Moving a waste pipe

[Joe-Bob]

Lots of great advice in this forum. I'd like to solicit some for my project.

I'm installing a new toilet in the cloakroom. The current waste pipe (coming vertically out of the floor) for the toilet sits nearly a foot away from the wall, so a slipshod wooden structure has been built to fill the space between the wall and the cistern. I want the new cistern to fit against the wall, so I'll need to move the waste pipe back about eight inches towards the wall.

The outside drain for the waste is directly on the other side of the wall which the toilet backs against (on the ground floor). The floor to the cloakroom is concrete. The pipe coming out of the floor is pvc, but it is surrounded at the base by a HUGE ring of concrete. Not sure why other than for sealing insurance... I've never seen anything like it.

I guess the only way to move the waste back towards the wall is to dig up the concrete, push the pipe backwards, then refill with concrete... correct? I'm assuming this won't be too hard since I'm not moving the pipe sideways, but only backwards.

It seems really simple... am I wrong? I just want to check before I start chipping away at the concrete. Any advice would be great.

 

[Bahco]

Can't see that the pipe will simply push backwards but you won't know until you have exposed the pipework.

You prob will have to extend the pipe with an elbow or straight connector and a bit of pipe.

Get digging.

 

[Joe-Bob]

Thanks, hammer and chisel are in hand.

 

[JohnD]

I hear it's usually a lot of hard work... so if you manage it, come back and tell us (with pictures).

 

[Joe-Bob]

I just removed the old toilet and have discovered that the waste pipe goes a vertical two feet down into the ground before connecting to a horizontal pipe that leads to the outside drain. I need to move the pipe about 9 inches backwards in order for the cistern to sit against the wall. I don't see how it's possible to move this drain without a MAJOR dig -- two feet down! Moreover, the pipes seem to be very old fashioned and made of glazed ceramic. Is it worth it? Should I just build some sort of cabinet to span the space between the wall and cistern, leaving the soil pipe at its current location? What would you folks do in my shoes?

 

[Nige F]

I`d go thru` the wall and create a stub stack outside ..But I`d have to notify Local Authority Building Control , because it`s drainage work

 

[Joe-Bob]

Ooooo, a sub-stack sounds like a great idea. The stack wouldn't be an eyesore since the wall backs out into an obscure area at the back of the house.

So... here's what I think I have to do (after council notification): for the stack, it sits very close to the outside wall and I have to dig down just below the surface and run a pipe into the drain. Can I lay it at a shallow level (I assume there's regulation for depth)? I ask because it would be very simple to lay it at a shallow level, but all the other pipes running into this outside drain are dug at least two feet down and meet the drain at that depth.

Not having done one before, is there an online guide or forum entry from someone who has?

 

[longdogs]

Is there not an existing soil pipe outside that you could branch into by going straight through the wall?

 

[scaby]

if you have 2 foot to play with , cut the original pipe near the bottom and with 110 mm connections join them together to get nearer the wall

 

[Joe-Bob]

After some thorough planning I've decided to forgo the digging and just build a shelf to span the gap between wall and cistern. The actual depth of the dig would be over three feet down and would take up 80% of my cloakroom floor. There's no stack outside to connect a sub-stack, so I would still have to dig even if I went back through the wall. It just seems like too much work for such a short move of the waste. But I gained some good knowledge here, so thanks everyone.

 

[JohnD]

wimp

 

[Joe-Bob]

I know... I'm ashamed of myself.

 

[Joe-Bob]

Wimp indeed. I wouldn't mind doing this massive digging project if I were planning on keeping the house long-term... or if I were digging my grave, which would be about as deep as the hole needed for the drain relocation. After digging the grave I could at least have a long rest.

On the other hand, if the shelf I build ends up looking like total crap, I'll be renting a Kanga.