Hello Everyone,

I'm trying to obtain a plumbing certificate (Cicero, IL) for a 4 unit building(Built 1903) I own. I used the same plumber who originally certified the building and said nothing was wrong with it. This time around he said the kitchen venting was not done properly. I was not able to physically be there, so I had a friend do it. The plumber would not tell him specifics about was wrong, my friend suspects because the plumber thought he might steal work. The assistant gave me the same vague details: kitchens are not vented properly and laundry sink in basement not vented. The quote for repairs came back very general as well saying one kitchen had a 2 inch drain and another kitchen had a 1.5 inch drain, and the laundry sink was not vented. Essentially saying I have to remove kitchen cabinets and replace the drain/vents up to attic for two units. I doubt he will give me the full details, as they know a plumber certificate is the only way to sell building.

This forced me to do my best to try and piece together what is not up to code. I measured the kitchen drain diameters in the basement and the vents in the attic, they were all 2 inches. I compared this to IL plumbing code and found that they were well within code. It looks like for the length of drain/vent and number of plumbing fixtures on it, I could have as small as 1.5 inches. So I isolated the only place I could think of where the issue stems from is the basement laundry.

I had a contractor install laundry facility in basement. They replaced about a 6 foot section of cast iron drain line, with a 2inch PVC drain line(They did not replace the entire drain line/vent going up to the attic). They also ran supply lines to an old laundry sink, added a faucet, p-traps, and connected to a tub drain line that connects to that same 6 foot PVC kitchen drain. They however did not add a vent to the laundry sink. The only drain lines that we could find in basement that are 1.5 inches are the basement laundry sink that run into the tub drain, that feeds into the kitchen drain line to sewer.

There's no disagreement with the laundry sink not being up to code, I did not realize it at the time, but now I do. It was clearly a mistake on my part for not catching it.

My questions are:

1. Can I simply add a vent to the laundry sink and then be fine?
2.If not can I just completely remove the laundry facility and restore it back to it original state?
3. Per Illinois code, are you allowed to replace sections of drains and not the entire line? I'm will to go to bat that the kitchens are properly vented and drain sizes are large enough per IL code(I have 2 inches, 1.5 inches is what is required. I believe they are trying to get a larger job than required. I never had a single complaint regarding a clogged drain/leaks for any of the units despite the age of the drains.


Thanks for any guidance and reading this lengthy post.



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Is this the only Licensed Plumber in Cicero, IL?. I'm sure there's others that can give you an estimate for the work needed. I will bet you the code in your area states you need a Laundry hook-up (at least one ) in that building. Adding a vent is not that easy most of the time. Today's code requires a "future vent" at the basement ceiling just for ad-on's down the road.



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Thanks for your quick reply. I actually own another building and did not put a laundry unit in as the city doesn't require it. I'd at least 60 to 80% of apartment don't have onsite laundry due to most buildings being built before 1950.