Ask Me Help Desk - Pipework for basement

Pipework for basement

Hi,
I am about to buy a basement flat; when viewing it I noticed that the heating pipework runs on the perimeter of the flat above the floor.
I have asked the land lord why he did not put the pipework underground ad he told me that for basement flats this is impossible.
Is this true? And why?
I mean if I buy the place do I need to have all the pipework (not only heating but also kitchen drainage) running on the walls? Is there a way I can bury them underground?
Thanks for your help.

Anything can be covered up with a drop ceiling or furred out walls. What is is you wish to "bury underground"? Regards, Tom

Ah OK, thanks Tom.
Just a quick one to check if I have got it right:
The heating pipework can be hidden in a furred out wall or in a drop ceiling; if I hide the pipe work in a drop ceiling than I might need a furred wall just on the wall where the radiators are (to hide the pipes going down to the radiator), is this correct?
I would like to put underfloor the drainage coming from the kitchen (sink, dishwasher... ) as the kitchen would be located a bit far away (lets say 7 meters) from the manhole and the pipes will have to run with lots of bends across the walls before getting to the manhole and I am not sure this is a good thing to do.
Thank you for your help.

Quote:

if I hide the pipe work in a drop ceiling than I might need a furred wall just on the wall where the radiators are (to hide the pipes going down to the radiator), is this correct?

You either move them or you hide them.

Quote:

I would like to put underfloor the drainage coming from the kitchen (sink, dishwasher... ) as the kitchen would be located a bit far away (lets say 7 meters) from the manhole and the pipes will have to run with lots of bends across the walls before getting to the manhole and I am not sure this is a good thing to do.

If you have the slope I have no problem with the distance but I can see problems with the " lots of bends" How many bends are we talking about? Back to you, Tom

We are talking about 7 bends (90 degrees) starting from the tap up to the manhole. I might be able to take off a couple of them but not more.
How much, would you say, the slope should be?

Sorry, I am not sure I get it right, the fact that only the slope seems to be a problem means that I can put the pipework under the floor? If I can put the pipes under the floor the bends would not be an issue anymore.

I was thinking that probably the land lord did not put the radiators pipework under the floor as it was too expensive and he preferred to make it run along the wall.
Given that I would change the floor I might be able to put all the pipes under it unless, how he said, the issue is that being a basement you have insulation and other things under the floor so you can't really put anything else.
Thanks again
For your help.

Your slope should be 1/4" to the foot. At 7 meters that would work out to about 5 3/4" of fall that you'll need. You will have to take up the floor to run the drain line but it's by far the best way. How's the sink vented?

Quote:

the issue is that being a basement you have insulation and other things under the floor so you can't really put anything else.

I live on the Gulf Coast where we have no basements but since when did they insulate basement floors? What do they use? Educate me! Regards, tom

Uhm, I don't know how the sink will be vented, sorry, I assumed is going to be connected to the existing venting pipe from the other bathroom, is this possible or am I talking non sense?
I live in th UK and here the flats on the ground (ground floor flats or basement flats) are insulated as the heat loss towards the ground is pretty big.
So generally you might have a concrete slab plus insulation and the landlord was telling me that for this reason you can put pipe under the floor.

Quote:

So generally you might have a concrete slab plus insulation and the landlord was telling me that for this reason you can put pipe under the floor.

You mean can not put pipe under the floor. Don't you?

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedball1

You mean can not put pipe under the floor. Don't you?

Oops, sorry :-)
I meant CANNOT

Quote:

I don't know how the sink will be vented, sorry, I assumed is going to be connected to the existing venting pipe from the other bathroom, is this possible or am I talking non sense?

You may not connect to a stack that has fixtures discharging above it unless you run a separate vent on the sink.
[QUOWe are talking about 7 bends (90 degrees) starting from the tap up to the manhole.TE][/QUOTE] I can see a problem with clogs in your future and I don't even need a crystal ball to see it. If you run sink drain line with all those bends be sure to install a cleanout downstream near the trap. You're going to need it. Good luck, Tom

Thank you for your help Tom.

I think your landlord is right. They do not put heating ducts under slab. Just box it off.

Milo, Did you see what Paduk wrote?

Quote:

I live in th UK and here the flats on the ground (ground floor flats or basement flats) are insulated as the heat loss towards the ground is pretty big.
So generally you might have a concrete slab plus insulation and the landlord was telling me that for this reason you can not put pipe under the floor.

Regards, Toim