What is this pipe and how hard is it to move?

last year

Hello, this community is such a wealth of information! We’ve started a remodel project and are trying to open up a wall between two rooms. The contractor doesn’t want to move the pipe on the right. I’m trying to educate myself and understand if that’s reasonable. (I’m typically of the mindset that almost anything can be done if you’re willing to pay for it.)

Can you tell me what the pipe is and if it’s recommended not to move it? Thank you!

Comments (8)

PRO
Austin Air Companie
last year
Where does he come from, where does he go to?

(is there a basement? crawl? below? attic above?)

after that it's a matter of importance like is it some unused thing from eons ago or what? / room available to move it further left, provided of course there's not another one we can't see or something else?

Yep, if you got the money... I got the time / solution. ( I like your attitude)

The con with finding buried treasure is you have to keep digging if you don't find anything -- the time spent removing obstacles in your way is yet another. Maybe they put that pipe there as a marker to the buried treasure just due left. (ha, ha, ha) The pipe looks awfully shiny? why?

I service the Katy, Texas area.
mike_home
last year
Can you tell me what the pipe is and if it’s recommended not to move it?

The pipe appears to be an HVAC supply duct. I assume the furnace or air handler is in the basement and this is one of the supplies for the second floor. If done correctly, moving it over into the next stud bay is not going to compromise the heating and cooling performance. During the move you have the opportunity to install a wider duct if needed.

If this is a load bearing wall then alterations become more complicated. It can be done it just increases the cost.
Related Discussions
Is moving door to this location possible? How hard?
Q
Comments (10)
Sorry, didn't realize your first post's link had the images. Now that I've looked at them, I'm wondering how you plan to use the room currently labeled "den" after you remodel. Is that going to stay a second living area or become a bedroom? I ask because if you plan to keep two living areas, have you considered making the current den into your more formal, more public living room and using the living area by the kitchen as a family room/den. If the current den became the front parlor (to use old fashioned language) you COULD put your front door where that window on the side of the bricked section. Then, turn the current foyer into a walk in closet for the first bedroom. Pull just the corner bedroom forward into the porch area to leave room for a nice large closet for your master bedroom. Extend a roof on the side to create a new porch section - giving you an L shaped covered porch. Having the front door facing to the side won't be odd if you put in a curving walkway that leads to the front porch. Here's a sketch to better show what I mean.
...See More
Can overhead waste pipe be moved?
Q
Comments (5)
the answer is yes, to the question that you phrased, as to whether a drain pipe can ever have a bend in it. You've seen drains with bends in them before, no doubt. I confirm to you that what you saw really was a drain pipe that bended. The question you asked was general. No-one will ever say that adding unnecessary bends is a good thing to do, so you may meet up with a lot of resistance along the lines of "it's not ideal." But don't let that deter you from studying your options. In the end you will have learned a few things, and maybe you will have found some way to make something work better in your proposed basement floor plan. Vertically a bend has to be a long sweep, which takes up a lot of space, so you may find that you are not happy with the options you will have since your ceiling height is only about 7' to start with. In other words, to get that pipe out of the way might mean you begin re-routing it from a much higher point, somewhere in the wall of the ground floor (above the basement.) Fun, fun, fun. Money and risk. hope this helps.
...See More
moving a stack vent pipe
Q
Comments (7)
There is no mandate for a 4" vent line. The codes have tables that assign a Drainage Fixture Unit (DFU) value to every type of fixture that would be connected to the drainage system as well as define the minimum size of drain permitted. We begin by computing the total DFU load on the structure then refer to another table that defines the maximum number of DFU's that may be handled by each size of pipe. Because of the size of the anticipated solids in the waste a watercloset is required to have a minimum of a 3" waste line thus the branch from the watercloset and the "house main drain" must be a minimum of 3" but for large structures with multiple bathrooms it may require a larger line for the main drain. Under the International Residential Code all structures are required to have one "Main Vent" which must run undiminished in size from the "House Main Drain" through the roof. When additional auxillary vents are required they may be reduced to 1/2 the diameter of the line they serve and they may terminate through the roof or in the attic space. In some instances subject to a number of restrictions they may terminate directly through and outside wall or you may use an unlimited number or air admittance valves. The Uniform Plumbing Code does not require a Main vent. Under the UPC a vent line may be reduced to 1/2 the diameter of the line it serves but the combined cross sectional area of all vents must be equal to or greater than the cross sectional area of the main drain line. Under the UPC ALL VENTS must terminate through the roof except, the UPC will permit a maximum of one AAV per structure with the expressed approval of the local authority having jurisdiction. In plumbing any line that is vertical or angled not more than 45 degree from vertical is considered a "Vertical Line". Any line that is horizontal or angled at any angle up to 45 degrees from horizontal is defined as a "Horizontal line or or Flat Line". A vent line may not be run horizontal until it reaches an elevation at least 6" above the flood level rim of the highest fixture served by that vent which would be the lavatory sink rim. It might be possible to make the offset inside the wet wall in the room below by making a 45 deg angled offset however the length of the drain lines from the tub, shower or lavatory trap to the vent is very closely regulated. Offsetting the vent below might extend the distance from the trap to vent beyond acceptable limits which would then require an additional auxillary vent for that fixture.
...See More
Is it possible to have the pipes moved over?
Q
Comments (12)
This is a new construction so I guess I thought they should have lined up things better as Bruce said. If this was an existing kitchen with pipes already there, that makes sense - you get what you get. But this is new and custom so I was hoping plumber would have been able to make it so we could maximize the storage space under there...
...See More
littlebug Zone 5 Missouri
last year
last modified: last year
I’m no construction expert, but if your contractor doesn’t want to move it, that’s a red flag.

Either he knows what’s involved and believes it’s going to be a huge PITA, or he has no idea what‘s going on and knows he’s going to be in over his head.
3onthetree
last year
As Mike said, or it could be a ducted return, maybe even a dryer vent (we only have 1 pic and no other info to go on). But typically, you map out what is above and below to understand what plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and structural implications you have prior to exploratory surgery. So once you open up, you already have an idea of what it will entail and some plan B's to continue, most of what you find will be confirmation. Otherwise, if what you see (prior to exploratory surgery) is too much beyond the project scope and budget, you might want to change the project design to work around it or change where you do the exploratory surgery.

For this spot, whether you open up the entire wall or not will play a part in what can happen.
Kate
last year
We hired an hvac person to come and move a duct that was in the way. He did a great job and worth the expense.
ci_lantro
last year
Can you tell me what the pipe is

No, we cannot. You should be able to figure it out since you are in the house. It starts somewhere & it ends somewhere. Find either one of those ends & you will have answered your own question.
Iri
last year
It is not unusual for a contractor to "not want to move" something. The reason is usually that it's more work. You have to ask "why not?" and also "so what is this anyway?".
sktn77a
last year
last modified: last year
"We hired an hvac person to come and move a duct that was in the way. He did a great job and worth the expense."

This is what you need to do.

What is this pipe and how hard is it to move?

Comments (8)

Austin Air Companie

mike_home

Related Discussions

littlebug Zone 5 Missouri

3onthetree

Kate

ci_lantro

Iri

sktn77a

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US