Replies

1. 
   MojoMan | Dec 19, 2003 04:06am | #1

   Can you get up in an attic to see what sort of vents may be rising from the vicinity of that bathroom? Was there a plumbing inspector around as this house was built? Venting is pretty serious business and this should be corrected. Maybe you'll get lucky and something is simply clogged, but checking for vents might be an easier place to get started looking.

   Al Mollitor, Sharon MA

1. 
   davidmeiland | Dec 19, 2003 06:52pm | #3

   Even if you can't see in the attic, go up on the roof and check for vents in the general vicinity of bathrooms and kitchen. Plug your nose, put your ear to each, and have someone flush the toilet in question. Should hear water... if not there's a missing vent connection, or possibly a low spot in a horizontal pipe that's full of water and keeping the vent from drawing freely. You should not have any gurgling.

   If you're brave, take a hose on the roof and run 30 or 40 gallons down each vent.

1. 
   AdamB | Dec 19, 2003 09:42pm | #4

   If you're brave, take a hose on the roof and run 30 or 40 gallons down each vent

   why?

   if the vent is disconnected, wouldn't the water just fill a wall up?Christmas is coming..... should I buy the wife that new tablesaw ....hmmmm

1. 
   Sphere | Dec 19, 2003 09:51pm | #5

   Good Points..WHY on earth do vents have to be pressure tested?

1. 
   RalphWicklund | Dec 19, 2003 10:08pm | #7

   It's not what you'd call a full-blown pressure test. Just a column of water standing in the pipe to a height, usually about 10 feet, to make sure that all the connections below are water tight.

   There have been instances where the lowest waste has been clogged for whatever reason and the water backed up the vent pipe.

2. 
   Sphere | Dec 19, 2003 10:17pm | #8

   Maybe where you are. We have had to plug and test the whole sys. Just like supply side. The tub drain was esp. fun..plug it with a balloon and inflate it.  10 bucks to buy the plug.

3. 
   RalphWicklund | Dec 19, 2003 10:51pm | #9

   Interesting.

   I'm going to check the whyfor here. Might take a while to get an intelligent answer.

   What's the reasoning behind the full pressure test in your area, what is the pressure, how long maintained? Where are you?

4. 
   Sphere | Dec 19, 2003 11:05pm | #10

   Western North Carolina area is where we had this..two jobs that I was involved with..one new const. one remodel where we replumbed / wired the whole house. Did not ask the insp. WHY. Just did what they wanted..I thinkk the d/w/v sys. was at 40lbs. for as long as it took him to look around at everything..first leak was where (on the remodel) our new vent 4" pvc met the old cast Iron in the attic..tried to glue it, but it would not hold pressure, so we went to a no-hub. That fixed it.

   On the new job we had a prob. at the distribution box for the septic, couldn't get the plug to seal.

   We did fill the stack a few times for fun, before we knew we had to pressure it. go figgure, what they think.

2. 
   davidmeiland | Dec 19, 2003 11:46pm | #11

   If there is a blockage in the pipe, a running test might show this, in the form of water not draining through the vent and overflowing out on the roof instead. We've heard stories about roofers putting soda cans down the vents, etc.

   If the vent pipe is actually not connected somewhere in the house, then yeah, water will get inside the wall. I suppose it's possible that the plumber committed such a heinous crime, but it's more likely the pipe is blocked or the fixture in question is not vented.

1. 
   DaveRicheson | Dec 20, 2003 03:17am | #12

   WetHeadWarrior should be here for this one, but  it sounds to me like you are right.  It may be the vent for the toilet, but the vent for the vanity may also be stopped up, or maybe missing in action.

   As a test, take the tail piece off of the vanity sink, leaveing just the trap and waste line conectecd. fill the trap with a little water, and flush the toilet. If the water in the vanity trap sucks down, it is being pulled into a vacum created by the toilet discharge water. The vents for sinks are gennerally 1 1/2 or 2"  stacks that are tied into the 3 or 4" toilet vent at a level above the flood plane of the sink. A slow draining sink would also indicate an improper vent or a blockage.

   Another possibility is that the sink may drain to the toilet stack ,and you have what is called a wet vent. The biggest  problem I have seen with wet vents is that the sink or other fixtures are not adequately vented because they are using the larger soil pipe as a vent and drain. The up stream fixture still need thier own seperate vents, or you get the siphoned traps and gurgles when the downstream toilets are flushed.

   Dave

2. 
   AdamB | Dec 20, 2003 05:41pm | #13

   OK now I understand.

2. 
   Bergsteiger | Dec 22, 2003 07:25pm | #14

   Yes, it was inspected, however apparently not that closely.  I found a drain for the furnace room still capped so the water from the furnace drain was just running onto the floor!  There is no attic, so I'll need to go up on the roof to check things out.

2. 
   Ward | Dec 19, 2003 04:27am | #2

   Not that this is relevant, but a funny related story.

   Hooked up a washer to a drain pipe in a newly remodeled rental.  First time the washer discharge cycled, water fountain. 

   Either someone was curious if a quart caulking tube would fit, or they were stupid and never fessed up to once they dropped it down the pipe.

3. 
   seeyou | Dec 19, 2003 10:06pm | #6

   I've found many test caps still on the waste vent pipes, sometimes years after the building was finished. The plumber sometimes doesn't climb back on the roof and knock the plug out after passing inspection. Might be worth a look. Good luck.

1. 
   Bergsteiger | Dec 22, 2003 07:26pm | #15

   Thanks for the good suggestion.  I plan on doing that this week if I cna get up there with all the snow on the roof.

2. 
   Bergsteiger | Dec 30, 2003 06:24pm | #16

   OK, all you guys are geniuses, especially GREENCU who first suggested the vents might still be capped.  I was up at the house last weekend (at 10,000 feet in the Colorado mountains) and decided to climb up on the roof (3 stories) to check it out.  My ladder isn't that tall and the roof is real steep and slippery.  So I got out my old climbing rope and harness and went out thru the skylight and up over the ridge.  Sure enough, I found three capped vent pipes.  I brought up an old handsaw since sitting in a foot of wet snow while using a 110v sawszall seemed like a bad idea.

   Now all the pipe trap gurgling is gone and I no longer have traces of sewer gas in the house.

   Thanks for all the great suggestions guys!

1. 
   DaveRicheson | Dec 30, 2003 07:36pm | #17

   After that much effort on your part, be sure to talk to the builder and/or plumber about missing it

   Glad this site was of some assitance.