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Basement "capped drains" = bathroom rough in?

9 years ago

We were told we could add a bathroom rough-in to the basement. However, the description of this option shows up only as "basement capped drains." Can anyone explain this a little more?

We are wary as a realtor told us our current home had a basement bath rough-in, and not knowing what the mysterious white PVC was in the corner of the basement, we believed her. Later, a GC and master plumber were totally mystified by it and we discovered upon cutting it open that it led to a literal hole in the dirt under our foundation. GC speculated it was an alternate location for our radon system. ANYWAY - don't want to see a similar "capped drain" appear in the new basement...

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Comments (6)

User
9 years ago
A capped drain would usually indicate a rough in for a basement. If you have it in writing then it shouldn't be an issues. If you are concerned you should ask to see the plumbing before they pour the basement floor.
User
9 years ago
There should also be another pipe for the sink drain which vents up and outside the home.
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I suggest posting your questions and illustration on the Plumbing forum. Believe you'll get better expertise there. Here's what I think will be recommended: WC drain being 3". The new 5-litre toilets are coded for a smaller diameter drain in order to assure water actually washes everything clean. Lav being 1.5", same logic. I'll be following information you gather as I'm probably going to do similar next summer. Good luck.
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Nothing up yet, so it's a blank slate in the basement. I'm working from a drawing that was done after the house was built, loosely drawn from the drain placements. Looking at the plan ("o's are the drains), it's: o left-bath /wall/ rt. toilet o (9'1" between the drains) sink /wall/ ped.sink(?) o o Leaving the toilet where it is, yes the wall can be moved (to the right), but it would go toward the toilet partition (to make room for the left-handed tub on the other side) - that's the problem; if this were done it would leave only about 20" max clearance between wall and front edge of toilet when installed. I'm now thinking that the drawing may be the whole problem, since the assumptions could be totally wrong. 1) maybe there was no thought of a partition when the rough was done, or 2) maybe the "pedestal sink" is actually a drain for a corner shower. That drain is "in the box" of an imaginary room, and was drawn with an angled corner wall for a "pedestal sink" - might be completely wrong assumption and it's a shower instead. (What's a good way to test for existence of traps under the slab? - cut pipe, pour water and use flashlight? - or drain snake "ease" of pushing it in, etc.?) Thanks.
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katiejay
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, griffinto. Sounds like as long as there are *multiple* capped pipes, it's truly a bathroom. I think I'll ask for something in writing indicating what each pipe is for as well.
bry911
9 years ago
What you described above in your post with the pipe to the dirt is not a capped drain.

A capped drain would be a plumbing drain that is capped to prevent bad things from coming into the home. In other words it is a rough in.
rwiegand
9 years ago
Look at the plumbing cut in the drawings, it should be obvious.
katiejay
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Great input. Thanks. We do have a (fuzzy) copy of the plans, but I don't see anything in the basement indicating where plumbing lines may go. Perhaps we're not far enough along in the process to have those drawings yet. This is the biggest reason why I have so many questions - it seems standard procedure to choose a list of options and sign a contract before actually being served any details on the options. And, if we hadn't had such an odd experience with the capped PVC in our current basement, I probably wouldn't have any concerns at all with the promise of a rough-in.

*I should also add that we are actually asking these questions of the sales staff, but obtaining answers has been time-consuming. We're less than the 10th sale, so I suspect they just haven't compiled the answers yet.

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