ᐅ Bathroom drainage pipe

Hello, our bathroom is located above the living room. To drain the wastewater, our architect says that space is needed for the pipes along the wall in the living room (which is an exterior wall adjacent to the garage, wall thickness: 36.5cm (14 inches), T10 brick).

For this, he wants/needs(?) to route the pipes along the inside surface of the exterior wall. However, this would mean that these pipes would have to be boxed in within the living room. Since it’s not easy to simply box a pipe in a corner, the idea is to cover the entire wall with drywall. This would also reduce the living space by a few centimeters.

I’m sure there are other options. Is it not possible to hide the pipes inside the exterior wall, or run them down inside the garage wall (which wouldn’t bother me)?

We accepted this approach from the architect at first, but I spoke to my father who works professionally with drywall and says that in new builds he has never had to box in wastewater pipes in the living area, usually only in the basement.

What options do we have? Is it even possible to place the pipes inside the wall like that? Or to run the pipe through the wall and down in the garage?

I have attached drawings showing the rooms side by side and stacked as well (I marked the drywall where the pipes would go in orange and the exterior wall in red).

Thank you for your help.

Hello Emer,

emer schrieb:

Hello, we have our bathroom located above the living room.

Unfortunately, this is a common design mistake by the architectural department.

emer schrieb:

To drain the wastewater, our architect says space is needed for the pipes in the living room wall (it’s an exterior wall adjacent to the garage, wall thickness: 36.5cm (14.4 inches), T10 clay blocks).

That’s correct. If you are very sensitive to noise, I would recommend having the shaft additionally insulated.

emer schrieb:

I’m sure there are other options. Can’t the pipes be hidden inside the exterior wall or routed down through the garage wall (which wouldn’t bother me)?

In general, walls must not be “perforated,” meaning you cannot fully hide the pipe inside the wall. Routing the pipe on the outside of the exterior wall is also not possible since the pipe must continue back to the drain.

emer schrieb:

We accepted this approach with the architect initially, but I have now talked to my father, who frequently does drywall work professionally and says he has never had to encase wastewater pipes inside living spaces in new builds, only in basements.

In the basement, it is mostly irrelevant where the drains run down. A thoughtful architect usually tries to avoid placing a bathroom above living areas because of the issues you described.

emer schrieb:

What options do we have? Is it really that simple to install the pipe inside the wall? Or run the pipe through the wall and down inside the garage?

You either have a boxed-in wall with a loss of floor area or a casing mounted on the wall. There is no alternative between these options.

Regards, Bauexperte

ypg schrieb:
I would also cover the wall in a way that creates some "shelves" or platforms, which can be highlighted with lighting or color. (like how bathroom shelves are planned)

I completely agree.

emer schrieb:
Yes. We will accept it. During the planning, we only considered the orientation of the rooms based on the cardinal directions and sunny side, and completely overlooked this. We will now "decorate" the wall and highlight certain parts so that it fits into the living room. On the opposite living room wall, there is a fireplace, and we will do something similar there, with the difference that there are no pipes behind it. Then we will add some spotlights, and it will look nice as well.

Are you sure?
Do you also want to add soundproofing to the ceiling? I wouldn’t want a bathroom above our living room. You can definitely hear it. Also, the sound of water running through the drain pipes can be heard.

Well, it wouldn’t be the first house with a bathroom above the living room. Friends have one above their dining room, and I have never heard of any issues with it. If it is properly constructed, I don’t think it will cause any problems.