Plumbing related advice needed

[BSAKing]

Hi all - I have a series of questions related to plumbing as result of getting involved with the rennovations the girlfriend is undertaking. I recently relocated a laundry room to the basement from the main floor with the help of the group (thank you).

1. As part of the reno she is redoing the kitchen which involes relocating the sink and the dishwasher.

I now have the upstairs opened up to see what appears to me to be a rather convoluted way of running the plumbing. But I am not a plumber and maybe it has a very good reason for being that way - or maybe not. Before proceeding to basically relocating what is there, I thought I'd better find out if it is correct in the first place!

Here is a diagram at:

1. To relocate the kitchen sink, the water pipes and drain are smack dab behind a pile of air conditioning/forced air heating venting in the basement. Rather than try to adjust copper piping back there, I saw recently on a home show that people are using flexible plastic piping for water these days? If so, can it be mated to existing copper, is it 'durable' , and do they happen to make some flex equivalent for drain piping? Does anyone have any experieince good or bad with it?

1. The microwave is an over-the-stove type that acts a vent for an electric stove beneath it. It has to be moved a few feet over and of course that effects the venting. To my great dismay, I found out that the venting just drops down between the walls and vents into the basement. To me, this seems a no-no.

So - I also assume that it would not be a good idea to vent it into the vent stack, but maybe try to run a separate vent ouside either thru the basement wall below, or up thru the roof beside the existing plumbing vent.

I apologize if these are rather inexperienced questions, but I would rather appear stupid in advance of doing all of this as opposed to after the fact. (or maybe both! lol)

TIA for any and all advice...

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You must be young. When you get older you'll think you made a dumb move with all the steps to carry laundry.

Looks workable

It is PEX. Many homes are now being build with it. PEX had been around for many years and is used extensivly in Europe. Makes your siduation much easier. I don't know of any drain lines though. In my las house, I used a section of rubber hose to replace a tricky section and it lasted for many years.

Yes, it should go outside. Is that possible?

That would be illegal too

[DanG]

You don't show a p trap on the washing machine drain. You don't show any vent piping on the basement usage. The vent for the kitchen sink should be above flood rim I've not seen a 2 pipe system like you have drawn. I have seen an oversized loop vent, but I'm not sure that is what you are showing.

Pex piping for water is quite viable. The tools and fittings are quite expensive for limited remodel use. Look into Oetiker fittings and tool.

The microwave should never have vented down. The venting needs to go up, as little horizontal run as possible, stay within the length limits of the fan (including turns), the discharge needs to be 10 feet away from HVAC intake air.

I hope some others can give even better information.

[BSAKing]

There is a P trap on the washing machine drain, I omitted it on the drawing - thanks.

Would not one of those vent stacks act as a vent for the basement?

Above the flood rim? What does that mean? The lip of the sink? The vent goes right to the roof....

It is going to be tough to vent that micro methinks....

[Mikepier]

For the microwave venting, the first question is does it sit on an outside wall? If Yes then your in luck. Just vent it out straight from the back of the unit. If not, you can go through the roof. Whatever you, make sure your stove sits between 2 wall studs if possible so there will be no obstructions for the ductwork. Thats the dilemma I had. When I gutted my kitchen, I found that the new location for my stove had a stud in the way for a vent. My original design had 15" cabinets on either side of the stove, but I changed them, shifting everything over 3"( 12" cabinet on one side,

18" cabinet on the other) so my stove can be in the middle of the studs. Just a suggestion if you run into the same problem.