What’s a good strategy to run plumbing to a separate garage?
We want to finish off the second floor of our 24’x30′ 2 car garage. It is located about 15 feet from the house. I’d like to have a bathroom in a small lean-to addition off the back wall of the garage, to serve both the upstairs home office/guest area and a workshop on the garage level. We are on a well, with plumbing equipment (HWH, filters) in an old cellar under the main house.
I assume it will be more cost effective to carry a water line in a trench from the house than to have a separate line from the well to the garage. The well is closer to the garage than the house is, but I’d like to avoid having to maintain a whole new set of equipment
(unless new equipment like point-source water heaters make it reasonable to maintain a separate line).
Replies
Installing a water line from the house would be better. It would make better use of your expansion tank, and if you ever add filtration or water treatment it would allow you to use the treated water in the garage as well.
A small (say 2 gallon) electric water heater in the garage could give you hot water. You can shut it off when not needed. For what little you'd want hot water, and how much it would cost to install and keep the tank, you may want to do without hot water in the garage.
Because you'll have long periods of no usage you must be sure the water line is buried well below the frost depth. Black polyethylene pipe is a good choice of material.
Sounds like a full bath, or at least a shower,toilet, lav. combination for use by guest.
I have the same in my shop, but only turn on the 30 gal electric HWH when I know I or others may be using it. I am on the county water system, however, so know zip about wells.
If he is on well water, he is also likely using a septic/waste system. The additional bath may not add signifcantly to the system capacity, but if this is permited and inspected, may require a variance request for adding to an existing system. At the most he may need addtional laterals.
Dave