As I am approching the completion of the extension I have been working on for far too long, I have started to think a little more about using some of the extra space which I now have in one of the bedrooms. It had long been in the back of my mind that we might put an en-suite shower/wc in. My original thought was that I would run the soil pipe parellel to the first floor joists between ceiling and floor, out through the wall and then across the back of the house to connect to the existing stack.
Last night I had one of those moments when you suddenly realise that it wont work the way you have been thinking about from the start. The reason is that at the point where it should pass through the wall, there is a great big lintel carrying the wall where the opening into the new conservatory is. I seriously doubt that there is sufficent space between the floor & ceiling to permit the soil pipe to pass over the lintel and still achieve any kind of fall across the length of the pipe. I can't really drop the pipe beneath the lintel as it would then be visible from beneath and boxing it in would look quite ugly. Running it above the floor wont really work either without adversly affecting the proposed layout of the room. I am beginning to wonder whether we will have to do without the ensuite W/C.
At the moment the only thing I think that might work is if I can get a smaller bore soil pipe which will pass over the top of the lintel. My builders merchant does a 3" soil pipe but I'm not sure whether this is permitted for a W/C, whether you can get all the required fittings if it were (e.g. pan connectors) or even if this is small enough. The only other way I think would be to use a macerator toilet but I have no experience of these and I don't even know what size waste pipe it would need. Any opinions on these will be greatly appreciated, as will any other ideas you may have.
Thanks.
Kevin.