Moving Pipes
My wife and i are considering buying the apt next door to our coop (prewar) and combiming the two apartments. there are, unfortunately, three pipes (risers, i believe they are called) running from floor to ceiling in one of the walls that we would like taken down. We’d like to move the pipes and have…
My wife and i are considering buying the apt next door to our coop (prewar) and combiming the two apartments. there are, unfortunately, three pipes (risers, i believe they are called) running from floor to ceiling in one of the walls that we would like taken down. We’d like to move the pipes and have been told wildly different things about how hard/expensive it would be to have them moved. (understand that we’ll need building approval. Putting aside getting the building to approve moving the risers, any thoughts on how difficult/expensive this is (we’d ideally like to move them about 4 to 5 feet)? thanks for all your help.
@pig three
My thoughts exactly……..
I love it. Once again the know it alls blow a lot of hot air before all the variables are known. OP, good luck with your project.
thanks for all the feedback. some additional info for you – two of the pipes are 2 inches thick, the third is 3 inches in daimeter. our building is a total of 6 stories, we are on the 4th floor. we spoke to an architect who’s done some work in the building (and has represented the building in other instances). he didnt seem all the fussed about moving the risers subject to there being enough space between my floor and the ceiling of the apt below me – he said in new construction it might be near impossible because of concreat slabs between floors but in pre-war there may actually be enough space between the floors to get it done. dont know, people here (including some who seem pretty knowledgable) and elsewhere seem pretty negative about it but this guy really wasnt.
AlexSPK , were you the teacher for Charlie Brown’s class?
There is a huge difference what kind and how the large the building. In large buildings you tend to have more side by side drain and vent stacks, hot water return lines and so on. In large prewar buildings you also have to deal with the condition of the pipes which are most always on their last legs. The issue is not really technical difficulty. It’s more of an access issue to the apartment above and below to make the offsets. In most cases you are taking about serious work and demo above and below. Then there is also shut down time. Most all large buildings have limits as to how long lines can be out of service and so on. I have done all kinds of riser moves and unless you have lots of money to spend and can persuade neighbors for access it is best avoided. In most all cases you can nicely work the risers into a new floor plan.
Moving a pipe is moving a pipe. Who cares how big the building is? I mean come on, can these pipes be any bigger than 4″? Give me a break, if your plumber can’t move a 4″ pipe over in 4 hours, find another plumber. Stop the fear mongering people. This is not as hard as you all think. The reason why it costs so much is because plumbers are preying on the fears people like you all have. If you think it’s a SUPER HARD job, then it will cost more. First step is to ask your board for permission, then figure out the next move….
ahbroudo- the comparison to moving pipes in a dinky 4-unit building (especially when you have the entire lower half of it) versus a large apartment building is silly to put it nicely.
We recently bought the parlour, garden and cellar of a 4 unit brownstone. We are doing a gut renovation and had to move all piping from a previous renovation that occured 12 years ago than ran through the middle of our unit. We got approval from all other owners and our GC did a great job. E-mail me if you have questions. I can send you some before and after pictures.
ahbroudo@yahoo.com
stupid idea