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Moving sewer stack - $2700?

T

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Hi All,

We're slowly finishing our basement, and one thing we really want to do is move the sewer stack that comes down right in the middle of an open area.

Here's a pic of it currently.

r62v2st.jpg


Here's a pic I made of it gone.

245tl1g.jpg


The plan, and what the plumber recommended is to put a bend at the ceiling, put an approx 3-4ft horizontal run (with slope) that goes to the wall that will be put along the stairs.

In the following image, the grey vertical bar is where the stack would run. There would be a wall there, and we would build the wall around the stack so that the stack would be hidden in the wall minus a small access point for the clean out.

GuJlAGy.jpg


I got a bid from the same plumbing company who did all the plumbing for the previous owner (was a rehab house). If we break up the concrete, excavate it, handle the waste, and repour the concrete when they're done, they want $1,000. If they have to handle the concrete, they want an additional $1700.

Does this seem fair? The plumbing company has great reviews and it looks like they did a really good job on the house.
 
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Doesn't sound too far off the mark to me, unless you live in an area with very low prices.

Why are you putting a trap in the sewer stack? Traps are installed at the fixture.
 
$1700 seems too high. One guy with a rotary hammer, wheel barrow, quickcrete, shovel, waste disposal, 4 hours labor, should be closer to $1k.
 
Greenman said:
Doesn't sound too far off the mark to me, unless you live in an area with very low prices.

Why are you putting a trap in the sewer stack? Traps are installed at the fixture.
Click to expand...

He probably meant the clean out, not another trap (I hope) 😉
 
stormkroe said:
He probably meant the clean out, not another trap (I hope) 😉
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Yes, that's what I meant.

fa5.jpg


FWIW, the plumber who gave the bid basically suggested sourcing the concrete work elsewhere because it can def be done cheaper. He said advantage to having them do it is guaranteed quality of work.
 
Maybe they want to add a floor drain . If it were doing this job, I would .

"Why are you putting a trap in the sewer stack? Traps are installed at the fixture."
 
Beyond that it actually costs a bit more for a plumber to do concrete work than someone who is routinely equipped for it, plumbers don't typically want to be involved in all that unless there is a significant something extra in it for them.

Whoever ends up doing the concrete work, the plumber should back fill around his own work.
 
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Humpy said:
Beyond that it actually costs a bit more for a plumber to do concrete work than someone who is routinely equipped for it, plumbers don't typically want to be involved in all that unless there is a significant something extra in it for them.

Whoever ends up doing the concrete work, the plumber should back fill around his own work.
Click to expand...

They're giving me a $2,050 bid that requires me to do the excavation and expose at least 2" of the piping from all sides (including underneath). So it'll save me $700 to at least break out the concrete. They'll do the plumbing and back fill.
 
stormkroe said:
$1700 seems too high. One guy with a rotary hammer, wheel barrow, quickcrete, shovel, waste disposal, 4 hours labor, should be closer to $1k.
Click to expand...

Insurance?

Need gravel. Looks like there's a door going out of the basement, that's a plus otherwise hauling broken concrete up the steps is a killer.

Looks like the pipe is going to be move 10' away and reconnected in the floor?
 
Paperfist brings up a good point. Always, always ask to see insurance certification before allowing heavy or dangerous work done in your home.
 
If you want a plumber to do serious physical labor you should expect to pay a lot. They just want to deal with pipes and fixtures. Does Rich Trethewy on "This Old House" look like he wants to do concrete work?
 
That seems about right. The labour is what is the real killer. It's not really that complicated of a job, it's just physically intensive. Though if you never tried a jackhammer before, I recommend it. you'll probably only want to do that once. 😛 Get ear protection if doing that indoors. 😱
 
bamx2 said:
Maybe they want to add a floor drain . If it were doing this job, I would .
Click to expand...

If the concrete is already open, it makes sense to add a floor drain, especially in the laundry area or where you might anticipate future flooding. I have one in my basement and added a sewer backfloow prevention valve for more insurance.
 
There's already a floor drain on the other side of the steps. But want to move that too. The idea there is to move it 3ft over so it's closer to the stairs, if not under it. Reason being is we would like to carpet that area, but the floor is sloped to the center so we can't move the drain far. When we first bought the house, I hosed down the floor to clean it and it seems having the drain closer to the steps would be fine, as the slope put water that way anyway.
 
r62v2st.jpg


My dad recommended investigating the idea of moving the stack towards the other stack, rather than digging up concrete.

In the pic above you can see a 2nd stack that serves the master bath, laundry drain, and kitchen. The only thing on the stack I want to move is the upstairs bathroom.

Here's a short vid roughly showing the idea. We'd bend it and send it over the support and ducts. Should have enough room for slope. Then we could bring it over to the other stack and join it to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbyNvb37iDo

Thoughts?
 
TechBoyJK said:
snip
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Ask a plumber. One thing I learned from replumbing my house (including replacing the main stack) was how complicated plumbing code is and how important venting is to smooth operation of your system. Run this by your plumber and see what he thinks and if even feasible.

Otherwise, its a hell of a lot better to connect the two stacks then breaking through concrete. That looks like a 3 or 4 inch pipe; if I remember correctly that only needs 1/8 inch of slope per foot of run so you should be able to keep it close to the ceiling.

Your plumbing looks like cast iron and your house was probably constructed before the 70s if so. When I did major changes to my plumbing, I needed to bring entire system up to code and add venting to each and every fixture in the system. Whereas before, all fixtures used the main stack as their vent and were not individually vented. I was no longer was able to grandfather my plumbing under the older code from when it was constructed. Not sure what the code authority in your area says but its prudent to find out.
 
master_shake_ said:
put a wall around it and leave an access for a clean out.

also i love your basement.

so much potential.
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problem is it's right in the way of the path I want to make around the gym equipment. If I put a wall up around it, it destroys the size of the space. It's an important 3'x7' area we'd really like to use.
 
NetWareHead said:
Ask a plumber. One thing I learned from replumbing my house (including replacing the main stack) was how complicated plumbing code is and how important venting is to smooth operation of your system. Run this by your plumber and see what he thinks and if even feasible.

Otherwise, its a hell of a lot better to connect the two stacks then breaking through concrete. That looks like a 3 or 4 inch pipe; if I remember correctly that only needs 1/8 inch of slope per foot of run so you should be able to keep it close to the ceiling.

Your plumbing looks like cast iron and your house was probably constructed before the 70s if so. When I did major changes to my plumbing, I needed to bring entire system up to code and add venting to each and every fixture in the system. Whereas before, all fixtures used the main stack as their vent and were not individually vented. I was no longer was able to grandfather my plumbing under the older code from when it was constructed. Not sure what the code authority in your area says but its prudent to find out.
Click to expand...

Plumber said it would be fine. Not much further though as the sloped area starts to level off quickly. We can barely squeeze the drain in under the stairs. When we first moved in, I brought in a garden hose and sprayed down the entire floor (it was nasty as heck). It all pooled up in the same area so I'm confident it would drain ok.
 
NetWareHead said:
Ask a plumber. One thing I learned from replumbing my house (including replacing the main stack) was how complicated plumbing code is and how important venting is to smooth operation of your system. Run this by your plumber and see what he thinks and if even feasible.

Otherwise, its a hell of a lot better to connect the two stacks then breaking through concrete. That looks like a 3 or 4 inch pipe; if I remember correctly that only needs 1/8 inch of slope per foot of run so you should be able to keep it close to the ceiling.

Your plumbing looks like cast iron and your house was probably constructed before the 70s if so. When I did major changes to my plumbing, I needed to bring entire system up to code and add venting to each and every fixture in the system. Whereas before, all fixtures used the main stack as their vent and were not individually vented. I was no longer was able to grandfather my plumbing under the older code from when it was constructed. Not sure what the code authority in your area says but its prudent to find out.
Click to expand...

It actually needs 1/4" slope per foot.

Looks like his plumber said yes, but it doesn't look like there's enough room to do that while keeping it in the ceiling.

What about venting?
 
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TechBoyJK said:
What do you mean by keeping it in the ceiling?
Click to expand...

In reading your post it seems like you were saying you wanted to keep the connection from the stack you are going to cut within the space of the floor joists as it makes its way to the other sewer stack.

Also if I recall from my plumbing days the plumbing fixtures need to have a vent within 6'.
 
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