Home Repair forum - Vent down instead of up?

Author

Vent down instead of up?

motor man

2006-04-03, 3:21 am

One of our kitchen sinks has a vent problem , I think it is connected
to a vertcial vent that exits via the roof. However, the set up is with
a double sink connected to a common U trap. One sink has a disposal. If
the other sink's drain is sealed then the water does not flow out of
the disposal sink. Once you unseal the other sink all is well. Also
this sink sometimes gets an awful sewer like smell. I clean the
disposal regularilly with bleach so it is not this.
I wondered if I could put a seperate vent to this system , but I cannot
go up . Would it be OK if I went down after making a U above the sink
pipes, I have plenty of space under the house, but it would be
difficult ( lots of walls to cut into ! ) to go up. If you have any
ideas please cc my email so I don't miss your great thoughts.

2006-04-03, 4:21 am

On 2 Apr 2006 22:45:26 -0700, "motor man" <rdoctors@cox.net> wrote:

>One of our kitchen sinks has a vent problem , I think it is connected
>to a vertcial vent that exits via the roof. However, the set up is with
>a double sink connected to a common U trap. One sink has a disposal. If
>the other sink's drain is sealed then the water does not flow out of
>the disposal sink. Once you unseal the other sink all is well. Also
>this sink sometimes gets an awful sewer like smell. I clean the
>disposal regularilly with bleach so it is not this.
>I wondered if I could put a seperate vent to this system , but I cannot
>go up . Would it be OK if I went down after making a U above the sink
>pipes, I have plenty of space under the house, but it would be
>difficult ( lots of walls to cut into ! ) to go up. If you have any
>ideas please cc my email so I don't miss your great thoughts.

There is another thread about vents just in the past two days or so:

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Subject: Bad smell from utility sink.
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In Agent you can Sample this group and if you put in the last 100 or
200 posts, you should get this thread back. Or you can use
groups.google .

Anyhow, I think you should unclog the current vent. Was your house
built by madmen? If not, theywould have put in a vent for every sink,
tub, and toilet. It sounds like yours is plugged, and it's using the
other half of the sink to get started. however, another symptom of a
clogged vent is that it siphons the water out of your pipe, emptying
the trap, and that's why you smell sewer gas.

Sacramento Dave

2006-04-03, 10:21 am

"motor man" <rdoctors@cox.net> wrote in message
news:1144043126.897609.314060@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> One of our kitchen sinks has a vent problem , I think it is connected
> to a vertcial vent that exits via the roof. However, the set up is with
> a double sink connected to a common U trap. One sink has a disposal. If
> the other sink's drain is sealed then the water does not flow out of
> the disposal sink. Once you unseal the other sink all is well. Also
> this sink sometimes gets an awful sewer like smell. I clean the
> disposal regularilly with bleach so it is not this.
> I wondered if I could put a seperate vent to this system , but I cannot
> go up . Would it be OK if I went down after making a U above the sink
> pipes, I have plenty of space under the house, but it would be
> difficult ( lots of walls to cut into ! ) to go up. If you have any
> ideas please cc my email so I don't miss your great thoughts.
>

Try putting a garden hose down the vent from the roof. Might clean it out..
Most vents go up, There is a loop vent for Island. Put if your getting sewer
odor your trap is dry . Both sinks go into the trap right?

2006-04-03, 2:21 pm

motor man wrote:
> One of our kitchen sinks has a vent problem , I think it is connected
> to a vertcial vent that exits via the roof. However, the set up is with
> a double sink connected to a common U trap. One sink has a disposal. If
> the other sink's drain is sealed then the water does not flow out of
> the disposal sink. Once you unseal the other sink all is well. Also
> this sink sometimes gets an awful sewer like smell. I clean the
> disposal regularilly with bleach so it is not this.
> I wondered if I could put a seperate vent to this system , but I cannot
> go up . Would it be OK if I went down after making a U above the sink
> pipes, I have plenty of space under the house, but it would be
> difficult ( lots of walls to cut into ! ) to go up. If you have any
> ideas please cc my email so I don't miss your great thoughts.

I think the reason vents go up is that sewer gas can be toxic, as well
as stinky, so they don't exit it where it will rise into the house.

motor man

2006-04-30, 2:21 pm

Thanks I did try putting ahose down the vent and it flowed OK .. did
not change the problem.
The smell part ( in reply ) that it might be caused by a blocked vent
has me wondering if the vent actually connects to anything! It might
just be emptying into the ground under the house. It is not a nic
ething to go under house so i have put this off for now.. Seems I am
not alone with this problem so i will welcome more ideas.

2006-04-30, 6:21 pm

On 30 Apr 2006 09:58:17 -0700, "motor man" <rdoctors@cox.net> wrote:

>Thanks I did try putting ahose down the vent and it flowed OK .. did
>not change the problem.
>The smell part ( in reply ) that it might be caused by a blocked vent
>has me wondering if the vent actually connects to anything! It might
>just be emptying into the ground under the house.

Was the builder a crackpot? Why would he put in a pipe that only
had to go to the top floor and connect to a toilet or sink drain and
run it all the way to the basement?

Or a later owner: If the pipe connected to the drain pipe as
intended, why would someone later disconnect it?

If that's not what you mean, you've lost me.

I think I worked on a house with Habitat for Humanity one day that had
a vent that stopped in the middle of the house, but that was after
earlier people had torn out the wall and torn out part of the pipe.

> It is not a nic
>ething to go under house so i have put this off for now.. Seems I am
>not alone with this problem so i will welcome more ideas.

2006-04-30, 7:21 pm

On 30 Apr 2006 09:58:17 -0700, "motor man" <rdoctors@cox.net> wrote:

>Thanks I did try putting ahose down the vent and it flowed OK .. did
>not change the problem.
>The smell part ( in reply ) that it might be caused by a blocked vent
>has me wondering if the vent actually connects to anything! It might
>just be emptying into the ground under the house. It is not a nic
>ething to go under house so i have put this off for now.. Seems I am
>not alone with this problem so i will welcome more ideas.

One more possibility. It was connected as intended and the vent pipe
somehow came off. That would make it less likely critters coudl go in
at the top and reach the part of the vent still connected to the
drain. IOW, ISTM it would make it less likely that the vent would be
clogged since the vent would be shorter, only from the connection
place to wherever the break in the vent pipe was. It doesn't have to
vent out the roof, only some place higher than the highest trap, which
would be a bathroom sink most of the time.

And if it were broken and displaced, pouring water in from the top
like you say you did above iiuc, would have led to water whereever the
vent pipe was broken and below, not necessarily all in the basement.
Any sign of that on the first floor? Do vent pipes ever get broken?

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