Plumbing Question
 

I've seen a bit of plumbing expertise thrown around here lately, so I thought I'd see if I can get some help. I want to replace a bidet with a pedestal sink in my master bathroom. What do I have to do with the drain in order to make this happen? I understand that the trap for the bidet is below floor level. Is it acceptable to just connect the drain for the pedestal sink to this existing trap? Or do I have to remove the under-floor trap and put in new drain pipes with an above floor trap?

Thanks,

Jonathan

In theory, I think you could get by with the existing trap but it seems to me that you are going to have a hard time making the connection to the existing trap. I think you are going to have to run a pipe up the wall behind the pedestal sink and put the trap between the sink and the wall. Do you have access to the pipes under the floor? Is there an existing sink close by?
I have a pedestal sink with a trap and the line runs behind the pedestal and thru the floor and connects to the drain pipes below. This is a very old unusual design (I think) as most pipes would now be run in the wall behind the sink. In my case, that wall is brick so the pipe had to run straight down thru the floor.

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately I don't have a sink nearby, so I would have to cut into the parquet floor and the sheetrock wall in order to move the drain from the floor to the wall. I figured as far as making the connection I would just use PVC pipe with some sort of adapter to join into the existing drain pipe.

Sounds like a question for CMAC...

You could do what was done in my house. Run PVC behind the pedestal, with a trap, down thru the floor and tie into the existing drain below the floor. You'll probably have to cut off whatever connector exists for the bidet.

I just looked at my pedestal sink. The trap is not behind the pedestal, it is under the floor. It's been there for 75 yrs.

Wheww!! I got here as quick as I could. Just as soon as I saw the bat-light shining on the sky. :kid:

One of the adavantages of having the trap above the floor, just under the sink, is that you'll need to clean it out now and then. Not sure a bidet would accumumlate the kind of gnarly gunk that a sink does. In a sink, there's always hair to act as a binder to catch all kinds of er, uh, stuff. (Number 2 rule of the plumber's union: don't chew your fingernails)

Then again, cleaning a trap under a floor is not impossible -- one of those hand powered little snakes would probably do it.

A lot of the pedestal sinks have a column of sorts that it stands on, with a channel in the back of the column. If it extends all the way to the floor, seems like you could hook up to the exisiting drain. I can understand not wanting to dig into the parquet floor.

I've always wanted a bidet myself.

Thanks cmac, I appreciate your input as well. I got in touch with the building department at my city, and they've informed me that code will allow a below-floor p-trap on a sink as long as the distance from the sink to the trap does not exceed 47 inches. Additionally, they have informed me that "a clean-out will be required on a fixture outlet pipe". I'm assuming this means that I must have some sort of an access hole on the pvc drain pipe above ground so that I can get a snake in if need be. Is this correct?

Thanks again,

Jonathan

*** Honorable Rules To Survive By... ***
 

Hey cmac2012:

Would this be the Number 1 rule of the plumber's union?

Yes, I believe that is true. Pretty easy to glue one in. I can't believe your building department is that cooperative. Here in Denver, a homeowner cannot even replace their own toilet. Only licensed people can do so.
I'm with Cmac. The bidet seems preferable. Can't it double as a sink?

There's something to that. :puke:

Here's the way I heard them:

#1: $h!t don't flow uphill.
#2: Don't chew your fingernails. (after some of what the underside of those fingernails get exposed to...)
#3: Payday's on Friday.

Yes, that's it. The clean out access is at about a 45 deg. angle to the pipe so the snake can go in easily. That makes sense -- much less work than undoing the plumbing to get access.

bidets have the trap under the floor? what size is that?

the bidets are handy when traveling in europe and strange food wreaks havoc with your digestive tract.

tom w

Thanks again, cmac. I appreciate your help.

Jonathan