Hi, I am hoping you can help me with a few basement plumbing questions. First, here is the situation:

I am installing a bathroom into my unfinished basement. I am on a septic system that exits my house about 5 feet off the floor of the basement. I know based on this that I need to install a sewage basin and ejector / grinder pump. I already broke up the cement for the drains and dug the hole for the sewage basin.
In my bathroom, I will be putting in a toilet, a bathtub, a sink, and I also need to tie in a sink from a kitchen I am planning on installing about 25 feet away.
My plan for draining is the toilet will be furthest upstream from the basin and will be using a 3" drain line. I then plan on using a wye to tie into the 3" pipe downstream from the toilet with a 2" line for the shower drain. I also plan on tying into this same 2" pipe (upstream) with the kitchen sink drain line. Finally further down, I will once again tap into the 3" pipe for the bathroom sink with a 2" line. Finally the 3" pipe will drain into the sewage pit, wich will pump into my main 3" drain line that runs across the ceiling of the basement about 9' up (installed by my builder) with a 2" pipe for the pump.
In terms of venting, I planned on venting the shower, the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink with 2" studor vents, as my main stack is way on the other side of the house (about 50-60 feet away and up 2 floors). I planned on the toilet using the drain from the shower as a wet vent. I know Studor vents are allowed in my area as long as you have 1 vent stack that goes through the roof somewhere in the house (because I have many of them installed by the builder).
My main questions are:
1.) Is it OK not to have a vent on the toilet as long as I am using a wet vent from the shower (and not draining the toilet past any unvented lines). It seems like most of the people here talk about venting the toilet.
2.) Is it OK to use a Studor vent on the sewage pump? I read the spec sheets for the Studor vent and they said they were acceptale for sewage pumps, but I thought I read in some other posts that you can not use a Studor to vent a pumped drain. If I cannot use a Studor, can I just vent outside by the top of my basement (near the ground outside), or do I have to go up 2 floors to the roof (everything on that side of the house seems to be using Studor vents)

Thank you in advance for your help. I want to make sure I am doing it right.

Dan

Hi, I am hoping you can help me with a few basement plumbing questions. First, here is the situation:

I am installing a bathroom into my unfinished basement. I am on a septic system that exits my house about 5 feet off the floor of the basement. I know based on this that I need to install a sewage basin and ejector / grinder pump. I already broke up the cement for the drains and dug the hole for the sewage basin.
In my bathroom, I will be putting in a toilet, a bathtub, a sink, and I also need to tie in a sink from a kitchen I am planning on installing about 25 feet away.
My plan for draining is the toilet will be furthest upstream from the basin and will be using a 3" drain line. I then plan on using a wye to tie into the 3" pipe downstream from the toilet with a 2" line for the shower drain. I also plan on tying into this same 2" pipe (upstream) with the kitchen sink drain line. Finally further down, I will once again tap into the 3" pipe for the bathroom sink with a 2" line. Finally the 3" pipe will drain into the sewage pit, wich will pump into my main 3" drain line that runs across the ceiling of the basement about 9' up (installed by my builder) with a 2" pipe for the pump.
In terms of venting, I planned on venting the shower, the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink with 2" studor vents, as my main stack is way on the other side of the house (about 50-60 feet away and up 2 floors). I planned on the toliet using the drain from the shower as a wet vent. I know Studor vents are allowed in my area as long as you have 1 vent stack that goes through the roof somewhere in the house (because I have many of them installed by the builder).
My main questions are:
1.) Is it OK not to have a vent on the toilet as long as I am using a wet vent from the shower (and not draining the toilet past any unvented lines). It seems like most of the poeple here talk about venting the toilet.
2.) Is it OK to use a Studor vent on the sewage pump? I read the spec sheets for the Studor vent and they said they were acceptale for sewage pumps, but I thought I read in some other posts that you can not use a Studor to vent a pumped drain. If I cannot use a Studor, can I just vent outside by the top of my basement (near the ground outside), or do I have to go up 2 floors to the roof (everything on that side of the house seems to be using Studor vents)

Thank you in advance for your help. I want to make sure I am doing it right.

Dan
Good morning Dan,

To answer your questions;
(1) Yes, We wet vent the toilet and a tub/shower through a single lavatory vent. However the tub/shower must be tied into the lavatory drain to be in code.
(2) No, Studor Vents only allow air to enter one way. The vent on a grinder system is both a air outlet as well as a air inlet.
In the Standard Plumbing Code, Vents and Venting Chapter, Section 1404.4 --- Location of Vent Terminal--- reads; No vent terminal from a drainage system shall be located directly beneath any door, window, or other ventilating opening of the building or of a adjacent building, nor shall any vent terminal be within 10 feet horizontally of such a opening unless it's at least 2 feet above the top of such opening.
Good luck on your remodel job, Tom

Tom,
Thanks for the information you provided on not being able to use a Studor vent on a Sewage Pump. I was just wondering why this would not work? I understand the Studor vent will allow air to move in and not out. Is the reason that these can not be used because without air being able to be displaced out of the pit as sewage comes in, the sewage will be stopped by the air in the pit that has nowhere to go?
I am not sure I completely understand. I will find some other way to get to the roof with a vent, but I just wanted to understand the reasons I was going to have to go through this extra work.

Thanks again for your advice. It is very nice to have someone who knows what they are doing to get advice from.

Dan

Tom,
Thanks for the information you provided on not being able to use a Studor vent on a Sewage Pump. I was just wondering why this would not work? I understand the Studor vent will allow air to move in and not out. Is the reason that these can not be used because without air being able to be displaced out of the pit as sewage comes in, the sewage will be stopped by the air in the pit that has nowhere to go?
I am not sure I completely understand. I will find some other way to get to the roof with a vent, but I just wanted to understand the reasons I was going to have to go through this extra work.

Thanks again for your advice. It is very nice to have someone who knows what they are doing to get advice from.

Dan

You are correct about the holding tank vent. The vent MUST work both ways. Sewage entering the tank will push air out of the vent and when the grinder pump kicks in and begans to discharge it will pull air back into the vent. A holding tank vent is about the only place a Studor Vent won't work.
Cheers, Tom

I have a very similar situation to Dan and have wondered the same thing: how can I vent the bathroom group using existing vents? Can Dan run a 2" pvc line to the other side of his basement and tie into one of the existing vents on the floor above? After reading a few of these forums, it seems that this tie-in would have to tee into an existing vent some 6" above the overflow rim of the sink in that other bathroom on the 1st floor, requiring some drywall invasion, etc ?

Thanks,
H

I have a very similar situation to Dan and have wondered the same thing: how can I vent the bathroom group using existing vents? Can Dan run a 2" pvc line to the other side of his basement and tie into one of the existing vents on the floor above? After reading a few of these forums, it seems that this tie-in would have to tee into an existing vent some 6" above the overflow rim of the sink in that other bathroom on the 1st floor, requiring some drywall invasion, etc ?

Thanks,
H
Sure he can, providing he revents back into a dry vent at least 6" over the top of the flood rim of the highest fixture. He also has the option of venting his basement bath room group with a Studor Vent off the lavatory or he could tie back to the tank vent. Good luck on your project, Tom

Hi
I want to know, what points do I need to keep in mind before doing plumbing work in a basment floor. (I want to know about septic tank, how deep it should be & how far or near from the toilet?)