Ideas for reworking my condensation pipe under pier and beam home
New member here and new home buyer (be gentle
). I have a home in san antonio, tx and I noticed under my pier and beam home the condensation line that there is pvc pipe from the heater unit down to the subfloor area with pvc pipe and attached seems to be a rubber hose of sorts. it’s dripping where the pvc meets the hose and I tried my best to tighten the seal.
My question is, if I’m going to replace the hole line (about 35ft worth) what material do I use and best option to place the end of the condensation line to spill out.
Thanks a bunch. i’m trying to do this for once instead of hiring someone. It looks easy enough…….i think.
attached is the picture of the piping from unit. from there, its a strait shot down to the crawlspace and attached to a hose.
Replies
I can imagine that someone used some rubber garden hose (that's what we had for a drain originally). Of course, the line sags and water collects in it and it dries up and cracks after awhile.
I'd suggest replacing with rigid PVC or ABS plastic pipe, supported with straps every 5 feet or so, and sloped about 1/4" to the foot (which would be 8-9 inches total drop from one end to the other). If it's a straight shot it should be easy to glue together and install. 3/4" pipe should be sufficient. But install a "union" near the head end so it can be disconnected and rodded out if a clog develops.
Another option is to install a condensate pump, allowing you to run a clear flexible poly hose and route it any way you want.
At least around here, your primary condensate line must run into a house drain with an air gap (end of pipe drips into a p-trap of some kind). The secondary condensate line must drain to the exterior in a location that is easily visable so you know there's something wrong with the primary line. It would have to drain in a location visable from the normal traffic pattern going into and out of the house - a lot of gray area there.
You probably want to determine what you are seeing is the primary - if it's the secondary then you have another problem with the primary. If you are working on the primary you probably want to find out what code says in your area - running outside on the ground is probably not code.
Code is all over the map as to where the condensate line runs, whether there must be a secondary, etc.