How to Run Pipes Through Walls and Floors for DIY Plumbing Work

If you’re an amateur who is running pipes, we’ll assist you guide your plumbing wall through the most challenging areas.

The pipes that supply water to toilets, showers, faucets as well as other fixtures are usually concealed behind walls or beneath flooring, which requires careful planning to ensure proper installation. After you’ve made a sketch of a design for the new plumbing it is essential to develop strategies for operating the pipes. If you’re building a new structure or an addition that has the framing is visible, it’s easy. However, in the event that you’re renovating a bath or kitchenarea, you must be prepared to change the layout after you’ve removed the flooring and walls.

Replacing the finished surface following plumbers (especially the patching of walls) typically takes a few days. Reparing a wall patch of a significant size (or even replacing the entire wall) will take a little longer than a smaller patch, so make sure you have enough space to work.

After you have open the drain and vent lines, connecting the supply, which are usually along drain-waste vent (DWV) pipes is fairly simple. Before starting you should brush up on the basics of carpentry, understand your home’s design and ensure that you are aware of how to put in pipe. It’s recommended to have your plan approved by your city’s building departments to ensure that it conforms to the plumbing code.

Instructions

How to Run Pipes Through Walls and Floors

Every home renovation, addition or new construction that requires plumbing will typically involve running pipes. Learn to navigate difficult places in walls and floors by following these steps.

1 . Assess and Remove the Wall

If you’re planning to install a new stack, check the framing. A toilet installation has to have a drain that is 3 inches and can be installed only if the wall is constructed of 2x6s or greater (2-inch pipe is able to be installed through a wall of 2×4). The wall must be removed until the ceiling.

2 . Prep for New Pipe

Create a hole that allows space in the newly installed pipe. For a pipe of 3 inches make use of an electric drill and a reciprocating cut to cut a hole approximately 4 1/4 inches wide by 10 inches between the floor of the room that you’re working in as well as on top of that room beneath. Cut off a 10-inch by two-foot piece of flooring.

3 . Assemble and Place Drainpipe

Install the fittings that are approved onto the top part of your drainpipe. Be sure to ensure that they are facing the correct direction. The drainpipe should be larger than what is needed. You can cut it down to size in the future from below. Slide the pipe through the hole.

4. Run the Vent

You may need to cut an opening in the wall either above or below the floor to direct the vent pipe upwards or to direct the drainage pipe down. In the atticarea, you may be able to run the vent across to connect it to one already existing vent. If not, make an opening in the ceiling of your attic and let the roofer put in an roof jack for to connect the pipe for venting.

5. Guide and Attach Pipes

Secure the drainpipe using straps. Make a smaller hole in the ceiling to accommodate to vent the pipe. If you want a 1 1/2-inch vent pipe that’s 2 1/2 inches, a hole is enough. The vent pipe is guided up through the hole, and then into the attic or room above, and then slip its lower part into the fitting near the floor.

Drainpipes that run through joists call for careful work. The holes should follow an exact path across the flooring. Then, they have to be either ascending or descending so that the pipe is sloped 1/4 inch for each foot. (If the joists measure 16 inches across and the pipes cross them at an angle of right and the holes are different in height by around 3/8 inches.)

Vent pipes can be at a level, but certain codes require some slope towards the drain that is used for main drainage. Every drain line must be sloped. For a precise slope mark a level line on the studs , and then take a measurement of 1/4-inch for each running foot. Be aware that codes may require fireproof caulk for walls.

6. How to Stabilize and Protect Pipes

If you can, always run pipes through holes that are in the center of the framing member. To stop pipes from getting rattled and rattling, line the holes with felt or wood shims. Place a shim beneath the pipe and tap it until it is in place, but not too tight to allow expansion. If you require notches then make them as tiny as possible, so that they don’t make the framing member weaker. It is also possible to use metal plates to shield pipe from nail damage.

7. Tips for Running Pipe Through a Floor

Drainpipes that run through joists call for a meticulous job. The holes must be in an exact line across the floor. They must ascend or descend , so that the pipe is sloped 1/4 inch for each foot. (If the joists measure 16 inches in diameter and the pipes cross them at an angle of right and the holes are different in height by around 3/8 inches.)

8. Tips for Running Pipe Through a Wall

Vent pipes may run at a in a straight line, however certain codes require some slope towards the primary drain. Drain lines should be sloped. To get a precise slope make sure you draw a level line on the studs , and then determine the slope by measuring down 1/4 inch per running foot. Be aware that codes may require fireproof caulk in walls.