I designed plumbing for a building, I got a comment from my consultant says: " verify vent distance from floor drain trap", please if anyone can you explain that to me.


Best Regards

I designed plumbing for a building, I got a comment from my consultant says: " verify vent distance from floor drain trap", please if anyone can you explain that to me.
Best Regards What Plumbing Code is in your area?
In my code a floor drain is the only fixture that doesn't need to be vented. Does "consultant" translate to "Plumber"? Regards, Tom

I assume, they are talking about distance of your floor drain (trap) to the nearest wall where drain turns from horizontal to vertical, therefore becomes vented.

In my region, all floor drains are considered "Plumbing Fixtures" and have to have its own, dedicated, vent. Traps have to be primed. Length of "dirt arm" - a section of horizontal pipe between the trap and wall, where drain turns to vertical - is mandated by Plumbing Code. Example: 2" pipe can have " pipe can have " up to 5' long before it connects to San Tee, therefore becomes vented.

In my region, all floor drains are considered "Plumbing Fixtures" and have to have its own, dedicated, vent. Traps have to be primed.
As you can see different areas work under a different set of rules. We don't install trap primers unless the plans call for one.

Length of "dirt arm" - a section of horizontal pipe between the trap and wall, where drain turns to vertical - is mandated by Plumbing Code.

Never heard a lateral drain called a "dirt arm" before. Why would that be?
Since all of our floor drains are installed in the slab the lateral, ("dirt arm") goes directly into the house main and not into a vertical stack.

Example: 2" pipe can have " pipe can have " up to 5' long before it connects to San Tee, therefore becomes vented. You're correct about the length of the lateral but whatever happened to, " thou shalt not discharge a major fixture past a unvented minor one"? Or do you run a dedicated vent on your floor drain before you tie it back into the stack vent? Inquiring minds want to know! Regards, Tom

Tom:

I guess it a local terminology: Dirt Arm is a horizontal piece of drain pipe that extends from trap to SanTee.

Floor Drain is vented, just like any other plumbing fixture, with vent pipe all the way to the attic, or connects with other vents about anti-siphon line

Connecting second SanTee above original SanTee means that we connected into vent pipe of the original plumbing fixture, making it so called "Wet Vent". Here, wet vents are not allowed.

Tom:

I guess it a local terminology: Dirt Arm is a horizontal piece of drain pipe that extends from trap to SanTee.

Up here in Washington we call it a 'trap arm'.


Connecting second SanTee above original SanTee means that we connected into vent pipe of the original plumbing fixture, making it so called "Wet Vent". Here, wet vents are not allowed.

Give it some time, Milo.

There has been a great deal of rumbling and grumbling over the past nine years about the UPC's reluctance to adopt new materials, fittings and practices commonly used in 90% of the country -- Air Admittance Valves and Wet Venting, for example.

I'd say there are at the most two more revisions of the UPC (six years, tops) before the remaining 10% of the country still following the UPC drops it in favor of the IPC.

Yep, AAV are great help, especially in island installations. Here, we have to run "Loop Vent" in islands, making the entire installation too complicated - not to mention Loop Vent set up taking most of the valuable space from sink cabinet.

Yep, AAV are great help, especially in island installations. Here, we have to run "Loop Vent" in islands, making the entire installation too complicated - not to mention Loop Vent set up taking most of the valuable space from sink cabinet.

We kvetched long and loud enough up here that most Municipalities amended the code to allow for there use, with a number of caveats and provisions, of course - Single use for single fixtures, relief vents if there are no other vents on the branch etc.. .

But then there are still a few holdouts who refuse to allow them for use (Renton comes to mind) because the UPC doesn't expressly mention them.

Like I said, six more years of looking backwards and the UPC will likely fade away into obsolescence.

Like I said, six more years of looking backwards and the UPC will likely fade away into obsolescence.
One can only hope!

One can only hope!!

*shrugs*

I don't know, for all its many faults, it is still a more sanitary and mechanically sound code than the IPC or the SPC, Tom.

We call "trap arm" the horizontal part of trap. Trap consists of 2 sections: "J" bend and "Trap Arm" . "Trap Arm" is bent under given angle. Any length of pipe extending past the Trap Arm is called Dirt Arm.

I am just posting this for informative purposes...