Question on attic bathroom

Oct 19, 2008 8 Replies

Andy asks:



I have built a room in the attic space and would like to add a sink and a urinal to it.....



Is it acceptable to connect the drain line by "T"ing into the vent stack from a bathroom below ??. It would only be liquid waste and low flow.



The area I live in does not require inspections or permits, but I'd like to do it in the proper manner if possible.



Any advice on this from informed sources would be appreciated...



Andy in Eureka, Texas


Possibly, but consider that at some time in the future someone may 'extend' this bath and not realize what you did. Also, you'd have to carefully inspect the existing vent line to ensure that it is able to handle this type of usage. Most modern vents may well work fine, but older stuff may not be up to the demand.

Which is not to say I recommend it! I would strongly recommend doing it right, a proper crapper, and sink, with a decent drain. In the end, though it would be more work, you'll probalby be happy you did it.

if the stack is 3 inch or bigger (as it should be) then there's no issue about "decent" drain or "being up to the demand"

s

Andy writes:

Well, if I decide to do it this way (being very very convenient for my layout), I'll make a point of feeding into it with a PVC pipe of no greater than half the diameter of the stack pipe. Any plumber, or handyman, who considers a more agressive system will know exactly what I have done.

I only want to drain a little water out of a small sink, occasionally, and provide cup of piss and a quart of water to flush it maybe 5 or 6 times a day....

Beats the hell out of climbing stairs and going to the other end of the house.....

Thanks to everyone for their inputs...

Andy in Eureka, Texas

Being in an area where there is no code enforcement, I'd suspect his stack is not 'as it should be'... That's the big problem, too many unknowns-we don't know the specifications of the vent stack, how well it was assembled, or much of anything at all.

(Also please don't top post...)

I didn't remember seeing anything about 'an area of no code enforcement'. And that doesn't mean it wasn't done right.

PS. top posting makes the most sense. I'll stay here.

s

You overestimate what others will 'know', but that's a different problem.

Oh, I see. Your wife's planning to keep you locked in! Interesting concept!

Think of it as exercise.

Overall, it should work (I think I said that) but were it my project, I'd still give serious consideration to a proper quarter or half-bath.

There is the potential that at some point you may want to sell the house. And the real potential that building codes will be implemented. And at that point, the (only?) prospective buyer wants to know if that bath is up to code.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out. (BTW, you mentioned PVC, so the existing plumbing may be better than I envisioned.)

(no, the established Usenet format is bottom posting...) makes reading the thread *much* easier!

Didn't the original post say there was no building code/inspections? If it didn't, then my mistake. I seem to recall reading "The area I live in does not require inspections or permits,"...

No, you are correct in that something can be done right without inspections, and I didn't mean to imply that if there are no codes/inspections that the job won't be done right. If it came across that way, I appologize.

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