Garage and Plumbing Requirements

Most garages are used to house automobiles. Garages are used for storage as well. It is every man and woman’s dream to have a utility sink and a garden hose hook up on their garage. Clean up in the garage and not the house, right? Many people want garages and barns with bathrooms. “Man caves” want to have bars and bedrooms. Most equine barns want cold and warm water for their wash stalls. What is involved with putting in plumbing in garages, barns and other accessory buildings?

One consideration before planning a bathroom in an accessory or storage building is the connection to the sewer and what the land perks for. If your main home has 3 bathrooms and the land only perks for 3 bedrooms, most principalities won’t allow any more fixtures. There are different requirements for sewer systems with drain fields and city sewage disposal systems.

When you are building a garage and want water, there are a few things to make sure are part of the installation process. In concealed places, piping has to have steel shield plates unless the piping is cast-iron or galvanized steel. The plates cover the holes and notches in the lumber members that support them. Pipes passing through concrete or cinder walls and floors must have protective material to prevent corrosion. In garages, plumbing pipes have sleeves that are 2 sizes bigger than the pipe. These help the piping from freezing.

Any plumbing piping shall be supported to ensure alignment and prevent sagging while allowing for expansion and contraction. Fasteners, hangers and anchors have code specific application and are critical to the success of the project. The piping that runs along the ground must be insulated and protected also. Planning for weather affects is crucial for plumbing piping. Garages are usually unheated and are used infrequently; therefore those pipes are at greater risk of freezing.

Plumbing piping is traditionally sealed with caulk. Any space between the outside of the pipe and the inside of the pipe sleeve, or opening into a building, home, garage or addition, must be sealed. When building garages, conduit is placed in the footer and runs up through the slab or block. In the State of Virginia, code requires any plumbing to be taken to stub-out, whether a garage or habitable space. What that means is that you can’t just put a staging conduit in the footer and cap it off. Code says you have to run all of the plumbing piping through the inside of the garage for inspection along with a grinder.

When you want to build an accessory structure, garage or barn, planning is just one service that H.W. ENTERPRISES, INC. will do for you. Call H.W. ENTERPRISES, INC. to plan your next building project.
757-595-4562 or 757-696-1927. Visit us on the web: www.hwenterprisesinc.com