Another Plumbing Question

[crokett]

Not for me. Somebody thinks I know plumbing.

He has a toilet and sink existing on a concrete floor. He wants to put in a shower but can't (or won't) dig up the floor. Noise/dust/etc is evidently too much of a restriction. He plans to put the shower on a raised floor. To avoid having to raise the toilet up too (and dig up the concrete around that drain to connect the extension) can he connect the shower drain to the existing vent and have it drain down the vent? Will the toilet still vent properly? I don't think it will if the shower is running when the toilet is flushed.

[jonmulzer]

It may work, it may not. Pretty good chance of it not only not venting, but burping the toilet causing all sorts of noise and possibly a mess. If it is laid out in the manner I think anyway.

[JimD]

Depends some on the size of the vent but it is not within code regardless. It would likely be a problem if he ever sells the house. With a low flow shower head and a big enough vent pipe you may never fill the pipe but you still should not use vents as drains.

I busted up my concrete floor in the basement to move the drains I paid the plumber to put in that were all badly off (toilet, shower and sink). It was easier than I thought. I rented an electric jackhammer and took out what I needed to in one day - with no experience. The dust was not that much because I was busting instead of cutting. Essentially you just rest the bit of the jackhammer on the floor where you want to remove it and pull the trigger. Hearing protection is a must and there will be dust, just nothing like an abrasive blade in a saw. You then have to lift the jackhammer to the new spot and repeat the process untill you have it busted up. Only after you are fairly sure it is all broken up do you remove the debris (so the debris helps to keep the bit from wandering all over the floor). The electric jackhammer I used was about 75 lbs so it got heavy after awhile but otherwise it was not bad. After you get all the plumbing work done under the slab, you have to mix up a little concrete and patch the floor. I put ceramic tile over the patch and you'd never know I removed the floor.

Jim

[crokett]

I've busted up concrete before and it ain't fun. I did a little more research and what he wants to do is called a wet vent. It works and is found in older houses but now is against code - apparently too easy to screw up to make it not work.

[crokett]

I think I am gonna tell him to dig up the concrete around the toilet enough to slip a fernco on and raise the toilet up. I've already told him he really needs to dig up the concrete but he does not consider that an option.

[mschrank]

How timely. I just spent the past two days busting up the concrete slab in my basement to redo the waste plumbing. Why? Because the original plumber utilized the "wet vent" method and it wasn't working.

Sounds like you've tried, but your buddy needs to understand the concept of "doing things right the first time."