[Deck]

Can I use a 4" test tee horizontally as a cleanout or for venting in New York State? I've read NYS plumbing code and I can't find that it's specifically forbidden, but I don't know where I should look really.

They sell a cleanout tee at home depot that is terrible, it has jagged edges on the inside of it where the 3 pieces of pipe that it's made from come together and I'd guess that could obstruct the flow of the waste.

Another thing I'm wondering, I notice when I screw a male threaded fitting onto the test tee that it doesn't go all the way in. Looking closely at the fitting I can see that it's slightly tapered, so I wonder if maybe it's not designed to go all the way in. How much force should be used to turn it before stopping? Is that in code somewhere? Thanks

 

[Ghostmaker]

How deep will it be buried?

 

[Deck]

How deep will it be buried?

It's above ground, it will be somewhere on the red section in this post.

 

[Deck]

Does anyone know the answer? I haven't been able to figure it out and I'm getting ready to cement some pieces this week.

 

[Ghostmaker]

Not sure how to answer you. Your code looks like IPC. Could you draw an isometric of your intentions.

 

[Deck]

I don't know what that means but you can see a picture in this post. Basically what I want to do is use a test tee horizontally on the lower horizontal run of PVC so that I can open it up and check once in a while to see if it's starting to slow. We have a tree root problem and when the water flow starts to slow I can tell the roots are back.

I re-read the IPC but I can't see where it's prohibited. I can't find a section of allowed fittings in allowed configurations, or whatever it might be called.

 

[TheEplumber]

I can't think of a reason not to allow it. Especially with the opening on top. You could always use a wye with a clean out adapter glued in the branch.

My code would require a clean out at the end of that line too.

 

[Deck]

I ended up using the test tee. It's helpful because I can unscrew it and look in the pipe with an auto shop mirror and see if it's clean. A picture of the installation is the last picture in this post.