Plumbing Question...

[JD in DFW]

We are looking at a new built custom home and for some odd reason the builder put the utility/laundry room at the front of the house next to the garage entry door. In most house here in north Texas the laundry is toward the back of the house or the middle going out to the garage. This has really become a hang up for my bride and she really wants to pass on the house, but the builder has been sitting on it for over a year and has come down almost $40K so he can move it. He is eating alot of interests on the home and really needs to cut his losses and get it off his hands. It backs up to a private lake and has the square footage we need for our growing family, so I kinda want to get it.
How hard is it or I should say what would the estimated cost be to move the washer & dryer water lines and the drain line 10' out to the garage?? All lines would stay in the current wall, they just need to be moved 10' to the right and out to the garage. I doubt the builder will do this as he is already loosing his shirt on the deal. And I am no plumber by any means so I would need to have this professionally done.

Thanks for any and all replies.

JD

 

[Lu47Dan]

For a start , the wall covering would have to be redone , the plumbing moved and the electrical also . I would figure at least $4000 for the job , and that could be on the low end depending how many hours are involved , I would make a scale drawing of the room and take it to a plumber for his estimate . Moving the drain would include a new vent through the roof also . Not living in your area I have no idea what the trades involved in this would charge / hour .
Some more information would be helpful , one is does this house have a basement or is it built on a slab , Dryer gas or electric ? Dan

 

[TEXACMAN]

I have a friend that is a plumber in the Mckinney area if you want someone to look at it. He deals with alot of that sort of thing. PM me if you want his number.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

If he is that desperate he will move for you. Might add to the cost though.
________
buy no2 vaporizer

 

[JD in DFW]

For a start , the wall covering would have to be redone , the plumbing moved and the electrical also . I would figure at least $4000 for the job , and that could be on the low end depending how many hours are involved , I would make a scale drawing of the room and take it to a plumber for his estimate . Moving the drain would include a new vent through the roof also . Not living in your area I have no idea what the trades involved in this would charge / hour .
Some more information would be helpful , one is does this house have a basement or is it built on a slab , Dryer gas or electric ? Dan

Thanks Dan you have pointed out some key items...I did not even think of the electrical. No basement...wish it did, this is Texas we don't have basements. House is built on a slab foundation. Dryer would be electric.
I guess their might be more to the whole deal then I had first thought.

Thanks,
JD

 

[toxicz28]

I can suggest three options.
1. Learn to live with it. (who wants the laundry cluttering up the garage)
2. Choose a different house.
3. Offer the builder full price bid (or a little over)if he'll relocate the utilities for you.

 

[Junkman]

For a start , the wall covering would have to be redone , the plumbing moved and the electrical also . I would figure at least $4000 for the job , and that could be on the low end depending how many hours are involved , I would make a scale drawing of the room and take it to a plumber for his estimate . Moving the drain would include a new vent through the roof also . Not living in your area I have no idea what the trades involved in this would charge / hour .
Some more information would be helpful , one is does this house have a basement or is it built on a slab , Dryer gas or electric ? Dan

Thanks Dan you have pointed out some key items...I did not even think of the electrical. No basement...wish it did, this is Texas we don't have basements. House is built on a slab foundation. Dryer would be electric.
I guess their might be more to the whole deal then I had first thought.

Thanks,
JD

I don't see this as a big deal, unless you want to hide everything. A plumber can run the pipe along the wall, as well as having the electrician do the same, and the cost shouldn't exceed $1500 if even that amount. Start to learn to think outside of the box, and how you can get things done less expensively. Sure, if you want to bury everything in the walls, it is going to cost. If you run them on the surface of the garage wall, it isn't going to be that much. If you have money to burn, then go the expensive route. If you can save $40K on a home, see if the little lady can learn to live with it. I know for $40K, I could learn to live with a lot of things quickly..... except the ex..

 

[jamm]

How hard is it or I should say what would the estimated cost be to move the washer & dryer water lines and the drain line 10' out to the garage?? All lines would stay in the current wall, they just need to be moved 10' to the right and out to the garage. I doubt the builder will do this as he is already loosing his shirt on the deal. And I am no plumber by any means so I would need to have this professionally done.

Thanks for any and all replies.

JD

I would be sure to consider your winter temps if you move the water lines to the garage. I've been there many times when it was below 32*. You could heat trace the lines, but that is typically a temp solution.

Maybe the house hasn't sold due to the floor plan. If the builder really needs to unload the house, get an estimate to get everything moved the way you want it and have him knock that price off the current asking price if he wont do it himself. A couple more months of cold weather without a buyer and extra interest payments might just pursade him.

 

[Red Green]

The other thing could be the builder could have put the laundry room in the front so he could come in the door and take off his dirty/work clothes right in the laundry room and not track dirt into the house. You could point out to your bride there would be less dirt in her house with this setup?

 

[Uncle Buck]

The other thing could be the builder could have put the laundry room in the front so he could come in the door and take off his dirty/work clothes right in the laundry room and not track dirt into the house. You could point out to your bride there would be less dirt in her house with this setup?

Actually in the midwest that is not unusual in the least for a new build floor plan. In fact, they have been building many that way for most of twenty years!

 

[Red Green]

Actually in the midwest that is not unusual in the least for a new build floor plan. In fact, they have been building many that way for most of twenty years!

Mud room thats the name I was drawing a blank during the last post

 

[JohnZ]

When my wife designed our retirement ranch home seven years ago, she put the laundry room way back in the bedroom end of the house, adjacent to the bedrooms. The architect wanted to move it near the kitchen, where he's put them for 40 years. My wife asked him if he'd ever done the laundry himself, and he said no; then she asked him why, when 90% of the laundry items come from the bedrooms and bathrooms, would he want to lug laundry baskets and finished laundry 100 feet in both directions?

The laundry room stayed where she designed it, and the architect said he'd never really given it that kind of thought, and it DID make more sense to put the laundry room adjacent to the source of the dirty laundry.

 

[JD in DFW]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
Builder says he can have his contractors, plumber and electrician respectively move the lines and piping out to the garage for $900....way under what I was thinking. They will also redirect the vent for the drain. So now I just need to get the wife sold on it and I'm golden!

Thanks again for all the helpful insight, hope I can return the favor at some time.
JD