Poo pipe is moved.

I called the city via 311 today and figured, I'm going to get the definitive answer on the code here, and challenge them on the reasoning.

So. Here we go (drum roll please):

Yes, it's code to not allow anything other than clear water to indirectly drain into a floor drain. That means basically the condensation from your A/C, furnace, HRV, etc. ... and that's about it. I suppose RO/DI waste line would suffice as "clear water."

Anything other than that ... nope. MUST be drained directly and vented.

I asked, what about washing machines? Those are indirectly drained .. "That WAS allowed at one time, but not anymore."

So I asked why. This is rich, wait for it.

Soaps and anything else we silly people will dump into a sink drain will sit in the trap of the floor drain and begin to smell. That's when us silly people call the city to complain about our drains smelling of sewer, and they come check it out, and then find out that that it was just the stinky water in the drain trap. So no more will that petulant nonsense be allowed.

:neutral: Wish I were making this up.

Ohh I see. They change the code so THEY don;t have as much work to do... That is SO nice of them

So my lesson learned after moving the poo pipe was that jackhammering concrete isn't all THAT bad, although if one was to do it near a tank they should put up a blast sheild because concrete debris was flying everywhere.

But I think about how it is to cut a linear length of pipe and insert a T fitting into it. You cut the pipe, move the cut pieces apart so that you can wrestle the fitting into it, and then jam the pieces back together. How do you do that when the upstream and downstream sections are still underground? They'll have absolutely no wiggle room... or you'd have to jackhammer the whole pipe out to the endpoint and relay it all the way to the end again.

No thanks.

One laundry sink coming right out of my basement.... guess my 4 piece plumbing permit just became a 3 piece.

it is a PITA to put a T in existing. basically ya you got to hammer out a bunch. BUT, you can get rubber pipe couplings that are sealed with hose clamps. It doesnt need to be the regular PVC joints. So with the rubber couplings on either end, you cut out a section, slide the couplings on either end, set back in place and slide couplings up over the pipe. Not as bad as you think

these are what I'm talking about

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/2034168...e_coupling.jpg

I did sort of wonder about those but .. dunno, just doesn't seem as solid as cementing a joint. But I guess when you're in a bind, you do what you have to do ..

Not solid, but they seal really well, AND, your going to be burried in dirt and cemented over, right, so no movement :D

Tony the fittings for a 3 or 4" pipe usually have a 1" flang on either end.... Just cut the opening for the new tee about 1" shorter than the tee itself and slide the tee all the way to one side and then back on to the other side. You will end up with 1/2" insert on both sides.

Ah ok. Yeah I see. Thanks! If I do decide to go ahead I guess it won't be so bad. It still sounds a whole lot easier to tell the inspector I've decided not to have a sink anymore. What happens after he leaves is ... well .. not his or the city's problem, unless I decide to do something really dumb, which I hope I wouldn't. I figure I can just remove the sink if I ever sell the place.

expansion joint
 

you can also get expanding pvc joints you cut section of pipe out glue in your t then a piece of pipe on the other side of t then glue on the expansion joint then put your glue on then just pull it out and push it on your pipe that doesnt move . all solid joints.get them at any farm irrigation store or andrew sherets in bc.

Hey Tony, I might be in the city this weekend, I am a plumber by trade. If you want me to take a look, let me know, I am sure we can come up with something that will not involve a lot of work, like hammering up a floor. Just a thought.
Bob

Thanks for the offer. I am sort of thinking of just go ahead and doing it and then not having to worry about it. Too bad I didn't come to this conclusion when I already had the jackhammer last weekend, but oh well, at $40 to rent, it could be worse.

I've figured out where the nearest drain vent is to the roof and determined that it is just a vent (ie., not a drain from any upstairs sink). So it won't be too bad to snake a 1.5" line through the ceiling over to it and tie it in.

The main thing is time, my wife works this weekend so I have to find me some babysitters to entertain the kids while I hammer away at the floor. I'm pretty sure the floor drain line runs right underneath the laundry sink so it just needs to come up and then Y-fitting it over to the vent line that will have to snake its way up the wall and through the ceiling. This might be something I can work on during the week after the kids have gone to bed - getting it all roughed in so that all that needs to be done on the weekend is the jackhammering, tie-in, and re-concrete-ing..

Helpin Dad is a GREAT babysitter for the kids LOL :D

"here you go son.....hold this jackhammer for a second":lol:

ya, mine was "Hold this cable, hold these wire strippers. Well, since you got both of them, you might as well do something!"

Quick update. Passed the remedial inspections some time ago and have been drywalling.

In the end I did jackhammer the floor for the sink drain. Unlike the poo pipe it was a miserable experience, and I don't really want to get into it too much other than to say "it sucked."

Some pictures from tonight, excuse the mess. There's still a long way to go and I have to empty the room now so I can start sanding.

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/a/d/...100_0255-0.jpg

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/a/d/...100_0256-0.jpg

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/a/d/...100_0257-0.jpg

I had been toying with idea of skinning the stand and canopy with faux rock similar to untamed's tank (although with slate or something different, not the river rock), but schedule coupled with budget concerns (ie., "no money anyhow and this is already taking way too long") and being hit lately with a few really large financial hits, made the decision for me. Simple drywall for the exterior skin it is. There is some debate as to whether I'll keep on with the bar counter as well. I'd like to do it, but as Linda pointed out, it would be the perfect noggin-knocking height for the boys and they don't really need more things with which to create more large bruises on their foreheads. So we'll see who wins that debate, I have something in mind that won't be too intrusive I think.

You can see the light reflector has been taken down; this is in preparation for getting the ceiling done in the tank room when I'll have a set of extra hands to help me with that on the weekend.

Words cannot describe how tiring this build is being right now.

Tony, it looks great. Seriously. I can only imagine the manhours you've put into this already but its coming along nicely even if not as fast as you'd hoped. At least its coming along!! Keep your eye on the prize, that being a awesomely huge awesome reef tank!! :mrgreen:

You mean it drains LOL

Tony this build is moving along so fast I can't keep up! :razz:
Looking good!!

That looks killer dude. I love the adjacent viewing panels in wall look man. Some nice moulding around that and it's pimpin' time!

As for the ledge...the more they hit their heads the less they touch the glass. Just sayin'!

looks good.
I think you should have put the blue or green drywall around the tank, you the kind that goes in bathrooms to deal with the humidity, and or water.

Looks amazing, really coming along.

Looking really good. I think drywall done right will look good and give you the option to change it easily in the future if you want to.

Looks great Tony! It's gonna be fabulous when done.

Yay! Looks really good so far Tony :biggrin:

Yay Tony!!!
Progress... :mrgreen:

Wow Tony, looking awesome ! I have to agree that with all the extra none tank related stuff you had to do for drains, electrical and such, I haven't read to many builds that had to have all that kinda stuff done. I'm not talking about the framing & drywalling, but it sure makes it hard to see the final prize. Now looking at the newest pics I hope you do see that it is starting to shape up nicely. Great job !

Thanks for the comments everyone - it certainly is interesting seeing the tank skinned now after so long being bare framing. Seeing it start to look like a real tank is encouraging.

The drywall has been a major milestone. I don't want water in the tank when I'm sanding or painting and I couldn't sand or paint because the permits said "not until pass inspection" and I couldn't get the inspection because the sink wasn't code or this or that and I couldn't fix the plumbing or do the electrical before the framing was done, and I couldn't finish the framing because the builders did something weird that I had to first fix, and so on, and so on, and so on. The progression of steps has been .. I guess I'll call it "an interesting learning experience." Throw a 2 year old and a 4 year old into the mix and yeah the end result has been a gong show. It's not my first reno project but I guess it is the first of this magnitude and it's been a real eye opener. Man people who have the energy to do projects AND run tanks AND have kids AND do it all well, sure have my hat off to them in admiration right now!!

I can't wait to finish this so I can just LOOK at the tank and only have to worry about "oh I need to do a water change and top up my dosing and clean the back glass there" and so on as opposed to all that and "oh yeah, and finish building the tank too!" :)

The inside of the tank canopy and the ceiling right above are in fact plywood. I've always heard that the blue/green drywall is more just humidity-resistent rather than "wet proof" - ie., for really wet applications they say concrete board is even better. So I opted instead for plywood in the high exposure areas which I painted with an oil based high gloss white. So hopefully should be no worries if it gets splashed on. The rest of the room is regular drywall, I basically ended up just ordering a huge shipment for the whole basement and it was easier to just get it all the same. The room has 3 HRV vents so humidity should be kept in check over the long term. That's the plan anyhow, we'll see how it works out!

So Tony I heard you got some new and improved plumbing parts, I think it's about time you get this up and running. At least get her wet! :razz:

Too much fiddle faddlin' down there and not enough picture-takin' me thinks.

Not much to show yet. System is totally flacid but I'm fiddle-faddling with the delivery shaft in an effort to get it erect and serviceable. I'm really having a lot of trouble getting the placement quite right though, and have been thinking of switching my focus onto the rear end instead for starters (ie., the overflow, I don't know what else I could be referring to here). You wouldn't beleive the girth of plumbing parts when you're working with 2".

Bwahahah this cracked me up :lol:

Same! I laughed, and then snickered, then laughed again.

Me too, Tony you're too funny!

Bahahaha...that made me choke on my lunch!!! Thanks Tony for your splendid way with words! Great for a chuckle!

Hey Tony, you trying to give Doug a run for his money?

What if all you felt was arousal? Is there a number a person could call?

A marriage councilor if your wife peeks in on your posts! :lol:

I knew it its getting silly again girth all men are created equal remember:lol: Lance.....

Looking good Tony.

:lol: Seems like it, hummmm.......I wonder who's thread will end up more x-rated :lol: