Dear Tim,

I am planning on building a new house in spring of 2008. I've gotten a quote from a local plumber that seems somewhat high. Could you give me an idea of what you think a ballpark cost would be for a plumber to furnish and install the following:

1. Master bath--double sink, jetted tub, shower and toilet;
2. Guest bath--sink, tub w/ shower and toilet;
3. Half bath--pedestal sink and toilet.
4. Basement bath--double sink, shower and toilet.

The mechanical will be in the basement w/ the half bath directly above. The master bath, guest bath and basement bath are at the other end of the house (which would be approximately a 50ft. run). I will be using 16" floor trusses which I want the mechanical to run through. The plumbers in this area charge $45/hr, (I'm in the rural midwest) which I feel is fair. I want to use what I would consider to be upper-middle grade fixtures such as Moen, Kohler, Delta etc.
If you could give me a ball park estimate as to what you think that would cost given the above rate, I would appreciate it. In the alternative, if you could give me an estimate of how many hours of labor you think it would take to do the following along with what is a typical and customary markup on fixtures, that would help as well.

Secondly, since the master bath will be at the other end of the house, one concern I have is waiting for hot water. What thoughts would you have on how to eliminate this problem? I will be installing a geothermal system for my heating and cooling if that matters, and the cost of electricity for domestic hot water will be 4.5 cents per kwh.

Thanks in advance,

Steve Swenson

PS. Your website is awesome!! Lots of interesting info.

Steve,
I can't give you a quote even though I am a licensed master plumber. There are too many variables. You need to get three bids and MAKE SURE they are all bidding the exact same materials.

Hello,

I recently moved into a new home with an upstairs bathroom. Under the sink counter near the water supply lines is an open-ended PVC pipe coming out from the wall which, since this morning, has been leaking water after the faucet has been turned on for a short time. I'm not sure what purpose this pipe serves - can it just be covered up? Rerouted somehow?

Scott,
It sounds like some strange drain-line that is interconnected to the sink drain. Buy a rubber testing cap that can be fastened to the pipe with a band clamp. You get those at a real plumbing supply house.

This is not just a bathroom plumbing problem, it is an all over the house plumbing problem. Every time we turn on the hot water, anywhere for anything--a shower, a load of wash, or just to wash our hands, there ia a moaning sound. I think it's the water softener. It has been very cold the last couple of weeks. What could this be?

Help with our moaning pipes! I had to write again in order to ask for notifications about new comments! Thanks.

Jeanne,
You need to have someone turn the water on and you go hunting for the source.

I have and for some time, a leak drip by drip from the extention small pipe coming out of the roof. Turn on the hot tap and the dripping stops for a while.The extention pipe is about 5 foot above the roof. This has been going for 5 years or more.Can I stop it,and how.

Cheers

Barrie,
I can't help you as I have no clue what you are describing.

Hey there!
We are about to reno a very old house.
Would it be possible to eliminate the main floor stack (which runs lenghtwise in the basement and we want to create as much usable space down there as possible) and connect it to the straight one coming from the 2nd floor? They are about 3'latitude, 4' longitude (?) away from each other. Sorry, didn't know how else to describe it!
Don't worry about ripping out walls, they are plaster and lathe and we have already started re-insulating and drywalling some anyways.
I guess the first question is; can you connect two toilets to one stack?

I have a 60 year old house I just recently purchased. After looking at the drainage system in the crawl space I found that only the toilet leads to a 3" main line to the septic tank. All other lines (kitchen, tub, sink) lead to a pipe that goes out the foundation and opens up about 20' from the house into an open trench that is about 6 inches deep. Is this normal for septic systems to save on them filling too fast? Seems like I should tie them all into the main septic line? Thanks!

Colleen,
Yes, you can connect two toilets to one stack. You need to do a calculation to ensure you do not exceed the number of fixture units on that stack.

Benny,
This may be against code but it is a good example of separating black water from gray water. Some people are advocates for the type of system you have. It may be illegal in your area however.

Hello I have a leaking copper elbow fitting up in the ceiling going down the wall!I am having a hard time sweating the sodier I stuff bread in the pipe but still cannot get a good sodier! Help?

John,
You need to read all of my Soldering Copper columns and watch my videos about the same topic.

Mr. Tim.
My wife and I bought a house last year, however our master bathroom seems to be small. We do have a big master bedroom so we have the space to expand the bathroom. We would like to move the toilet to a different location once it gets expand but we are not sure if it's a good idea to move the pipes and all for the toilet only, i heard that is very expensive as well. The move will be about 5feet to the rightfrom the actually location, the second bathroom is right on the other side of this one so i know that the plumbing for both toilets are in that wall. Any suggestions will help.

Thank you,
Lenin Rodriguez.

Lenin,
It will be expensive. Just get bids to see how painful it will be.

This one has my licensed plumber baffled. He created a zone on our hot-water boiler system to feed hot water the radiant heat pipes he had installed in one floor of our house. Since then the house water pressure starts out reduced when we turn on any faucet. But in a minute or so it suddenly begins flowing at a normal rate. We have no idea what's going on here.

I have a question about plumbing pressure. I have hooked up a water pressure gauge to a faucet inside the house, and it is reading about 90 psi. I have heard that is too high. I have adjusted the pressure regulator to reduce the pressure. It changes the pressure of the running water felt throughout the house. However, once the pressure in the pipes builds back up after the water is turned off, it goes back up to 90. Is this normal, or could my water pressure regulator be bad? Would water pressure have any adverse affect on water heaters (like causing the pressure relief valve to drip occasionally)? Thanks.