Installing a clean out at home

[Smoothio]

I’m having a slab and hookups put in my side yard for RV parking. The clean out will tap into the sewer system from my property in CA. I want to make sure the Contractor is doing it right, so asking for guidelines from the group around:
1). How far away should the clean out be from the rig (away from the rig and/or downstream)? This is my most important question
2). Is there a pipe thickness/material I should be requiring?
3). For the hose hookup, is there a kind/brand I need to mandate?
4). Tips to make sure it doesn’t stink (like threaded cap, any shapes/slope I need to look for, etc.)

[wrktfsh]

Ski Pro 3 wrote:

WTP-GC wrote:
OP, as a contractor, I would not like that you hired me to do a job and then went onto a random Internet forum to verify the quality of my work or choice of materials. If you came to me (the professional) and told me that a faceless, nameless internet somebody said that I was doing it wrong and suggested a better way of doing it, I'd walk off the job. The nature of questions you're asking suggests that you don't know anything about the work taking place, so be mindful of that when you offer advice to your contractor. There's an old saying...if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, then baffle them with your BS. It would in your best interest to let the contractor do their job without telling them how it should be done...in this case.

Amazing how so many contractors forget who the boss is.
(hint; it's the guy writing the checks)

Any good contractor would be happy that their customer is interested enough to stay involved and would take the time to address their concerns.

And I'm not just picking on contractors, this goes for doctors, mechanics, etc. If I'm paying the bills, I'm dang sure going to verify I am getting the best product possible.

As a retired general contractor you would be surprized at how many people want something done X way. Yet it is totally against code and common sense.

[WTP-GC]

Customer involvement is required to have a successful project. Of course you want (and need) to satisfy the customer. The customer is part of the project and needs to feel that way. However, customer meddling into the means and methods of the contractor, especially when the customer knows nothing of the work being performed, is problematic. If you're using white pipe instead of black pipe, it's reasonable for the customer to ask why you chose those materials, but it's unreasonable for the customer to demand that you use black pipe because the Internet says so.

Ski Pro 3 wrote:


Maybe in a perfect world, but contractors are notorious for doing shoddy work, skipping out half way through a job, not being there when things go wrong.
As far as 'to code', just remember that is the MINIMUM quality that is acceptable by a government bureaucracy, written by politicians who have NO mechanical, engineering or construction skills and lobbied by unions that are paid only to protect their members, not the clients who hire them.

I know that every state is different, but licensed contractors in my state have statutory requirements to not do shoddy work, skip out on the job or go away when things go wrong. In FL, they do that and it gets reported, leading to an investigation and then license censure. Now unlicensed contractors are a different story. Most people agree that you should always hire a licensed contractor...until they get sticker shock and choose a guy without a license. Then they cry when things go wrong.

Funny thing is that you'll hear more stories about the customer not paying their bill than you will about the contractor skipping out on the job. I currenty have multiple customers that are way late on payments.

Your statement about the code being written by people who don't have a clue is flat out wrong. The code is developed and maintained/updated by industry professionals who have the proper accreditations. That's not to say that they don't have influence from lobbyists or politicians, but to say that it's written by politicians is incredibly false. Now, as a contractor, I don't always agree with the code and often wonder how it was determined, but that doesn't mean that the author was clueless.

[2012Coleman]

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[2012Coleman]

Ski Pro 3 wrote:

Bob/Olallawa wrote:
I think I agree with WPT-GC. If you hire a contractor to install per code and pull a permit, it is up to the contractor to do it right. OK to ask about placement but let the contractor do the job you hired him to do and the inspector to aprove the work.

Maybe in a perfect world, but contractors are notorious for doing shoddy work, skipping out half way through a job, not being there when things go wrong.
As far as 'to code', just remember that is the MINIMUM quality that is acceptable by a government bureaucracy, written by politicians who have NO mechanical, engineering or construction skills and lobbied by unions that are paid only to protect their members, not the clients who hire them.

Kind of like the contractor who told me that he didn't need a permit to install a new front door on my house - in FL, you do. Good thing I knew what questions to ask, otherwise I'd be on the hook to get it done correctly. Contractors who care about doing a good job correctly and pulling proper permits are becoming a rare breed. Ever been inside a newly built house? OP asked some good questions - nothing wrong with doing some research.

[Ski_Pro_3]

Bob/Olallawa wrote:
I think I agree with WPT-GC. If you hire a contractor to install per code and pull a permit, it is up to the contractor to do it right. OK to ask about placement but let the contractor do the job you hired him to do and the inspector to aprove the work.

Maybe in a perfect world, but contractors are notorious for doing shoddy work, skipping out half way through a job, not being there when things go wrong.
As far as 'to code', just remember that is the MINIMUM quality that is acceptable by a government bureaucracy, written by politicians who have NO mechanical, engineering or construction skills and lobbied by unions that are paid only to protect their members, not the clients who hire them.

[Ski_Pro_3]

WTP-GC wrote:
OP, as a contractor, I would not like that you hired me to do a job and then went onto a random Internet forum to verify the quality of my work or choice of materials. If you came to me (the professional) and told me that a faceless, nameless internet somebody said that I was doing it wrong and suggested a better way of doing it, I'd walk off the job. The nature of questions you're asking suggests that you don't know anything about the work taking place, so be mindful of that when you offer advice to your contractor. There's an old saying...if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, then baffle them with your BS. It would in your best interest to let the contractor do their job without telling them how it should be done...in this case.

Amazing how so many contractors forget who the boss is.
(hint; it's the guy writing the checks)

Any good contractor would be happy that their customer is interested enough to stay involved and would take the time to address their concerns.

And I'm not just picking on contractors, this goes for doctors, mechanics, etc. If I'm paying the bills, I'm dang sure going to verify I am getting the best product possible.

[Walaby]

I agree with WPT-GC. And Imgoing4it. If you don't trust the contractor, then find another contractor.

Mike

[Bob_Olallawa]

I think I agree with WPT-GC. If you hire a contractor to install per code and pull a permit, it is up to the contractor to do it right. OK to ask about placement but let the contractor do the job you hired him to do and the inspector to aprove the work.

[Lynnmor]

WTP-GC wrote:
OP, as a contractor, I would not like that you hired me to do a job and then went onto a random Internet forum to verify the quality of my work or choice of materials. If you came to me (the professional) and told me that a faceless, nameless internet somebody said that I was doing it wrong and suggested a better way of doing it, I'd walk off the job. The nature of questions you're asking suggests that you don't know anything about the work taking place, so be mindful of that when you offer advice to your contractor. There's an old saying...if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, then baffle them with your BS. It would in your best interest to let the contractor do their job without telling them how it should be done...in this case.

With that attitude, you definitely would be leaving!

[WTP-GC]

OP, as a contractor, I would not like that you hired me to do a job and then went onto a random Internet forum to verify the quality of my work or choice of materials. If you came to me (the professional) and told me that a faceless, nameless internet somebody said that I was doing it wrong and suggested a better way of doing it, I'd walk off the job. The nature of questions you're asking suggests that you don't know anything about the work taking place, so be mindful of that when you offer advice to your contractor. There's an old saying...if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, then baffle them with your BS. It would in your best interest to let the contractor do their job without telling them how it should be done...in this case.

[D_E_Bishop]

At home, in CA, I just extended an 1.5" ABS waste to the outside of the crawl space and put a plain slip coupling with a test plug in it. I too use a macerator pump that made following the SteamPunk video and have fittings to match the 1" hose to the coupling.

Nothing there for anyone to question, it's just a clean out. It is about 16 or 17 feet from the RV to the clean out so I made my hose to match my needs. The flush hose connects to a Vornado Flush system.

[old_guy]

You might have him put a concert collar around the dump so it will stay the same height. we found when we put in my father in laws the cap disappeared after a few years of the grass growing around it. we had to find the opening every time we used it

[Ski_Pro_3]

Smoothio wrote:
I’m having a slab and hookups put in my side yard for RV parking. The clean out will tap into the sewer system from my property in CA. I want to make sure the Contractor is doing it right, so asking for guidelines from the group around:
1). How far away should the clean out be from the rig (away from the rig and/or downstream)? This is my most important question
2). Is there a pipe thickness/material I should be requiring?
3). For the hose hookup, is there a kind/brand I need to mandate?
4). Tips to make sure it doesn’t stink (like threaded cap, any shapes/slope I need to look for, etc.)

I am in California and built a home a few years back and added a clean out for my RV and anyone coming for an extended visit.

1. I put mine just off the house because I wasn't sure just yet where the RV would end up being parked. However, now that I do know, I'd place it where ever would be the most convenient for connection to my RV. I have one of those powered macerators and the hose is 10' long I think. I'd place it where it would be out of the way when the RV is either home or away and is easy for a 10' hose to connect to.

2. When I spoke to my contractor plumber, I told him what I wanted to do; install an RV clean out connected to my existing sewer line. He said it's exactly what a simple clean-out is for any sewer line in any home. I have my master bath on that side of the house, so he just extended the line from the toilet out past the patio by about a foot and put a 90 elbow on to point it straight up and pitched it right for drain. NO TRAP. A cap is added but that's for another question. Same size and material for a home toilet. I think it's 4" ABS for code in my area. But PVC and cast iron are also legal. In any case, the inspector from the county didn't have any problem with it. I told him it's simply a clean out that may someday be used for RV black and gray tank flushes and he just nodded.

3. I assume you mean water hook up when you say 'hose' hookup. Any simple water bib will work fine. I installed one with a ballcock valve because it's a half turn full on/off instead of multi turn like your regular garden hose type. Be sure it's tied into your cold water line, not hot, and that the line has a vacuum break on it. Those are usually right where the main water line comes into the house and prevent water from back washing into your home's water lines. Sorta a one way valve. Every outside bib should have it's own, including sprinkler lines. If water is somehow shut off, residual water can't back flow into your home's drinking water supply. It is installed about 20' away from the clean out in exact opposite end of the RV so that the fresh water hose and the sewer hook ups do not come near each other and their hoses do not cross.

4. I installed a simple rubber cap that had been used by the contractor to leak test the drain. (A building code test that the inspector checks for) It uses a stainless steel hose clamp with a wide screw head on it like wings so I can turn it by hand to tighten and loosen. Threaded ABS or any plastic pipe are not meant for more than a few uses and will cause trouble later on down the road. I also placed a flush mount water meter box over the whole thing. You may have seen these used for hiding irrigation sprinkler manifolds as well. Mine looks sorta like this;

Note; I first dug out and poured concrete about twice the size as a base so nothing can burrow up into this space. Get two; one for your water hose and one for your sewer. Buy them big enough to stow the hose and the drain pipes used to connect to the RV. This is very convenient.
The finished height of these boxes are flush with the finished RV parking spot. It's better to dig too deep and pour a floor of concrete than to go too shallow and have the box stick above final grade. You can always add bricks or something to space it up or even pour more concrete for final effect. Add a drain if you get lots of rain. I don't but if I fill it with water while washing the RV, it only takes minutes for it to self-drain anyways.
Another nice feature of this is; if you happen to slop some black water around the clean out while disconnecting or it leaks because you didn't attach it right, the recessed box area will capture it and it won't go running all over your parking pad. Just hose it down and let it drain a few times to clean it up.

[imgoin4it]

One thing strikes me as I read this post. The contractor doing the job should be knowledgeable about everything that was ask. If I didn’t trust the contractor to do the job in accordance with code and proper materials I’d get another contractor rather than ask this was forum or any other group of of people who may have different ideas and may come from places that have different code requirements. Not trying to be a smart ass just my first thought.

[Matt_Colie]

Smoothio wrote:
I’m having a slab and hookups put in my side yard for RV parking. The clean out will tap into the sewer system from my property in CA. I want to make sure the Contractor is doing it right, so asking for guidelines from the group around:
1). How far away should the clean out be from the rig (away from the rig and/or downstream)? This is my most important question
2). Is there a pipe thickness/material I should be requiring?
3). For the hose hookup, is there a kind/brand I need to mandate?
4). Tips to make sure it doesn’t stink (like threaded cap, any shapes/slope I need to look for, etc.)

Smoothio,

Answers as I know them and may not be applicable to CA.
(They have their own way for lots of things.)
1- It's your rig and your pad, put it where you want, but along the edge (so it is easy to mow around) and not too far from where the dump will be when parked.
2- Standard 4" DWV pipe is all it needs to be. (Basic stuff)
3- No. If the hose might be there longer than just to dump. you might get a male adapter to put the hose tapered collar into.
4- You do want a threaded cap for when it is not in use, but when it is, just do like you are in crowded campground.

Mine is in Michigan and in grass so I set it up that I can mow right over it with the plug in.

Matt