WC upstream, make sure that everything down stream from it has its own vent.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

smellslike$tome

Not to be contentious, Double-A, but he probably should check with the code official on this. I know that in my area the issue of "washing a major over a minor" is up for individual code official interpretation. I can't find anything in the code that prohibits a water closet being tied in upstream of other fixtures within a bathroom group (I have done this many, many times and am unaware of any performance problems). Most of my local code officials will allow this now. There are a couple of municipalities in my area that will not allow this. A lot of old timers, no offense to the old timers they've taught me almost everything I know, refuse to do this but I think it's simply the "this is the way we've always done it" syndrome. This would be especially important to know since he is talking about an alteration to an existing house (vents are usually pretty difficult to run after new construction is completed). To save a lot of headache he ought to know exactly what his particular code official will and will not allow. This is of course assuming that the bathroom group is presently utilizing a wet vent system. If it is not then it doesn't matter because no additional venting, aside from the toilet itself, would be necessary if the bathroom group is tied into the stack vertically.