Is a partial plumbing gut possible?

I have an offer in on three story, two family brownstone whose mechanicals are, well, not that great. It seems the average cost for all new plumbing for such a house are coming in at about 40k. Is it possible to redo the plumbing for the first two floors, ignoring the third to save money? There’s a kitchen and a bathroom on the top floor that I could, in theory, shut the door on and ignore for a few years until I could come up with the cash to redo. Any advice is appreciated!

robby

in Brownstoner Renovation 9 years and 5 months ago

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surabi | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I’m planning on doing something similar. Could you please share why you regret doing it? what happened? thanks

lisawillams | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I did something like that!! And now i regret!!

neweco | 9 years and 5 months ago

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Are you only opening the walls just to access plumbing ? Or will you be doing a full Gut and partial plumbing repairs ? What are you getting for $40K ? Seems to be the high side .

kassie319 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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If what you can see is a disaster – what you cant see is likely to be a disaster too (based on my limited experience). I recently had intended to do something similar to what you are suggesting, but ended up being forced to redo almost everything. I would happily recommend the plumber I used. Despite additional costs I’m glad it was done before moving in..

shahnandersen

in Brownstoner Renovation 9 years and 5 months ago

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I think that toatally ignoring what is upstairs is a mistake. Things go up (sink and toilet venting; water supply) as well as down. If you can shut off the water above where you are using it and assure that there is no vent gas leaks in the stack above you active bathrooms/kitchen you should be OK. But you need to take those precautions.

resident2 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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It depends on too much to make a subjective $ answer here. But if the risers and main sewer stack all need replacing, then the whole system needs replacing. A lot of plumbers will tell you it all needs replacing because that is what they do, replace, as apposed to restore and repair, but in reality it did not need replacing!

BobMarvin | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I did something like that and came to regret it because of eventual leaks and messy emergency plumbing repairs. However I used that top floor bathroom, which is our only full bath. If you can really shut the door it should be OK, especially if you can cut the water supply to the room. Just be aware that plumbing repairs in an occupied house seem much worse than ones done before moving in.

thetinkerswagon | 9 years and 5 months ago

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we did something more questionable in this house: we redid the plumbing to the top floor and skipped right by the kitchen. if I were doing this, I would let the plumber know that that is the plan so he can situate the new piping in such away that it is easy to access, perhaps with a planned path or even run piping up to the next level and valve and cap it there with an access panel or in a closet with a panel so maybe you will not have to break a wall to get to it. risers in all buildings generally run straight up and everything feeds out of (or into) the pipes in the riser. what you are suggesting is not at all unreasonable. find someone who can help you plan it so that is easy later. oh, and when we did the bathroom here, I ran new h&c up to the top and left valves with taps in the riser on the first floor for the kitchen when we do it. I have done similar with electric here even pulling an extra two circuit line up to my cock loft and leaving it there, above the bathroom closet, so when we proceed with further work, the electric is there. and damn, if I did not think of something else as I am writing this – we should have pulled a third line in case I go to put split A/C in later. so here you go, sit down with some one and think about everything you may need later – plumbing and electric – and when walls are open pull pipes and wire and leave it someplace. Steve