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Posted By WayneG1 on 06/04/2021 7:03 AM
This is more of an engineering question but maybe somebody has experience. Our building is 24 stories and 140 condos.
It is 55 years old and the copper drain pipes are rotting and constantly being repaired. As people buy these units and do remodels
They install clothes washing machines which are allowed by the architectural committee. The question is would there be some point where
There would be too many machines(which the building was not designed for) And could overwhelm the drain system causing back ups
And overflowing
So construction was about 1966, right? Did the original construction include washing machine hook-ups? If so, then I suspect the sizing of the drain system is fine as far as washing machines are concerned. Circa 1966, I think washing machines on average used a lot more water than contemporary machines do today.
If washing machines were not originally installed, then in my opinion, you should get a civil engineer to comment. Alternatively, the next time a reserve study is done at your COA, ask the reserve specialists to have the engineer comment on this situation.
I hope you have a line item in your COA's reserve study for piping. From Aug 2020, this might be helpful:
A Condominium Can Last Hundreds of Years, But Not Its Components
A 40-year-old Honolulu condominium can show its age in many ways: brittle, leaking pipes; cracks in its concrete walls and decks; rusted rebar; and corroded railings and window frames.
Dana Bergeman is the CEO of Bergeman Group, a local construction management company. He says many of Hawai‘i’s condominiums were built in the 1960s and ’70s and are reaching the point where they will need major infrastructure, cosmetic and architectural improvements to keep their value and remain liveable.
...
Kimo Pierce, president of Hawaii Plumbing Group, says condo associations should start looking at replacing their pipes at 40 years and be ready to start the project at 45 years. Once the pipes hit 50 years, he says, a condo is “on borrowed time.”
Cast-iron drain, waste and vent pipes eventually rust from the inside out. That can lead to clogged and cracked pipes and, eventually, water leaks. It’s during the investigation of these leaks that contractors discover if the pipes need to be replaced, he says.
There can be millions of feet of pipes and hundreds of units in a high-rise condo, so the process to repipe involves a lot of coordination. Contractors hold town hall meetings before construction begins to educate owners about the project, its schedule and what’s expected of them. They also do a pre-construction walk-through of each unit to check for any preexisting water damage and to identify which walls will be removed and how they will be replaced.The cost to complete this work is generally influenced by the size of the building, how the pipes are laid out, the number of stacks shared between units and other variables, Lecky says. Pierce estimates that a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo can cost $17,000 to $20,000 to repipe. That means a 100-unit building with all one-bed, one-bath units might cost $1.7 million to $2 million to repipe.
Bergeman says, depending on the building’s configuration, he’s seen per-unit prices range from less than $10,000 to over $80,000, but the typical cost is $20,000 to $30,000.
-- More at https://www.hawaiibusiness.com/condo-owners-beware-part-1/