Water softener drain line in the attic.

City sewer. One or two days of a low at low 30s or less a year. (South Texas).

I just went and picked up (7) 1/2" split ring hangars, (7) ceiling flanges, (3) 12" rods and (7) nuts.
I will do a lot of crawling back and forth, but the plan is to mount the flanges about every 6-8 feet on top of the joist, (I think I can get one or two mounts, vertically mounted on the rafter. Going to try for about 10 mounts, and see how stable it is). I am going to mount the ceiling flange going along the top of the joist, and then measure the height I want to mount the drain pipe. I will then Dremel cut the size I need from the rod. I will dremel in a grove for a flathead after I have my lengths at the top end. I think I can use a nut below the split ring to get the lower half of the split ring to lock on the rod. I should be able to measure several at once so I only have to climb up and down a few times.

ricksabp said:

I’m from south Texas as well and looking for this type of rig. Do you have any pictures? Thanks.

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Not on hand, but I'll go snap some pictures over the next couple days while it's light out.

I read that it only takes something like a 1/4" over 10ft of a decline for water to flow downhill. Mine is about a 2 - 2 1/2ft drop over 60ft.

I used some split ring pipe hangers like this:
(Oatey 3/4 in. Galvanized Split Ring Pipe Hanger 33552 - The Home Depot )
Bought some long threaded rod (you can buy 3ft pieces) and pipe support plates:
Oatey 3/8 in. Copper Pipe Support Ceiling Plate 33561 - The Home Depot
You should be able to put the hanger over the pipe attach the rod to the support plate and line it up each one to get the length and cut to size. Once you connect the 3 pieces, then mount the support plates with wood screws to the joists.

I stated at the low end so I know it would sit over the joists, (the lowest one or two I just needed a pipe strap). Then the high end, in the middle, and filled in between.

I want to say I spaced a mount over every 2-3 joists (4-6ft). The lowest few at the end were vertically up on top of the beam, and the higher ones were diagonally down off the beam.

The vertical pipe itself is about 4 feet inside the garage about 3ft vertical inside the attic. I connected it with a piece of clear flex pipe from the softener to the pipe. So I can see there is always going to be water in the bottom, (that gets flushed and replaced with new water every two weeks). You could use a larger pipe in the attic, but that vertical pipe to get there you want as small as what is suggested for more pressure and less volume. Inside the attic at the top of the vertical pipe, I want to say I used a 45 degree fitting, to a 90 degree fitting to give it a right angle to the back and was able to get my angle down.

In hindsight, I used PVC pipe, and I would have used pex pipe. With PVC I have couplers every 10 ft. They work, there are no problems, and it cost about $30-$40 in materials. Pex Pipe I want to say will be about $150, but its flexible, and you could make it one long continuous piece so there is no risk of leaking at a joint. With the pex pipe being flexible, I probaly would have wanted a couple more mounts and gone every two joists, but your call. (I'm a new homeowner, and I'm still making it a habit to go into my attic every few months just to take a look around).

ricksabp said:

I’m from south Texas as well and looking for this type of rig. Do you have any pictures? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Ok. I got up there real quick and got some pics that should be good enough. Its 80 degrees right now, and I was getting warm quick.

The first pic is the high end, you can make out the pipe coming up out of the garage before it turns to go downhill. Right after entering the garage I went 45 degree bend, and it went right up along the beam with a few straps, then a 90 degree to turn it down. I remember I had to go kind of back and forth. I know I started at the small end, and then have to just play it by ear as far what works and how to route it. I used a few pipe straps when it runs right next to a beam, and the hangars when it didn't. I probably didn't need to, but used an extra nut on both ends of the thread to lock it in place. It's been up there for 3 or 4 years now. No problems yet. Its right about 50 or 60 feet from the front corner of the garage, to the back corner of the washroom.



This next one is vertically up.