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Your house’s plumbing vent’s purpose is to remove sewer gases from the drainage system and equalize its atmospheric pressure. Without the plumbing vent, our toilets and all other home plumbing fixtures might not be draining properly, can cause unusual noises (like gurgling or belching as and after they discharge), and could be responsible for an unpleasant sewer gas smell inside the house.
Lets go outside and look at your house’s roof; you should be able to see a plumbing vent stack – a piece of pipe penetrating the roof surface (if your plumbing fixtures have been located far away from each other, there could be more that one plumbing vent visible above the roof, but at least one should be 3” or 4” in diameter).
It’s usually the same material as the rest of your plumbing drain system, but in older homes, there might be 2, 3, or even more types of pipes connected together (cast iron, galvanized, copper ABS, PVC). If you have a flat roof, you will most likely have to get up there to check your plumbing vents – be extremely careful, or have a professional do it for you!!).
If you can see the roof surface and you can’t see the plumbing vent pipe … you’re not alone.
The most common reasons for this scenario are:
Plumbing vent flashing must be properly installed and vent stack pipe should extend at least 6” above the roof surface. For cold climates, it should be 6” above the highest expected snow line (10” above the roof), unless otherwise specified by your local building code.
So if it’s not above the roof, and you do have plumbing in your house, something is wrong and the best place to start searching for the plumbing vent is in the attic.
Look for a pipe that penetrates the floor – the area usually corresponds to the toilets locations, kitchens, and other plumbing fixtures in your house. Sometimes plumbing vent pipe might be hidden under the insulation or simply laying on the attic floor. You should consider yourself lucky if you can locate it in the attic because sometimes it’s just a mystery, and could be an expensive one.
If your plumbing vent pipe is where it suppose to be, check the attic periodically anyway. You might be able to spot the problem early, and save yourself a costly repair. Some of the problems that might be visible from the attic:
Besides all the common plumbing fixtures, you may also have an ejector pump installed in your house. It might look just like a regular sump pump, but it serves your plumbing fixtures located below the main drain line.
The ejector pump well also requires a plumbing vent pipe. The well, its cover, and all penetration points should be sealed to prevent sewer gases from escaping into the living space.
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Tommy West
1 month ago
I have a heater in my attic. It drains outside and down to the ground. I live in Coloroda so it freezes and then stops draining or drain into my attic. I have a plumbing vent that runs directly under my heater drain. Can I drain my heater condensation into my plumbing vent? This would prevent it from freezing. It is not a huge amount of water, just need somewhere to drain that I can keep from freezing.
Thanks.
admin checkthishouse.com
1 month ago
I’m assuming that you’re talking about a high efficiency furnace up in your attic. The problem with connecting condensate discharge pipe directly into your plumbing vent stack is not only the code issue nor the amount of condensation / water dripping into the vent – it is about the bacteria from the sewer system vent pipe that could travel through the condensate discharge pipe and contaminate your heating system.
This becomes even more critical if you also have an AC coil installed in the attic. In order to discharge condensate into the plumbing vent stack, you have to cut it (the vent stack pipe) and install a p-trap that would allow for an indirect connection and prevent contamination with bacteria. Another benefit of this connection is that you’ll be able to easily spot a problem / clogged condensate line just by checking it periodically.
If you still have a problem with lines freezing, cover the condensate discharge pipe and the trap with insulation or (more expensive solution) build walls around the furnace and discharge area – this would slightly elevate the temperature and prevent condensate from freezing.
Let me know if this helped or if you have any other questions,
randy
5 months ago
Can you connect a Quick jon vent in the main line in basement or go to the attic and connect to roof vent
admin checkthishouse.com
5 months ago
Hi Randy,
It depends on your plumbing system configuration. It can be connected to an existing vent in your basement area for as long as the pipe you’re connecting it to acts as a vent only / there’s no other plumbing fixtures draining into it on any floors above the basement.
If you have a single vent (soil) stack in your basement, there are most likely some plumbing fixtures tied to it on the floor(s) above. Check pipes under your kitchen or if you have a basement laundry – next to the laundry drain. There might be two pipes coming into the basement from under the kitchen sink – one of them is usually a vent which also serves the laundry drain – you could use it if the sizing is OK.
If there are no other pipes in the basement except for the main vent (soil) stack, you should tie Quick John above the highest fixture connected to that vent stack, or run it to the attic / through the roof.
Let me know if it helped…