Thanks, FormulaRoss20,

1. The plumber could run either flex copper or PEX down under the floor and over to the new location and there would be no connections under the concrete.

Won't he need to attach a connector of some kind to make the copper pipe longer? I don't know anything about copper pipe. With pvc, you add couplings and elbows, etc, but how do you make a copper pipe longer?

2. Not likely, no access for sweat copper within the studded corner and it's too sharp a bend to risk kinking flexible piping.

Ok. That makes sense to me. I don't know what sweat copper is but the corner would be a 90° so that would be a sharp bend.

4. I never thought to see if the floor was level, but I don't think it slopes. I will get an estimate on the difference between hall floor and bathroom floor. I can't get on my knees, but I can get a better estimate.

5. Tub before the tile, then tile, then cabinets. So some of the tile will go under the cabinets. Keeps it level, I guess. One plumber told me he wanted the floor tiled before he came to do the plumbing in the concrete. I worried about scratching the new tile while he was digging out concrete. I guess, it depends on the contractor.

I should have posted a picture of the copper that will go inside the concrete. They may not be called connections??? All of these copper pipes will either be bent down or cut off and new pipe added and all of it will be under new concrete.

The floor seems to be level. With the current tile, the difference between the hall floor and the tile floor is 1 1/8". I used a 3cm slab of scrap countertop and a level. So with the old tile removed, it will be between 1 3/4" and 2 1/4"...

1. Yes, with flex copper or PEX, there would be transition connections in the wall and the flex piping would then run under the slab and back up.

But, your last picture shows more detail, you have sleeves in the concrete with hard copper going under the floor, so since one cannot bend hard copper, you already have connections under the concrete. You have been living with buried connections under the slab all along.

2. Sweat copper is what you have now: hard copper pipe with fittings soldered (sweated) onto the pipe.

5. One plumber told me he wanted the floor tiled before he came to do the plumbing in the concrete. Absolutely NOT! With the amount of concrete work and under-floor piping, that would be insane, IMO.

This would be my construction sequence, modify it as necessary:

- Break up the concrete floor and do the rough plumbing, both drain and water supply.

- Patch the concrete floor. Then poor a leveling compound to both level and bring the floor up to the proper height. Leveling compound is by far the easiest way to raise up a floor, and its automatically level.

- Do any rough electrical.

- Install the tub, for most tubs be sure to place it on a mortar bed for solid support underneath.

- install wall finishes, drywall for dry areas and cement board around the tub for tile. Waterproof the cement board for extra protection (Kerdi membrane, Red Guard, etc.).

- Paint the walls.

- Tile and grout both the floor and around the tub.

- Install the vanity.

- Install finish trim around doors, vanity and along the floor.

- Finish the plumbing drain connections and install toilet, all faucets, and any finish electrical.

Thanks, FormulaRoss20. I printed your schedule and the contractors will just have to follow it.

Geez! I swear this must be a homemade house...built by a non-builder, and cobbled together with nothing to code.

So the copper that is showing CAN be bent down?

Sweat copper? Is that a bad thing or just an old thing?

After we use the leveling compound, we will no longer have an 8 ft ceiling. Is that going to be a problem? Maybe 7 ft 10 in tall.

I finally got an electrician to show up today! I think he is a good one. He trained and lived in the biggest city in Oklahoma...now he lives near me. He found 3 receptacles in a wood entertainment center cabinet (wall) without boxes. All three recepts had hot wires NOT connected to the recepts. I may have said that wrong, but that is what I think they said. We had never used them.

Those three recepts had a second set of wires inside the drywall with the first set, but not in a box. They did not have caps, and the wires were hot. Those hot wires were not attached to anything, and they were on a different breaker. The electrician's helper got zapped since we didn't know about the different breaker. We did not know those wires were in the walls, and they were not on the list of breakers with the other recepts. We had three unknowns in the breaker box list, and now we have two unknown breakers, but I feel horrible that she got shocked.

They took pictures of the double wires without boxes. Probably to show what the previous idiots did. LOL. Contractors do that a lot here because things were just done wrong by previous owners/people. Electrical and plumbing should not be done by an untrained homeowner. I wish I had known that unqualified people built this house before we bought it. That should be something sellers should have to disclose to the buyer.

As far as my schedule goes, take it as a guideline. It probably isn't a perfect sequence, but in general it flows in the right direction. If there' s a good reason, modify it.

No, hard copper that you have in the walls cannot be bent down. The plumber will make judicious cuts and install the appropriate elbows/fittings to turn the flow downward.

Sweat copper is not bad, I installed copper in our home because at the time PEX tooling costs were prohibitive. It's all about cost, both in materials and installation labor. Before copper was galvanized steel piping which involved a fair amount of labor to install. Then hard copper became popular, it has anti-bacterial qualities and is easier and faster to cut and install. Nowadays, the material cost of copper is high as is the installation labor. So, we now have PEX which significantly lowers the installation cost. Simple to cut and quick and easy to install pre-made fittings. Copper and PEX are both good products for plumbing.

The height of the finished ceiling is what it is, it's fine, nobody's going to go around and measure your ceiling height.

Sorry for your electrical issues. Homeowner's that work on their house, in any of the trades, need to be educated to do things correctly and safely.

Sweat is a verb, not an adjective. You sweat copper by soldering it. Therer are fittings for 90* corners, 45* corners, valves, and things that join two pipes together which is how you lengthen them. The same things exist with PEX, but today PEX is usually faster to put together. Supposedly, PEX is better in cold climates.

LOL, I knew about soldered copper, but had never heard "sweat". I learned something new! Thanks.

One plumber did not know they were hard copper and can't be bent. Not good...

So, the connections/fittings will be soldered if copper, or they will be PEX. They will be under the concrete when lengthened. Both plumbers said that was not to code, but they didn't seem to care since no one will inspect inside the concrete. I just want the job done correctly, but it seems like it will not be to code.

Thanks for your help. Now, I will know a little more about what the plumber should do. I have had 3 or 4 plumbers come here to do the work, then they change their minds I guess. They say they will call me, but I don't hear from them, and they don't respond to my calls. I found another plumber through my electrician, and he is supposed to come Tuesday. I can't believe this bathroom has been gutted since April, and nothing has been done yet.

Southeastern Oklahoma used to have cold winters, but we rarely get past freezing now. Last ice storm was 2007.

Maybe sweat copper is just me, but seems I've heard it before, plus the solder joint does 'sweat' and drop off if overloaded with solder, so it's definitely a descriptive term.

Really, it's a scary thought that a 'plumber' didn't know that hard copper can't be bent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_tubing

I'm not understanding something: If using soft, flexible copper, or PEX for the changes to be made, no connections need be under the concrete. The connections can be made in the wall above the floor, as they are now. Some disassembly and reassembly with the correct fittings is required, but it's just Erector-Set with plumbing fittings. Certainly a DIY project for the capable.

The plumbing wall will be moved back between 15-18", so the copper pipe in the sleeves will no longer be going up the walls there. The concrete will need to be dug out, new lines extended in the concrete, then up into the new wall for the shower head and controls. There is an old closet behind the current plumbing wall which used to house the heater. We need to keep part of the closet as a coat closet, but we can use part of it if we move that wall.

The current shower drain will move close to the spot where the copper pipes in sleeves currently are. (Changing from a shower drain to a tub drain.)

Oh! I always assumed that the left-hand wall was the one being moved.

Honestly, I would have no issue sleeping at night if soldered connections were under the concrete pad. Properly cleaned and fluxed fittings will solder properly and not be an issue. If you are really concerned with possible corrosion under the concrete, get some Sharkbite silicone wrap and wrap everything metal under the floor. It is amazing stuff, no adhesive but the silicone bonds to itself to make a waterproof wrap.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ELY7X7S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

He found a floor register in this hole that he had to remove. Must have been from 1966. Where you see the clamp, is where the new drain will go. The copper lines need moved back. The pvc on the bottom left is new.

He knew I was not replacing the marble floor, but there was not much he could do. He had to get to that pipe. It could have been much worse. I found some porcelain floor tile today that was all of the same lot, and it was on clearance. 12" x 24" $2.87 per tile.

The original tub hole was filled in with dirt and concrete rocks. I could not get a picture before it was filled in.

Should I be concerned about these two cracks I have circled in the picture?

Does everything look good so far? Any concerns? Anything I should watch for?

The new plumber is from California, and he seems to know his stuff. Thank goodness.

None of that copper appears to be sleeved. Concrete is alkaline and will corrode copper over time. It must be sleeved when run in a slab.

It was not a good picture. The old ones have sleeves. I will make sure the new ones do.

I can see that he did not put sleeves on the copper that he bent down. I did not see him do it so maybe he did not bend it down. Maybe he did something else.

This is getting too long. I need to start a new post to show installation of the tub. I already know it is not right. He will be back Wednesday, I hope.