Hot Water Pipe Too Long?

ww

The boiler is on one side of house. The hot water supply pipe goes to the other side and cuts across to the sink in basement and up to kitchen. Here's where it gets so I'm scratching my head. In order to get upstairs to the bathroom the plumber came back with a pipe from the basement sink along the floor joists ..up to the top floor and back again under the floor.

My problem is it takes awhile for hot water to get upstairs. Why did the plumber do the piping this way and not just run the pipe along the same side of boiler using a tee and go upstairs cutting out an entire length of pipe. This seems to be the reason hot water takes too much time to get to the bathroom.

In reality the way this is set up ads a full two widths of the house with extra pipe to the bathroom.

This is an old house..What was the point of this type of installation....more pipe to make more money or what?

The least pipe used would be just to put the pipe going to the basement sink up through the wall and to the bathroom. I know of problems getting through floors but it can be done....But forty plus more feet of pipe...? This causes alot of time for hot water to come up the bathroom.

What do you think?

Jamie Hall

Repipe it. Won't be the first time that there is some bizarre plumbing, put in for who knows what reason, and won't be the last.

While you are at it, insulate all the hot water pipes. And put nice shutoff valves (ball valves) on them...

Leonard

Don't randomly cut holes in structural rafters and beams to run the pipe. There are rules about where along the rafter span you can cut holes and how close to the rafter top and bottom edges you can cut without seriously weaking the rafter's load carrying ability.

Hear some plumbers have a habit of doing serious damage to rafters when installing pipes. So bad that carpenters have to come in and install more wood $$$$

Jamie Hall

Leonard said:

Don't randomly cut holes in structural rafters and beams to run the pipe. There are rules about where along the rafter span you can cut holes and how close to the rafter top and bottom edges you can cut without seriously weaking the rafter's load carrying ability.

Hear some plumbers have a habit of doing serious damage to rafters when installing pipes. So bad that carpenters have to come in and install more wood $$$$

Oh indeed. In fact, it's better to avoid cutting rafters and joists at all, if you can possibly avoid it. Particularly in more modern construction, which tends to be built much closer to the structural limits of the beams. If you find that for some reason you do have to put a hole (any bigger than 3/4 inch for electrical wiring -- and even that must be in the middle third of the beam, measured from top to bottom) in a joist or rafter, please find a structural engineer versed in wood construction or an architect and get some advice...

the_donut

I had to jack up 2 floors 3” in a building where a lazy plumber decided to completely cut out a 4” long section of joist next to bath tub and toilet 3’ from supporting wall. Not a fun repair.

Danny Scully

Any chance you’re looking at an old gravity recirc Line?

ww

Thanks for all responses...I agree I have to re pipe as Jamie said...I looked further and found that the pipe leading to the basement sink from boiler also goes to the kitchen sink...right below the bathroom hot water feed to both the sink and tub. I will connect both those pipes with a tee and cap off the end of the pipe going to upstairs and it should do the trick.

When I was doing some work i made an access panel on kitchen ceiling next to upstairs bathroom sink to be able to do things and have easy access to piping.

I will also check for valves and install them to make my job easier..I was told by many on this site when I replaced a circulator pump on the hot water boiler to use the valves...that idea came in very handy when there was a pump issue...shut the valves off...didn't have to drain the system....one two three..done!

Do you agree that eliminating another nearly 50 feet of pipe length carrying the hot water to the upstairs that the water will come out of the faucet hot much quicker?..

I feel that the cold water coming out of the hot faucet because of the travel length will also save alot of water too.

Luckily these pipes are not going thru the rafters....alongside them so no structural damage seen as of yet.

Don't think it's a gravity recirculating line...will look into it but think it's just the water line....how do I know?