I have a general contractor remodeling a bathroon in my house. I have 2 questions about the work he is doing. I had a drain stack in a shower wall that we were opening up. The contractor busted up the slab and routed the stack horizontally about 2 feet over into another wall. He then went straight up but when he got into the attic he connected it back to the original stack going out the roof. From what I read the attic connection is not a big deal bit what about not moving the stack over and just routing it sideways... will this work or did he just take a shortcut?? Also, I have 2 bathrooms back to back and as soon as het began dismantling one bathroom the toilet in the other barely flushed. It needd to be plunged multiple times to get the water down. This happened before he start working with the drain stack. What could have happened? Could he have gotten demo debris in the opne toilet line and it effected the other toilet or perhaps does the missing toilet cause a pressure loss. All other drain seem to be working. Help?. he is about to close everything up. Thanks

Hi Joepac:

Sounds like the contractor did fine in terms of the VENT pipe or STACK pipe as moving either 2 feet horizontal is OK and reattaching to old stack in attic is also fine... as long as it was supported/hung properly.

In terms of the toilet I would tell the contractor what is going on because you will definitely hold him responsible for any issues found AFTER they close all in so it is in his best interest to examine the issues now. It could be as simple as fact that he capped a vent pipe temporarily. It could be that debris got in the pipe and it could also be that the toilet is simply clogged up and this is all a coincidence... ;)

See what he says. I would start by looking inside the toilet TANK and see if the hose got dislodged or something similar to that... then I would snake the toilet with a closet auger and see if that helped. Finally, I would lift the toilet and test the drain that way. But talk to contractor and see what he can find for you. Remember, it may not be his issue... could be something fell in toilet while he was demoing the job... that would be a shared issue!

Let me know

MARK

The contractor busted up the slab and routed the stack horizontally about 2 feet over into another wall. By "drain stack" are we talking about a stack that the fixture drains into or a stack that vents the system?
Connecting a vent back into a existing roof vent is called " a revent" and is perfectly acceptable. Follow Marks advice about the lazy toilet and let us know the outcome.
Good luck, Tom

Good news on the drain stack however I am concerned about the toilet. This toilet backs up to the one that was removed. At first they covered the exposed pipe with some sort of heavy duty plastic(he said because of smell). He said it should not have anything to do with the other toilet because it has another stack?? The debris issue makes since. The more stuff in the toilet the less likely it will flush. If it was debis(not sure what else could be going on) can it be snaked through? I will push him to have this addressed before we move on. The frustrating part is its a lot worse when the toilet is full(u know what I mean). He appears to be minimizing my concern... or it just hasn't acted up as bad for him. Any final thoughts before I meet with him?

It is very common problem during remodels. Some debris got into the drain during demo and clogged your pipe. I would ask him to snake it the last day on the job - and before you pay him.

Don't forget to have this guy check the inside of the toilet tank... sometimes the flexible hose going to the flush valve becomes dislodged and this could also cause your issue!

Good luck!