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Opinions? Pay a plumber or not?

B

boontonbob

Good morning folks - I have been deliberating (more like agonizing) as to whether as I should tackle plumbing in a utility sink for cold water supply and drainage in our basement where my tank is. The other way to go would be to pay a plumber to do it as time is such a precious commodity right now. (then again, so is money!) There currently is no plumbing down there, so I will be installing a pump underneath.the sink to send the waste water up.

My biggest concern is cutting into the 1.5 " drain line on the ceiling and then the cold water supply. I've never sodered copper piping before, is this difficult enough to pay a plumber $500 or so? Secondly, I hear there is a new type of plastic plumbing that is much easier to connect and disconnect then sodering/gluing. Would anyone know about this or if connect pvc to copper is relatively easy or difficult? Your thoughts would be appreciated or even just a thumbs up or down for tackling it myself as someone with only pvc (sump)plumbing experience.
Thanks
 
P

PaulM

soldering copper is easy. You just need to make sure the pipe is very clean and the flux takes care of the rest. Also id you stuff white bread in the line it prevents water touchign the joints until your all done and turn the water back on.
 
B

boontonbob

Thanks guys....I think I 'll start and put in some work as Mike S. described and look for a plumber to give me a decent deal. I would love to spend the time plumbing in this custom sump and new skimmer that is collecting dust!

Ihop - Gotcha on soddering, I may end up giving this a go. Interesting tip there on the bread. So the water pushes out the bread when you are done?

Mikem - Thanks for your generosity there - I appreciate it!! That would be a bit long drive for you I think. I've got two guys coming tomorrow, so let's see what their quotes run. I will drop you a pm.

If it weren't for two toddlers in daycare to the tune of $2000 per mo., I wouldn't be so tight, but this will be for at least another year until the cost drops to about $1300.
Thanks again!
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I don't mind traveling to help out a fellow reefer. I have 2 in daycare myself, 1 in collage and 1 working on getting there. So a few hundred saved can always help.
 
B

boontonbob

Whoa - 2 in daycare AND one in college?? :eek: I guess it's about time I stop my whining!

Maybe we could do a parental counseling session for me while we are at it! ;D

Let's see what these guys say tomorrow. I had a pretty good feeling about the one. Plus, we are planning a kitchen redesign soon and I am sure one of these guys would want to get the foot in the door by this.

Thanks!
 
P

PaulM

Yeah the water pressure breaks up the bread when you turn the water back on. Works like a charm. Water will totally kill a soldier joint. I could give a hand too if needed. I have a torch and soldier.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Ihop said:
Yeah the water pressure breaks up the bread when you turn the water back on. Works like a charm. Water will totally kill a soldier joint. I could give a hand too if needed. I have a torch and soldier.
Click to expand...

That's a cool little fact that I'm sure it will come in handy at some point (I see a bathroom in my basement's future).
 
B

boontonbob

Thanks IHOP - I may take you up on that as well! What town are you in? If we do connect, lunch and beer are on me. (once the sodering is complete ;)

So I had a guy visit this morning and he seemed to be in a hurry to get out once he saw it wouldn't be a job worth a week's pay. I think the key to this is to find a handyman who has a gap of time make a little easy money. I've got another appointment Saturday morning, this time from a handyman that I am more optimistic on.

If this guy doesn't line up with me on Sat, I'll be in touch with you guys. I would love to knock this out the weekend of the Sat. Feb 9th if possible. I am getting a surge of hair algae and I think the bottled water I have using is helping promote it. The one and only sink that fit my RO unit started leaking badly last time.

Thanks again!!
 
B

boontonbob

I came across another possibility for plumbing in this basement sink. See the picture attached. I hope I am sending it correctly. It has been a while since I have posted pictures.

Does anyone know if these caps can be re-opened to run drainage line into? If they can, I think it would reduce the time of plumbing the sink substantially. I think the cap on the right hand side has been sealed for good, but I'm not certain about the front one. It looks sealed or hopefully just painted over. I could go over to HD or Lowes and see if they know, but the help there is inconsistent to say the least. I know I would need to buy one big ass wrench to crank this open.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. I hope to make my decision and get things rolling with plans asap so I can fire up my RO/DI once again.
Thx
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
These caps are clean outs and are meant to open. Are they below the sink trap line? I have any size pipe wrench needed.
 
P

PaulM

How old is the house? Chances are those caps are rusted to the plumbing. You can try to remove it with a LARGE pipe wrench. Is all the plumbing cast iron? PVC would be alot easier to work with. When I renovated my house I removed almost all the cast iron pipes and replaced with PVC.

1001_03_02_08_4_34_23.JPG
 
B

boontonbob

Thanks for pic. Ihop. I see how you connected the PVC. Our house is about 35 yrs old. The cast iron stops a few feet above the pic. The 3" copper drain pipe starts from there.

Mike - The sink trap will be below this cap. I am putting in a pump to send the water up. If the cap can't be used, the 3" copper line is not very far away.
Thx
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Paul (ihop) It was nice meeting and working with you.
Bob. Keep us posted of your progress.
 
B

boontonbob

Hey Mike & Paul - Thanks so much for your plumbing and electrical help today. You guys made one hell of a "swat" team to knock out this water supply problem I was looking at!

There hasn't been too many "oohs" or "aahs" over my tank with the hair algae surge lately so having the plumbing equipment in place has me pumped up to fire up this MRC skimmer and get my sump/refuge going! Soon after that, the coral stocking begins once again! :) ;) :D ;D

Look forward to see you down at Billy's if we don't talk before then
Bob
 
R

reneeRN

i put the sink in my basement myself. you dont need to solder those pipes. i tapped into the hot and cold water pipes then used compression fittings and potable water pvc to install new lines to the sink. that is that tan pvc you find in HD and Lowes. I then placed my sink drain into the french drain/ sump in the basement. the sump pump pumps the water outside. I dont use soap or chemicals down my makeshift drain just ro waste and salt water.
 
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