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Installing PVC Pipe

Bob Vila shows a Victorian Style house where the rough plumbing is being installed. The house has a half basement with the remainder being just crawlspace. Bob meets Jim Timino the plumbing contractor who is running PVC pipe for the rough plumbing. Jim is installing a 2" waste line from the kitchen that will run to the main waste stack or piping. The main waste piping is 4" PVC and it runs into the sewer system in the backyard. Jim demonstrates how to properly cement or glue PVC fittings with the PVC pipe. They also take a look at the master bedroom suite, which will be magnificent because of its roominess and the extravagant master bathroom. They show the vent piping from the basement to the roof including a future vent that is required by Massachusetts Plumbing Code. The vent pipes allow proper drainage as well as a place for sewer gas to be expelled outside of the home. Bob tours the upstairs children�s bedrooms and overviews the header vent pipe and how it interconnects all the waste pipes in the home.

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Installing Verge Board

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Installing PVC Pipe

Clip Transcript For:

Installing PVC Pipe

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" We're now under the master bath and let's just talk about what you've done already. What's this pipe here for?"

" This pipe here is a 2-inch waste pipe that comes from the kitchen area all the way down and it's gonna tie in to the main building drain."

" That comes all the way from the kitchen sink. And of course, it's not horizontal. It's pitched all the way over here."

" And then where does this go out to?"

" That 4-inch exit pipe goes right out into the septic tank."

" That will go to the septic tank. Now I notice everything here is PVC plastic piping."

" Correct."

" We don't need to worry about cast iron pipe? Code doesn't require it?"

" No. It doesn't require it at all."

" It was a lot simpler to work with this material, isn't it?"

" Much simpler."

" Tell us what you're doing here."

" Right now we're installing the main building drain in the basement."

" Uh huh."

" That's gonna pick up all the miscellaneous rises through all the plumbing fixtures in the house."

" Okay. So now he's made his first cut in this length of pipe. What are you gonna connect there?"

" I'm gonna connect the first outlet to be picked up which would be the master bath toilet and the lav."

" That's such a clever way to do it 'cause you got your length of pipe."

" Throw another one."

" Just slide it out of the way and come in with the next piece. What is that called that you're putting on it?"

" It's the PVC glue."

" PVC glue. That stuff just smells so strong. Liberal application. Looks great!"

" Ready to go."

" And now the next piece that goes straight up. Jim, why don't you and I go up there so we can talk about that bathroom layout while they finish this out?"

" Okay."

" This master suite is gonna be terrific. The bedroom is actually 16x18. And then through here you've got his and hers closet. You see he's already moved in to his. That's quite a collection of elbows and stuff. Now here in the master bath we have the tub here, toilet and lav over there. So what have you been doing here?"

" Here we've go the vents for the tub which comes up and we just drill through the sides, head it up, and continue it right up into the attic into our vent header."

" So you can make all these turns with a vent pipe and not have to worry about anything."

" You don't have to worry about it. You just wanna put a little bit of catcher on 'em and keep it on an upward flow heading to the attic."

" Okay. So there's only air or gas going through that."

" Correct."

" Now what's he working on over here?"

" He's working on the master bath lav on and vent for the toilet and the lav. And that's gonna continue up into the attic into our vent header."

" Okay. The purpose of all these venting is to make sure that any sewer gas escapes the house and goes right up through the roof."

" Yup. And to allow proper drainage of."

" Everything is connected into this rise system."

" Correct."

" And so here we see basic joints being put together. Alright. So Dennis has just connected the vent for the toilet and for the lavatory here which incidentally will be a pedestal lav. But I'm looking in another one here. I don't understand what that's about."

" What's there Bob is a 2 inch future vent which Massachusetts plumbing code requires."

" A future vent. So what it is at some point in the future we wanna vent something we already have the vent in the wall?"

" Correct. And you have the vent that comes from the main building drain in basement and connects up to the main building drain and goes all the way up and ties into the vent header in the attic."

" Okay. So I could add a laundry sink in the basement and I already have a vent in place."

" Correct. That would take care of any vent of any plumbing fixtures that you might wanna add in the basement."

" So we've got 2 bedrooms and a bath. And these are good sized bedrooms. Kids bedrooms but you know, 16x14 I think it is, with a nice closet, plenty of light, and then the bathroom is in a shed dormer. Or rather, it's not a shed dormer, it's a little dog house dormer, but anyway, it gives it enough space so that we can have a toilet and a sink and that fiber glass shower that you've already gotten in here. That's good. And this bedroom is directly over the master bath where he's working, right?"

" Correct. This is where we left off downstairs where we last so Dana where he's making the hook up from the master bath."

" Yeah. So that's the toilet and lav and it connects up here."

" Let's back up here into our vent header that we have running in the attic."

" So what we see there is what you're calling the vent header?"

" Correct."

" And that's called header because it's horizontal?"

" It's called a header because it's a main branch which picks up all the individual vents from the other plumbing fixtures in the house."

" Future vent?"

" This is the future vent there."

" Okay. And what's that?"

" That vent there is the powder room."

" That vent?"

" Yeah."

" Okay."

" It continues down here."

" Picks up where is that, bathroom?"

" Where it picks up the vent for the shower."

" Uh huh."

" And continues down a little farther."

" Yeah."

" And it picks up our main 3 inch stack vent which picks up the upstairs toilet and the lavs."

" So this is a very important part of the whole system."

" Correct."

" What about this pipe that goes in that direction?"

" That pipe there, we brought that pipe all the way back from the kitchen sink just so that when we terminate it through the roof of the vent, that we'd only have one vent going through the roof."

" Now that was such a great idea! You've only got 1 vent pipe."

" One main vent."

" Piercing the roof."

" And if you notice we hid up behind the dog house dormer on the back side of the house where were left no [unk]"

" It's not visible from the street."

" Correct."

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