Need help from my friends!!

[Haulin Oates]

So the Wife came to me with an idea of a tank build, so you know there is a real possibility of this happening!!
We have this wall separating our office (front room) and living room:

To the left is a long entrance way that runs the entire length of the house. To the direct right is a fireplace with a nice tile facade. My wife wondered if we could knock this wall down 1/2 way. (Ie. cut the wall floor to ceiling just right of the TV where the cubby hole ends that the TV sits in.) And then put a stand and peninsula style tank In place of the wall!! It would leave room for a nice tank (5'x31"x??) we would drill the floor for a basement sump setup.
I have a few concerns about the wall:
1. Our alarm, HVAC control, and doorbell are mounted to the outside of the wall:

I know this is low voltage, but can I just extend the wiring and mount it in another location? Maybe on the opposite wall (where my fish tank currently resides?)
2. My main concern is the fireplace. The tank would be a little over a foot away, and the plumbing going through the floor would come close to the gas line. Is this ok?
3. Here is where I can guesstimate that wall is from the basement:

I believe the wires are the low voltage, alarm, and AV cables. What is the pipe? Can it be moved?
I have tons more questions but these are the biggest ones to see if this is even possible. I appreciate any input any if you guys have!!

 

[09bumblebee]

The pipe is the gas line to the fireplace. It can be moved however the system will have to be turned off and I assume the line drained somehow so it's not leaked into the house. You can move those items elsewhere to another wall there really isn't a maximum ft for that stuff. Be a sweet idea. Has fireplace don't really give off a ton of hear do you would be fine with the tank near the the fireplace.

I had my nuvo 30 right next to my fireplace and we ran in during the winter with no issues.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

The yellow is the gas line. I'm talking about the black 3" pipe. Is it a toilet drain?

 

[sethsolomon]

Yah the black is a sewer line.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

Yah the black is a sewer line.

Crap... That will make thing difficult wont it?

 

[J.guokas]

Need help from my friends!!

Crap indeed.

 

[09bumblebee]

The yellow is the gas line. I'm talking about the black 3" pipe. Is it a toilet drain?

Oh gotcha, what's above that area? Bathroom? Could be the sink, drain but usually that's PVC. Most likely bathroom line. That would be fun to move haha. Why does it need to get moved?

 

[daverf]

Crap... That will make thing difficult wont it?

Yep. That's crap all right! Why can't you plumb around or alongside the sewer line?

Gas line, fine to plumb next to. You only have to worry about clearance from the exhaust line on a fireplace (moreso for heat transfer and not really fire risk), otherwise you can touch up against anything on it.

This will be awesome! Ceiling to floor...ceiling to floor...ceiling to floor...

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

Oh gotcha, what's above that area? Bathroom? Could be the sink, drain but usually that's PVC. Most likely bathroom line. That would be fun to move haha. Why does it need to get moved?

That runs up the wall next to the alarm and doorbell apparently (that's what it looks like from the basement,anyway). I'd be removing that wall. There is a bathroom on the second floor but I didn't think it was right above this wall...

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

Yep. That's crap all right! Why can't you plumb around or alongside the sewer line?

Gas line, fine to plumb next to. You only have to worry about clearance from the exhaust line on a fireplace (moreso for heat transfer and not really fire risk), otherwise you can touch up against anything on it.

This will be awesome! Ceiling to floor...ceiling to floor...ceiling to floor...

It's not that I can't plumb around, but I'd have to relocate that pipe because I'm removing that wall.

 

[jahmic]

That would be fun to move haha. Why does it need to get moved?

edit: nevermind, I type too slow. Yea, an exposed sewage pipe might kill the look of the tank, haha.

As for the gas line, it shouldn't be terrible difficult to clear if you do end up wanting to move it. You'll have to shutoff the gas just after your meter and disconnect the line there first. Then just run one of your appliances, or turn on the fireplace for a bit. Disconnect the line at the fireplace and blow it back toward the main line by using an air compressor....then just cut and move the line if you need to. We had to do this at my place a couple years ago to repair a bad gas line under the ground. You'll still end up with a little smell in the house, but you can easily get most of the gas out without creating a hazard in your home.

 

[daverf]

Don't let crap ruin your plan. Just move the vertical run of sewer line out of the way while you're demoing the wall. While you're at it, plumb in a water change drain line from the tank into it! Unless you have a sewer drain near the sump in the basement.

EDIT: you obviously want some advice on adding a water change drain. I'm pretty sure you'd need to add a vent at the tank level (in addition to a valve) so there is no backsiphon risk into your system from the upstairs toilet. yikes.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

Don't let crap ruin your plan. Just move the vertical run of sewer line out of the way while you're demoing the wall. While you're at it, plumb in a water change drain line from the tank into it! Unless you have a sewer drain near the sump in the basement.

EDIT: you obviously want some advice on adding a water change drain. I'm pretty sure you'd need to add a vent at the tank level (in addition to a valve) so there is no backsiphon risk into your system from the upstairs toilet. yikes.

The problem is that the sewer line runs down from the kids bathroom on the second floor straight down next to the Alarm and doorbell wall. I was going to be removing that wall all together. I'd have to completely relocate that pipe, and the easiest place to reroute it too would be coming down right next to the fireplace.

 

[daverf]

I'd have to completely relocate that pipe, and the easiest place to reroute it too would be coming down right next to the fireplace.

Shouldn't be a problem unless it would be pressing against the fireplace exhaust pipe. Gas fireplaces are built of noncombustible materials and code requires them to be completely enclosed and venting all heat out of the exhaust. They don't require any clearance when building around them. You could always call the fireplace manufacturer customer support and ask them what they suggest...they'll probably be careful in what they say because they don't want to do installation support, but you'll probably get general pointers on whether you would have anything to worry about.

 

[asn-naso]

How wide is the black pipe? If it's only 1.5-2" I have a feeling it's the gas line for the fireplace, and the yellow line looks like electrical wire for a hot tub to me.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

Shouldn't be a problem unless it would be pressing against the fireplace exhaust pipe. Gas fireplaces are built of noncombustible materials and code requires them to be completely enclosed and venting all heat out of the exhaust. They don't require any clearance when building around them. You could always call the fireplace manufacturer customer support and ask them what they suggest...they'll probably be careful in what they say because they don't want to do installation support, but you'll probably get general pointers on whether you would have anything to worry about.

Yeah, when I started telling the wife about that, I could see the "no f-ing way" look in her face... Sadly I think the poop pipe is what flushed the whole idea...

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

How wide is the black pipe? If it's only 1.5-2" I have a feeling it's the gas line for the fireplace, and the yellow line looks like electrical wire for a hot tub to me.

Nope, it's 3" and I had my son flush his toilet upstairs and heard the water come rushing down... I'm 100% sure the yellow is gas, as I can follow it all the way from the regulator in to my water heater, furnace, and fireplace.

There is still a chance for a 2 sided build here, so it'll look like an in wall from the office side but that only allows fit a 4' tank... And I was really hoping for at least a 5' tank, if not more.

 

[09bumblebee]

I'm sure someone on here is a master Plumber that you can ask.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Need help from my friends!!

I'm sure someone on here is a master Plumber that you can ask.

Hopefully! Google has given me everything from "don't even think about it" to "I just did it and it took me an hour, very easy..." The general consensus is that it is possible, but the Sh!ts still gotta flow downhill the way I'm thinking would involve a 5' horizontal line. I'm figuring that's not a good thing...

 

[daverf]

Yeah, when I started telling the wife about that, I could see the "no f-ing way" look in her face... Sadly I think the poop pipe is what flushed the whole idea...

LOL. How about you drop the black pipe straight into the firebox and incinerate the sh!t.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about moving the pipe. Horizontal run to the new vertical drop, then the vertical drop, then pick up where the existing tank runs to the main basement exit. I bet you could go to the Depot, Lowes, etc, ask all the plumbing people around to get different opinions, then do it all yourself with no proiblems.

EDIT: If you do it yourself, please just wash your hands before dinner.