Finishing basement/plumbing questions

[jfalken]

I have a basement that has the rough-in for a bathroom. I am looking to finish it and have a few questions. I understand the Toilet flange mount point/wall needs. However, based on the drawing below(not to scale), I am wondering:

1. The roughin is I believe 2" PVC. Can I tie in the three sinks you see in the picture to the one drain/vent? Will this work or do I need a separate vent for each sink?

1. The dotted line represents the proposed horizontal run. As long as I keep the pipe sloping downward to the rough-in, can I make the 90 deg. turn?

2. It is a deep pour basement, so I have to use 10' lumber. Due to the cost, I don't want to overbuy/build. With the pipe(dotted line) running through it, do these walls need to be 2x4, 2x6, or double 2x4 with the pipe running in between? If I do go with something over single 2x4, how do you handle the door jam thickness? Most pre-hung doors seem to have thinner than 6" jams.

1. I have a stub for the shower. I want to do the walls in ceramic. I am going back and forth between prefab fiberglass shower pan and doing a mortar bed/freeform shower base. Is the mortar bed style way over the head of a pretty handy homeowner?

Thanks for your help. I'm hoping to start this this weekend, so wish me luck!

[G Henslee]

Not really but some can and some can't.

[jfalken]

OK, I was thinking of going up and tying into the vent above. However, I will need to go horizontal for the drain from the sinks. Is that OK since the drain will run horizontally a few feet, make a turn and run horizontal about another foot to get to the rough-in vent/drain combo? Also, what thickness of wall framing would you suggest for that horizontal run? Finally, as to slope, I had been told to slope down towards the rough-in for the drain and either level or slightly up towards the roughin for the vent. Is that correct? Thanks for your help.

[jfalken]

I think I may have confused this thing by not knowing the proper terms. After researching Wet Vent, I don't believe that applies here. I drew a quick pictur of what I have in mind. It is below:

The basic question is whether I can tie in these 3 new sinks into the one Drain/Vent Rough-in as shown?

After looking at how other things were built in my house, they appeared to build a wet wall by having 2 stud walls with a gap down the middle of 3-4 inchies and that is where the builder ran the plumbing and HVAC. So I will probably just copy that. Does my plumbing look OK?

[No]

Wow - Lots of questions. First suggestion, get a couple of books on subjects you have questions about. There is an e-book on basements on the net that has some nice design ideas and general questions.

I aid $14 for the 'full' version. Its not too bad, had some good ideas plus I got the instant satisfaction of having the book w/o getting off my arse to go to the store!

I'll comment on your questions inline below...

Check your plumbing book for that one. Others may have some thoughts....

Yes just do not loose the slope. If you can get a sweep 90 in there its not as tight of a turn, it will depend on your construction details.

Deep pour basement is very nice! Good job on that one. In a non load bearing wall if you are just running 1 1/2" drain you can jst use 2x4s IMO.

If you go to 2x6 for your wet walls and you have a door in them you will either

1) Order prehung doors with jambs for 2x6 construction or 2) Build jamb extensions or 3) No not use pre-hung doors and build you own jambs.

#1 is easiest, #2 is cheapest but a bit of work, #3 is hardest and relatively cheap.

I think it is. You can get the shower bases in some nice materials if you shop around. Do not accept just the limited options at the blue and orange stores.

Keep in mind the shower doors in your design. I built a shower that required custom doors. It added a lot of cost (Doors cost $2K versus a couple hundred) but looked very cool when done.

Good luck - I am starting mine very soon too! Where are you located?

[Rick]

looking

flange

Yes, you can tie the vents together

Yes, just keep the horizontal runs at least 6 inches above the flood rim of the sinks They're vents, so slope in the right direction

You can get 5-1/4 inch jambs for plaster walls (or make your own). What kind of (and how high) ceiling are you going to have? Just run the vents up normal 2X4 stud cavities then go horizontal above it...

Maybe, but get a few books and judge for yourself. Lots of new materials out there these days...

[Rick]

pre-hung

ceramic.

Hold on-I forgot about the toilet on the vent...

[Rick]

sinks

double

own).

OK, 2 inch is good for 24 fixture units and you're well below that...

[No]

I consider myself very handy and I am willing to tackle just about any home project myself. This is one I cannot see myself doing. There are so many decent prefab pans out there that this just isn't worth it unless you are doing a very large shower.

here are some fiberglass ones, lots of sizes.

Fiberglass can be made to feel more sturdy by setting it into a mortar bed.

Here are some solid surface shower pans. This company says they can make custom sizes as well

And here is one in granite, wow. (scroll down.)

[Rick]

However,

combo?

The horizontal drain length between the fixture and the vent depends on the building code in effect. I had assumed all the sink drains were in the floor Based on your latest question and depending on how the plumbing was done under the floor, you may have a problem with fixture units on a wet vent.

[Rick]

appeared

middle

I'll look at the link later, but you can build a "wet wall" using 2X6 plates and 2X4 studs turned sideways..

[Rick]

OK, since you are venting each fixture you don't have to worry about the drain lengths. The wet vent is the vent pipe section between the sink drain tie ins and the sewer line (if the toilet and shower are tied in without their own vents).

But you only have 3 fixture units on a 2 inch so that's OK...

[Rick]

And when you do your plumbing, you can use sanitary tees for your vents and trap tie ins, but you can't use them on their backs in drains...