CJ You need to vent the dryer to outside. The problem is not heat, it is moisture. You need a plumber to come and give you an estimate, the drain in the bathroom might be able to be used, but you have to have a certain size for the washer and it has to be vented. If the bathroom sink is on the same wall that the washer will go, it is likely that it can be used. The drain for the pan is an emergency drain and code in your area may not require that it be connected to the drain. It has the purpose of draining in the rare occasion that your washer leaks or overflows. This prevents damage to the structure. Again, you need the advice of someone who is knowledgeable about the local codes. If you are rebuilding the room, pay attention to the floor and how supported it is. A springy floor is going to be problems for a washer because they all depend on placement on the floor for part of the damping of the machine. Front Loading machines use a shock absorber type of damping and the could be problematic with old floors and joists. Top loading washers normally use some form of floating damping system that may have quite a bit of vibration. Anything that can be done to reduce vibration and spongy floors during the build will serve you well.

Thank for the reply. Before calling a plumber this morning, the 2nd floor called and told me that the standing water in her sink was now gone. I went up there and turned on the hot water on the 3rd and 2nd floor. Meanwhile, down in the basement, I could hear what sounded like chunks of ice hitting the elbow at the bottom of the waste riser. Now that that's the drains are all fine, I think I have a related problem. This morning, after going into the basement while running the hot water, I could see a puddle of water under the riser pipe. There was dirt in the puddle and the dirt was in a path down the foundation wall. On top of the foundation wall, there was a bunch of wet dirt. (I'm pretty sure the dirt has always been there from the fire stop material and dust and whatnot. Directly above the dirt on the top of the foundation is the hole in a 2x4 where the PVC riser runs up through the back exterior wall of the house, and then through the roof. The wood around the hole is wet with moisture, and some of the insulation I put in that hole around the pipe to stop a draft was moist too. Is it possible that the PVC waste pipe had standing water in it from the blockage (whatever it was) and froze and cracked overnight? The temp last night dipped to 15 degrees Fahrenheit and stayed below 25 until 10:00 this morning. This riser pipe is in an uninsulated exterior wall on this 1940's house, and vents through the roof. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Nick

Socal, just for giggles (since you seem to have this issue well in hand), I thought I'd share my dimple experience. I have a shaw's fireclay corner sink 15" square, so two sides are exposed. There was a long vertical dimple, very noticable on one side. I carefully positioned the sink for everyone who came through, so the measurements would be right, so that everyone knew about the dimple, so that there would be no question about which way it went (wrote on the inside of the cab, even). So the day the granite arrives for the island, it is snowing. My driveway is steep and has three switch backs. I have two flights of stairs that the island needs to go up and then there is a tight corner at the top before it goes into the kitchen. It took three granite guys and three football player teenagers to get it in the house. It was a bit of an ordeal. A few days later the plumber comes while I'm at work, and says to my husband, "Uh oh, She is not going to be happy...", and pointed out that the giant dimple runs down the most obvious, best lit side! Mostly it's forgotten, but when I think of it, it just makes me smile.

I find it hard to offer up or encourage mediocre or substandard. I understand there is a lot of information and circumstances that effect a design; but when that information and circumstances is not made known, it is next to impossible to give valid advice and assumptions have to be made. I assume people are here asking questions to improve what they have to the highest degree possible, and I point out areas I see that could be improved or I offer a conceptual solution to improve what they have knowing full well there may be extenuating circumstances that lead them to what they have. I see many times people are under the impression that they can not afford the services of an architect, where in reality it is that they can not afford the one architect they talked to or are relying on hearsay. There are architects out there for just about any budget. There is most of the time a big difference between architects and house designers and the like. That is something even the people at Houzz can't figure out. Perhaps the lack of plans offered up for review here on Houzz is a result of people realizing that the best way to have the home they need and want is to sit down with an architect and get to know each other. The architect can discover their needs and wants, walk the site with them, discuss at length the dreams and possibilities of what their home can be. The owner can ask questions and see their home develop before their eyes in the form of sketches and scribbles; a personal/professional interaction that creates home. Perhaps I am being overly optimistic.