How complicated is it to add a new soil stack pipe. I assume that some digging is required but where? Is any info is helpful. Would it be expensive to get done? Does it require a specialist or can any builder do it?
Any builder can do it, or you can do it yourself.
As to where the digging is required is like asking how long is a piece of string.....is there a manhole present? Where does the soilstack enter the drain now? - is it far from where you want the new one to go?
You may be able to run a drain to the existing entrance if it's low enough, if not, it will require a lot more digging....either way I shouldn't think it would take one man longer than a day, and the materials would be less than £200....expect the quote to be between £350 - £500, depending on the surface of your garden - obviously if it's just paving flags it will be cheaper than if it's 9 inches of reinforced concrete.
|How complicated is it to add a new soil stack pipe. I assume that some |digging is required but where? Is any info is helpful. Would it be |expensive to get done? Does it require a specialist or can any builder |do it?
Soil stacks *themselves* are an absolute doddle buy the plastic bits fit them to the wall. Now connecting the soil stack to the sewers is a different ball game, and you need to know the current rules, or get a builder in.
Thanks very much for the info. There is no manhole. The existing soil stack is cast iron and runs bang in between my house and next door. I want to add an ensuite on the same floor as the existing bathroom, I'm assuming that I can't join it to the existing stack lower down. So its probably worth the money to put in a new plastic stack.
If the stack is staying in the same position then there will be no digging or very little, it's just a matter of replacing old for new. remove any paving, concrete, whatever from around the base of the stack and expose the drain, this will only usually be a few inches down....this will reveal what state the drains are in and prevent anyone 'trying it on' by saying they had to replace this or that or they had to dig 3 tonnes of clay out to get to it etc....it's just a matter of dropping the old stack and replacing it with plastic....the hardest part is getting the cast iron one down....although you are wrong in assuming you can't join into the existing stack - you can get a macerator which will pump the sewage into the top of the existing stack via a fairly small rubber hose....where you decide to send the water from the basin and shower is another question.
Understood so far. Having never seen an underground drain, can I assume that its just a plastic pipe running toward the sewer. If this is the case, it would seem a pretty grimey job to open it up in order to attach a new pipe.
Assuming your drains are as original as the cast iron pipe, they're probably clay pipes underground.
Interesting that there is no manhole - are you sure it's not got covered over by plants/grass/drive-surfacing/on-your-neighbours-side? You would expect to find one on the property somewhere in a straight line between the downpipe and the road (which bit of the road is of course anyone's guess).
If not, then this might be the time to add one, which you could then join another underground pipe into, running along and surfacing where you want your new downpipe.
Yes, digging and connecting a new manhole to existing pipework, especially a shared downpipe (is that right?) is going to be smelly and you'll have to persuade your neighbour and your household not to do anything (like flush the bog!) and you'll need to work fast, as in done in a day. I wouldn't fancy that, unless I were practised at doing such work or had some way to make it not matter if work took 2-3 days to get right. Probably best to get a builder to install a new manhole and leave you with a connection point for your new drain. Laying that is easy enough - sure there are some building regs, but getting the fall sufficient, making it leakproof and making it easy to unblock would go a long way... And watching out for suction effects (in the old days, they solved this with a vent pipe up above the gutterline, don't know what the modern solution is though...).
Cheers
Tim
|it's just a matter of dropping the old stack and |replacing it with plastic....the hardest part is getting the cast iron one |down....
Be *very* careful I dropped mine :-(
You can.
Its not that hard, but you can connect more than one bathroom to a single stack.
If yoy can cope with outside plastic puipework, simply take TEH New INTO TEH STACK LOWER DOWN.
cAPS BLOODY LOCK. sOOREE.
Connecting into cast iron isn't easy
The easiest way to do this job (without seeing it I may be wrong) is to take down the existing stack completely to ground level, and possibly a few inches beneath. When you buy new plastic piping explain to the merchant that you are wanting a sleave to fit the new pipe to the cast iron pipe. To take down a cast iron pipe that you are not planning to reuse I would get a hammer to it... but make sure that you are above or level with where you are hitting as the pieces of cast iron are very sharp, and just work your way down the pipe breaking it up gadually. Once that is done you then have the very easy job of building the new one up in plastic. Doing it this way avoids finding the underground pipes, which if clay can be a pain if disturbed. And also keeps the job quite clean... its increadible how clean the inside of a soil stack is. Calum Sabey (NewArk Traditional Kitchens 01556 690544)
|rainKing wrote: | |> Thanks very much for the info. There is no manhole. The existing soil |> stack is cast iron and runs bang in between my house and next door. I |> want to add an ensuite on the same floor as the existing bathroom, I'm |> assuming that I can't join it to the existing stack lower down. | |You can.
Provided you can manage a continuous drop/downwards slope from the new toilet to the place you join to the old soil pipe.
100% agreement with this post..this is teh sesnible and practical way to do it.
It may be possible to cut the cast iron a little higher up than ground level with a man sized angle grinder type thing. Hire suitable. This avoids broken shards of cast iron and having to sort the bottom end
Agreed, I think 1:60 is the minimum.
Excellent information, thanks all round.
I think I favour getting a builder to provide me new access to the drain for a plastic soil. BTW I discovered that there is a manhole on the neighbours side.
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