how much to move a drain and knock out a wall

[jewozzy]

ok im trying to figure out if i would even be able to afford the project i want to do next. i am wanting to knock out the wall that my bathtub is currently on. it is 8 ft long and not a support wall. combine my walkin closet and bathroom together to give me a pretty good sized bathroom. i then want to move my bathtub roughly 5-7 ft and add a standup only shower right next to it. so i guess what im trying to ask is how much do plumbers generally charge to move drains (i would assume there is a general ammount per foot) and how much should i expect to have the wall knocked out. I plan to already have the demo done minus the studs being knocked out (still not positive if you just simply remove the studs or what and nervous to start knocking them out). so any idea what i would be looking at?


sorry if its extremely hard to read i have been drinking all day :)

[FSON]

It's hard to say because of the variables of material choices, hvac duct relocation, concrete slab or pier and beam.
Rough guess would be $8,000 - $15,000.

I'm finishing a very similar project right now.

[Vertnut]

Somewhere between "a bunch" and "a shitload". Jackhammering up concrete and searching for a drain to tap into, won't be cheap.

[jewozzy]

concrete slab with no hvac needing to be moved. the only real pain i see is moving the plumbing drain out about 5 feet from where it is right now.

[Hicompression]

I did what you are talking about myself. I rented a concrete cutting saw and jackhammer from NationsRent. Went to town cut out/jack hammered about a 4 foot x 2 foot length of slab, spliced in new a new P-trap and PVC into the old line and filled her back up with concrete. The worst part of it was the dust and noise.

[jewozzy]

I did what you are talking about myself. I rented a concrete cutting saw and jackhammer from NationsRent. Went to town cut out/jack hammered about a 4 foot x 2 foot length of slab, spliced in new a new P-trap and PVC into the old line and filled her back up with concrete. The worst part of it was the dust and noise.

what did it set you back doing it yourself? and was it hard? i've never messed around with home plumbing but have messed around with sprinklers. i know i know not the same thing but is it similar just on a bigger scale?

[bcoop]

what did it set you back doing it yourself? and was it hard? i've never messed around with home plumbing but have messed around with sprinklers. i know i know not the same thing but is it similar just on a bigger scale?



It would all depend on how long it takes you to do the cutting/jackhammering.


Rental for a few days would be around $1500, I'd think.

[jewozzy]

It would all depend on how long it takes you to do the cutting/jackhammering.


Rental for a few days would be around $1500, I'd think.

that wouldn't be bad. how hard is it to tie the new line into the old one? worst case scenario if i already had the trench cut out and had a plumber come out and tie the lines together that would cut cost a lot too huh?

[bcoop]

that wouldn't be bad. how hard is it to tie the new line into the old one? worst case scenario if i already had the trench cut out and had a plumber come out and tie the lines together that would cut cost a lot too huh?


I would assume so, but why not just tie them together yourself?


You just have to be extremely careful with the concrete cutter and jackhammer. Make sure you don't hit something you're not supposed to, because that will skyrocket your cost.

[jewozzy]

I would assume so, but why not just tie them together yourself?


You just have to be extremely careful with the concrete cutter and jackhammer. Make sure you don't hit something you're not supposed to, because that will skyrocket your cost.

hmm like what as far as what your not supposed to? there aren;t any other pipes that i know of between the two spots i will be trenching. the main pipe that connects all the pipes together is further out then where ill be going to. what other types of things are a possibility?

[Hicompression]

what did it set you back doing it yourself? and was it hard? i've never messed around with home plumbing but have messed around with sprinklers. i know i know not the same thing but is it similar just on a bigger scale?

It set me back about $250 in rentals for one day. The hardest part was dealing with the dust and cutting the rebar while chipping out the concrete. Once the concrete was out of the way, it was cake. Anybody can plumb PVC. all you need is PVC primer, adhesive, elbows and pipe and you can do it yourself. I personally had never done this before. I had a contractor tell me what he was going to do and then told me how much he was going to do it for. I about shat my pants when he told me the price so I was like fuuuuuck...I can do that myself. It's like tearing into an engine...you're really scared of pulling the intake and heads but once you do, you realize it really isn't all that hard. :)

Oh...and I did hit a copper pressurized water pipe with the jackhammer but I just put a dent in it. What a disaster it would have been if I had ruptured it.

[jewozzy]

It set me back about $250 in rentals for one day. The hardest part was dealing with the dust and cutting the rebar while chipping out the concrete. Once the concrete was out of the way, it was cake. Anybody can plumb PVC. all you need is PVC primer, adhesive, elbows and pipe and you can do it yourself. I personally had never done this before. I had a contractor tell me what he was going to do and then told me how much he was going to do it for. I about shat my pants when he told me the price so I was like fuuuuuck...I can do that myself. It's like tearing into an engine...you're really scared of pulling the intake and heads but once you do, you realize it really isn't all that hard. :)

Oh...and I did hit a copper pressurized water pipe with the jackhammer but I just put a dent in it. What a disaster it would have been if I had ruptured it.

interesting im going to read up on it and see if i can tackle the job. if a wall is not a support wall is it just simple as tear the studs out or do i need to do any type of supporting after i do each stud?

[Hicompression]

interesting im going to read up on it and see if i can tackle the job. if a wall is not a support wall is it just simple as tear the studs out or do i need to do any type of supporting after i do each stud?


If the wall is not a support wall, just tear out the studs. The bottom sill is probably shot into the floor with nails, just use a crowbar between the foundation and sill to pry it up. You may get some spalling of the concrete where the nails were attached to the slab...just use concrete patcher to fill them in. Or take a sawzall and cut the nails between the sill and the slab.