I am considering moving laundry upstairs to small bedroom that shares a wall with existing bathroom. The wall they have in common has a shower and toilet. I plan to have washer positioned on other vside of wall from shower stall. Will that configuration allow me to tie in laundry drain/vent to shower drain/vent system. I am already assuming that getting water from same source that shower uses will not be a problem.

Hi Dbeachy...

Sorry, but you CANNOT connect into the shower or toilet vent above the floor as this would make it so the washing machine is acting to WET VENT the shower or toilet and you can't wet vent any fixture using a washing machine as the discharge/volume of water is just too great and can siphon the shower or toilet drain (or any fixture) and let sewer gasses into the home... a definite plumbing NO-NO!

You can, however, connect the washing machine drain into the shower drain line BELOW THE FLOOR and you can connect the vent into the shower vent at a minimum of 42" off the finish floor. You must connect the washing machine drain into the shower drain line behind the vent connection to the shower. A 2" drain and an 1.5" vent is ideal for a washing machine.

Another option would be to connect into the drain line serving the toilet... again being careful not to connect in before a vent for the toilet or other fixtures, or you could even connect into the main waste stack coming from downstairs to feed the upper floor bathroom. Finally, you could also consider running a 2" pipe from the washer to the basement and connect into the main drain line down there. The washing machine vent could connect into the shower vent as mentioned above.

That is how the code book reads in my area and I think most places, but give a couple of the other plumbers on site a chance to chime in and see what they think... OK?

To really double check my information you can call your local plumbing inspector and ask him if it is OK to WET VENT any plumbing fixture using a washing machine drain... quite sure it won't be, but you never know unless you ask!

Yes, you can use the shower water pipes to feed your washing machine.

If you are installing a dryer remember that the dryer will need to be wired all the way back to the electrical panel and requires its own individual breaker or fuse. The dryer vent will need to penetrate the wall to the outside or can go to the attic, but will still need to penetrate the roof or side wall separate. You cannot connect the dryer vent into any other vent system in the attic.

Any questions just let us know. Glad to help...

Mark

Pop back with questions anytime Dbeachy...