Plumbing Question?

Question

I have a closet in a small apartment building which is next to my bathroom. I'm thinking about turning it into a laundry closet where I would put a washer/dryer stackable unit in. Can I connect the washer's supply and drain to that of my bathroom sink and more importantly, can I use the vent for the toilet or sink as my vent for the dryer? Will this cause any backups in my unit (the bottom floor) or in any of the other two units directly above me? We all share a common vent.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

You will have to modify the plumbing some to get the washer to drain into the line for your toilet. You may have to extend this drain past your bathroom sink to get you the 2" drain size you need for the washer.
You absolutely can NOT vent the dryer through the plumbing system. You may be able to use the ductwork for the bathroom exhaust fan (AKA fart fan) to vent your dryer. Check the manufacturer's recommendation on duct size. Another alternate would be to have the dryer vent in a flexible duct, and run it out a window when your drying clothes.

Answer 2

best bet would be to tie the washer drain in to the toilet line somewhere and add an inline vent on the washing machine stand pipe. 2" is correct sizing. If the closet is on an outside wall, use a 4 1/2" hole saw and drill a hole out the side of the house and add the dryer vent there. The toilet pipe would be 3" or 4" and could handle the additionl dfu's the washer would add without causing a problem.

Another possibility for the dryer vent is to run it up into the ceiling and pop the vent out the wall in the attic. To the outside air, not into the attic.

Answer 3

You are doing a lot of revising of the present plumbing system to do this. Adding piping and valves to the water supply piping is the least of the problems. You cannot use the sewer vent for the dryer. You also do not want to tie into a bathroom exhaust duct for a dryer. The sink will probably overflow with the washer draining. Overall, bad idea.

Answer 4

Pretty much no on the vents.

A washer drain must be 2" minumum, and your basin drain is pretty surely 1-1/2". The dryer cannot vent to the plumbing vents in any case, but there are "ventless" dryers.

You need to investigate the drain issues. Getting water from the sink plumbing is fine, though.

Answer 5

the washer can share the drain for the sink, make sure you don't use the sink while using the washer. tap the hot and cold water inlet with valves for your washer. you can share the washroom common vent but you have to install another 600cfm ventillation fan for your dryer immediately above the closet to avoid backdraft. remember the electrical supply has to be independent directly from the breaker panel.