I'm having some outside drainage problems repaired and the contractor has told me that the stack pipe, which is outside, is in the way and that it will have to be relocated inside my house. Now the problem is that most of my interior walls are plaster over brick as my house is anout 110 years old. The contractor siad the pipe will have to left exposed and that it would either go through my kitchen or dinng room. Now this doesn't sound too appealing to me, but my question is, do others have it set up this way or is there an alternative? Is this somewhat normal?

Jamie

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Originally Posted by teahead215

I'm having some outside drainage problems repaired and the contractor has told me that the stack pipe, which is outside, is in the way and that it will have to be relocated inside my house. Now the problem is that most of my interior walls are plaster over brick as my house is anout 110 years old. The contractor siad the pipe will have to left exposed and that it would either go through my kitchen or dinng room. Now this dosent sound too appealling to me, but my question is, do others have it set up this way or is there an alternative? Is this somewhat normal?

Jamie

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Hi Jamie,
It would seem that relocating the outside drainage would be less hassle and expense then tearing out and moving the stavk vent inside. And that's just the begaining of tearing up your house. Drains will have to be relocated and connected. Floors and ceilings opened up. We're talking major-major surgery here. Now it seems to me that less damage to your house and bank account would result by keeping the work outside your home. What's so pressing that your home has to be torn up to work on it? What is this "outside drainage problem" and why do you have to tear up your home and involve 3 or 4 trades to repair it? I would be asking question and demanding answers from my contractor and if I didn't like the answers I got I'd get a second opinion. Good luck, Tom

I need the drain work done because they are either cracked badly or just draining in to the soil which is causing some major water damage and mold in the basement. We defintely have to get the work done. I thought about after the pipe is installed I could just make a new corner the surrounds the piping.

I tend to agree with Tom. Can't the new drain go out around the stack? If you must move the stack, post back with more details. If the house is only a single story, can you go up through a closet or even an interior wall? To move the stack, will you have to break up a concrete basement floor?

I spoke with my contractor last night about the stack. He told me that Philadelphia code requires that if you have an outside stack pipe and you do any repair affecting it, you must move it indoors. As far as breaking up concrete, that is already being done so that my outside drain pipes can be replaced. The only upside to all of this is that I have been redoing my den and built all new walls which are not yet covered in drywall yet and I can run the new piping through there. Oh and now I will be redoing my bathroom too.

I don't think I would let a contractor do that no matter what they said. First he said move it because it's in the way... now it's a code thing??

I have a few more contractors giving new estimates and so far not a single one has mentioned the stack being moved. So I'll see.