As of June 29, 2010 we have undertaken the biggest challenge so far with homeownership. We went to city hall, to the engineering department, and got our very first building permit. It is a plumbing permit to be exact.

The plumbing in the basement, for the waste stack, is all in 1.5 inch pipe. This pipe goes into 2 inch cast iron pipe in the ground. We need to add in something for the washer to drain water into. Usually a standpipe would work fine, but code calls for a 2 inch pipe. We could just add in a utility sink and drain into that, but would still need a permit to do that. So we decided that if we were already going to have to get a plumbing permit, that we should just go all out and do it right. The plan is to start at the bottom and work our way up. Taking apart the leaded joint where the steel pipe goes into the cast iron hub is the first hard part. From there we will be re-routing the drain up the wall with pvc pipe and splitting off for the utility sink and a washer stand pipe. After that we will continue up, take a small detour around a basement window, and then another horizontal jog to the area in the wall where the current pipe is. It will then work its way up through the wall and out of the roof as the waste stack vent. It is possible that somewhere in the kitchen, there might be a pipe that comes from the kitchen sink and attaches to the current vent pipe somewhere in the wall. So we may have to cut a hole in the kitchen wall to disconnect the tee connection and connect it up with the new pvc vent. This is all a very big undertaking for us and shall be very exciting. The hardest part for us is over though, we have the permit. Now all we need to do, is do the actual work. There will be many more parts to come.

Copy of the plumbing permit

Copy of Inspection Record Card