Well, I've made some progress on going through my slab to change up my plumbing for a bathroom remodel. It's 4" thick, as expected. My gravel base is actually cinders, which is nice. I've got 2-3" of foam under my slab, hurray! That's good news for my radiant heat. I've also got some rebar floating around, too.
My plan is this: I've talked with my plumber about my goals. We agreed that I would expose the existing pipe so he could see what he was working with. If I do all the labor-intensive dirty work of going through the slab and creating the trenches, he'd put all the new stuff in up to code. In the meantime, however, I want to keep moving, even if I make mistakes along the way.
Unfortunately, for as careful as I've tried to be, I manage to continue my act as a Bull in a China Shop.
Questions:
1) I put a hole in my vent. That's ok, I was planning on replacing that section of pipe anyway. It's 3" below the bottom plate of my wall, though. I'll likely have to remove the slab under the bottom plate to fix and re-cement the slab. Can I just glue down a section of replacement bottom plate when it's all patched up?
EDIT: I removed the drywall in this area and it looks like there is already no floor plate in this area.
2) I may have nicked some copper pipe hugging the vent. It's wrapped in pipe guard (required for copper thru cement). Can I cut that pipe guard to investigate the condition of the copper pipe, making sure it's not leaking? Or should I remove the slab/concrete around it, pull the pipe guard down from the top as to not break it? I don't really know how pipe guard functions and to what extent it needs to be sealed.
