Many people are having their bathrooms and kitchens remodeled. There is a good chance that the person doing the plumbing is not a plumber, and mistakes may occur that are not easily corrected later.
As a Licensed Master Plumber who does remodels, service, and drain cleaning, I come across many of these mistakes. Here is a small list of common errors I run into:
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- No mortar under the shower or bathtub: Mortar is important to give stability, so when you stand on the tub or shower it does not flex and crack.
- Notching in the floor joist: Cutting out part of a floor joist to install a drain is unavoidable at times; however, new additional floor joists must be installed to restore the structural integrity of the floor.
- The absents of sanitary venting: The plumbing drains in your home needs air for the drain to work properly. The plumbing vents allows sewer gases to escape and leave the home up through the roof. Plumbing vents also prevent negative pressure or vacuum which slows the flow of waste leaving the pipes.
- Proper pipe sizing: The proper size of drainage and water piping is mandated in the plumbing code. An undersized plumbing system will perform poorly and drain cleaning will not correct the problem.
- Blocking: Proper blocking and support of shower valves and bathtub spouts is a part of the work that is commonly overlooked. To correct the problem it may require opening the drywall causing additional repairs to replace the drywall and paint.
Plumbing isn’t just about what we see, what is important in plumbing is what we don’t see. When it comes to plumbing it’s all about good workmanship that is hidden behind the walls.
***The featured image above is not a job that Accro Plumbing did, but an example of a bad repair job that compromises the integrity of the joist.
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