# Cost of Moving/Raising Pipes in Basement



## BSponz1 (Apr 27, 2009)

I’m currently working on refinishing my basement. My house has baseboard hot water heating and the pipes for it, along with a pipe supplying the gas to the kitchen and the laundry room, run along the underside of the joists for the first floor. For the most part, the pipes are attached directly to the underside. For no apparent reason, there’s about a 10 foot run of (est.) ¾ in copper pipe that hangs about 3 inches lower than the rest. There’s also a larger gas pipe running along the joists in another area in the basements. 

Even though I’ve become resigned to the fact I need to go with a drop ceiling , I don’t want to drop it down fit the existing nor do I want to soffit around them for head room/ aesthetic concerns. I’d like to raise the copper pipe in line with the other ones and relocate the gas line so in runs around the exterior of the walls. 

Like I said, the water pipe is about 10 feet long and can remain in the same exact place, only raised up. The gas line is of larger diameter and is black (iron??). The current run is a straight 30 feet with branches for the kitchen and dryer. I estimate that relocating the pipe is going to add another 10 – 15 feet to that. 

When hiring some jobs like this, I never know what is reasonable cost-wise. Case in point I needed to replace some moldey drywall after a skylight leak and got a quote for 750 bucks. He explained that he’d have to come back multiple times to complete. I ended up fixing myself for around 30 bucks in material. 

Appreciate the advice. Not sure I feel comfortable tacking this one myself.


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## DidIDoThat (Nov 17, 2012)

Sounds like it will be more than a hundred and less than a million.:laughing:

All kidding aside, its very hard to give you a ball park without seeing it.
The water line is a quick job ( $300 to $500 ) but the gas can be a real pain in the wallet to move.


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## goalie29 (Mar 6, 2013)

How do you know the copper is not pitched to drain back to the heating system? If that's the case it may have to stay, or something more creative.


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

Can you envision what it would take (what parts would need to be replaced or re-arranged) to raise the pipe in question?

Sometimes a pipe hangs lower because it takes a conglomeration of elbows (and short segments of pipe to act as gender benders) to get around another object or obstruction.

Can you spare any headroom? That is, if you can get all the pipes up against the joists, would that be sufficient? Having to bore holes in the joists and run the pipes through adds another dimension of complexity.

Stand off blocks (or fat furring strips) can be used to hold the ceiling panels in place under the pipes running across the undersides of the joists.


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