Hi Meadering Minstrel, Did you ever get any replies to your request about adding a half-bath to your garage? Or did you get quotes for the job? We are considering buying a house with a pool and want to do the exact same thing. Any info you have would be great. Thanks so much!

Check you local home supply center in the plumbing section where they keep parts for lawn & garden irrigation systems. They have both round and square "valve Boxes" that are generally used to cover manual zone valves on an irrigation system but would work fine for your application. A 6" diameter round valve box should be in the range of about $10.

Thanks, I did hire the job done. As I had the septic open he rotary cleaned form the septic end, which had a clog I misjudged. I took a garden hose and poked in the baffle/box and felt a solid bottom, thinking it was part of the concrete box. He said no and hit inside the box real hard with a pole and broke through. He did a little scraping with a pole scraper and asked me to run some water. Nothing much came through, so he took his rotary cleaner tool and ran it up toward the house from the septic end. That broke loose more "grease" and water began to flow. We then went inside as I had damaged the clean out plug and it was leaking through the center "Nut" area. He took a chisel and hammer and began to give it a real whacking, far more heavy hitting that I was prepared to do without specific experience, which I now have. He broke out the center and then collapsed the edge in.. then removed another couple of cups of grease and put on a new cap, using Teflon tape on the threads. Overall I see most, except the rotary cleaning, I could have done myself, oh yes, and knowing better how the box/baffle is constructed in the septic tank. I was surprised to see such a build up in the cast iron pipe, and I suppose even PVC does the same. Relative to using "Liquid Plumber" or whatever, the service guy noticed the smell of bleach/cleaner and commented. I confessed on what I had used and asked if that was a concern to him, he said he had no concerns. My concern, it didn't work or maybe even help.. a little help was no better than no help. I was pleased with the service and the charges seemed to be reasonable to me, and were flat rate, there was no clock watching. He was also willing to give me a little "class room" time so that I could do more myself.

The plumber will be tying into the cleanout with a deep well trap, which is, according to my understanding, the indirect connection. The tie in has to be at a cleanout as the actual sewer lines underground are terra cotta. This is a code requirement. I had to google "gray water line" to find out what it was, but no, this is not the case. This house was built in 1964, and the other cleanout is newer as it looks to have been installed when a bathroom was added on at the back of the house. What is hard to understand, is that the new cleanout had to have been extended from somewhere, I guess, because I cannot believe that this 2" cleanout within a 3" cast iron pipe was the only cleanout for a 3,000 sq.ft. house. We are calling another plumber for additional input and quote. Thank you.