Hi, I'm having an argument with the plumber & builder & have held up any further work on the slab until I am satisfied with the sanitary drain system piping.

The plumber installed the pvc in one day for a two bath, utility, & kitchen single level home & without a helper.

The drain pvc appears to have multiple problems (to me). Part of the pvc runs inside a foundation trench & would be encased in concrete. The pvc is placed about 4" to 12" below the 4" floor area without backfill at this time. There is a 90 degree bend in one run from a bathtub drain to the main drain. There was no testing done of his work. The plumber & builder say this is OK... Here in the country there are no required inspections.
But the state says the international codes apply for all areas of the state.

Are these valid concerns? Any answers & applicable code reference numbers would be appreciated. Thanks Jerry

Hey Jerry,

Would it be possible to take some pictures and post them on the plumbing page. I would like to study your comcerns. Regards, Tom

Today is Wednesday the 8th, I will post the pictures by noon the 9th. Thanks Jerry

Hopefully the pictures files will go along with this.

My concerns are:

Pvc will be encased in concrete

Pvc is not below footings

Guest bath drain has 90 degree bend & will be in footing corner

There is only one cleanout & it is on the street side of the house

Does the kitchen area only require one riser

Don't know if these are valid concerns, but from the reading I've done... I should be concerned.

Thanks for any input.

Jerry,

I'm working on your plans now. I am bumping you up to the top of the list.
BUMP!!
PS. I'm doing some plan changes would it be possible for you to PM me your E-mail addy so I can send them down the line to you. Thanks, Tom

I have E-mailed your pictures the other day. I'm still waiting to hear if you received them. Regards, Tom

Thanks for your pictures & comments speedball. We poured the concrete yesterday, but this was after totally pulling out the 1st pvc & completely redoing everything. Better & below the footings.

The 2nd plumber was much, much, better... had a helper & took two days to do the job.

The kitchen drain was still a 2 inch & is in a peninsula... we plan to use one of the 'air admitance valves' for the sink run... not totally thrilled about that... looks like it could fail someday & let 'gas' in... but all my searching on the internet says it is OK.

We replaced the 1st plumbing because of the code violations & the fact that all the work was done in a day by one person. I totally lost confidence that it would be without major trouble. Especially since he never bothered to test his work.

Besides being deeper & 'probably up to code' we split the system & will have two connections to the main sewer. The kitchen flows to the guest bath & then to the street. The utility room, water softener, go to the master bath & then to the street. This elimanated the long run under the house. And there is also the double direction cleanouts on both sides of the house.

I will remember your comments about using 3 inch for the kitchen & vent. Don't really know about that code requirement in Texas but will check it out. I'm having the codes researched.

The concrete work also had several problems & cost an extra $1300 to try to fix. Regrettably the builder appears to protect his subs more than me. I was able to get the concrete done without them adding additional water so the final product should be a lot stronger.

Thanks again for your help... P.S. The stone, marble, granite expert website is www.mbstone.com. He is truly one of the most knowledgeable persons in the world about stone and has his own website. He provides answers on several 'stone' related websites. I think you could have a similar website.

iv'e done a three bath house with air test and city inspection in 8 hours by myself and I'm only 23

8hrs? Just DWV ? You are really moving! How long to rough in gas, water & dwv? Just curious. I'm 66, and I don't move that fast. How do you get all your layouts done that fast? Any input appreciated. Jim in Alaska

8hrs? Just DWV ? You are really moving! How long to rough in gas, water & dwv? Just curious. I'm 66, and I don't move that fast. How do you get all your layouts done that fast? Any input appreciated. Jim in Alaska

Jim, note this last post was 2 years ago. Not sure they are still around.