Articles Empire
The following are plumbing code requirements for a concrete basement plumbing job. The plumber is required to submit plans which detail the location of all the new plumbing fixtures that were added. Types of installation that fall into the category of plumbing fixtures include: bathroom sinks, bathroom toilets, bathtubs, showers, hot water heaters, floor drains. Location of plumbing chases, (grooves in the wall to hold plumbing pipes), must be noted. New basement laundry room fixtures including any washer hose connection bibs and standpipes in the laundry room must be noted.
In order to pass the plumbing code requirements, the installation must assure easy access to cleanouts, to shutoffs and mechanical joints. Easy access, is almost universally defined as an open space of 18″ in front of all pipes of 3″ diameter or more, and an open space of 12″ in front of all smaller pipes. If the cleanouts are hidden, they must be accessible enough to allow a plumber to remove the plug and clean out, “rod”, the system. Also, the cleanout plug cannot be covered over by a basement finishing material that hides it from view. Any fixture that has a trap, i.e. a “p” trap “u” trap or a “j” trap must permit access to the traps, via a removal panel or open utility space which is not blocked in any way.
Bathtub Specifications: Bath tub specifications. The size of bathtub drains and bathtub overflow outlets is regulated, each must be greater than “1″ inch in diameter. The drain must be fitted with a stopper and water control valves must shut off when water reaches a temperature greater than 120 degree. They must be considered anti scald valves.
Laundry tubs: Each separate tub must have a drain at least 1 inch in diameter. In addition, the outlet hole cannot be left entirely open, it must contain a strainer or a crossbar, which will serve to restrict the outlet size. The outlet hole must contain a strainer and or a crossbar to restrict the outlet size.
Sinks: Regular bathroom sinks must also have a drain, which is minimally 1 inch in diameter, and they must come complete with a strainer or an outlet bar. Likewise other sinks shall similarly have a drain of at least 1 inch in diameter and a strainer or crossbars. In addition sink faucets must have a maximum flow rate of 2.2. gpm (gallons per minute), at a psi (pounds per square inch), of 60.
Toilets: In accordance with regulations applying to all toilets, newly installed basement toilet must be low flush, i.e. 1.6 gallons per flush. Each toilet must come with a workable flush tank, which stores the water between flushes.
Showers: If a new basement show door is hinged, it must open outward. And all glass shower doors must be made of safety glass only. basement showers must use low flow shower heads, with a maximum gpm of 2.5. Water control valves must have a heat limit of 120 degrees and must be anti scald protective.
The plumber who does the installation is responsible for meeting the plumbing code requirements, and if a homeowner does a DYI installation he is likewise obligated to fulfill the code, which is designed to ensure that the basement plumbing installations will work properly, and safely.
Tags: Basement, Home Improvement, home installation, plumbing
Posted in Basement · June 13th, 2010 · Comments (0)
Hi, and welcome to another episode of “What’s New in Plumbing.” I’m Boruch Fishman and today we’re going to be talking with Pinchus Urszuy Co-Owner of A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore, a Baltimore plumbing company. And we will be talking about what things you should know before beginning to install a basement bathroom.
Pinchus: If you’re planning to remodel your basement and want to add some new plumbing fixtures, there are some points you have to consider and some decisions you have to make before beginning the construction. The initial and most essential piece of information is to know where your sewer comes into the house Sometimes it comes in under the slab, which is under the concrete floor, and sometimes, it comes above the slab. So those are two different scenarios.
If your sewer is located beneath your basement floor, then a professional plumber can locate with the appropriate tool. And he can help you lay out your basement. Or better yet, he tell you what you need to know so that if you want to get it laid out, you will already know a certain amount of information so that an architect can draw up a set of drawings, before beginning the basement bathroom installation
However, if you’re the type of person that says I’m just going to be my own contractor here, my own GC, then a plumber would decide whether or not he has to tie into the existing underground plumbing by opening up the flooring, and see if there’s enough slope for the water to drain out, because everything drains out by gravity.Everything runs downhill. So when you flush your toilet, just the weight of the water and the fact that it runs downhill carries it into the city sewer.
Let’s say the plumber discovers that there won’t be enough slope between the plumbing fixtures and the outgoing sewer line to drain everything by gravity. In that case, he will have to install for you a sewage ejector. The plumber digs a hole, and puts a pit in and puts a pump in. And what happens now is that the bathroom will empty into this pit, and the pump in the pit will pump all the raw sewage into the sanitary sewer line which is high enough to go out to the city sewer. So those are the two ways of tying into the city system.
Boruch: Based on what Pinchus is telling us, the initial determination, before you install basement plumbing, is to discover whether your house sewer line lies above or below the level of your basement floor. And if it is below the floor level, is it deep enough to provide drainage via the force of gravity. If the force of gravity is insufficient, than you will have to install a sewage ejection system.We want to thank Pinchus for taking the time to talk with us, and folks, have a great day.
Tags: Basement, basement plumbing, Home Improvement
Posted in Basement · June 4th, 2010 · Comments (0)