DIY plumbing experts??

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

So the house I bought in june has some WEIRD shit. Built in 1880 and split into a duplex in the 60s maybe. Plumbing is a little goofy.

First there is a stupid old cast iron "house trap" in the basement right before the main leave the house for the sewer.

I have been getting a STRONG sewer gas smell from my upstairs toilet. Wax right seems fairly tight. This bathroom was only redone within the last year and I believe I am actually the first person to use it regularly. New shower, toilet, etc. Fucking cheapos who had the place before me put in Glacier Bay fixtures!!! The horror! (I have read some things online saying that GB toilets have some flawed ones that could be causing the p-trap to not function correctly).

Anyway the smell is IN the water in the bowl. Not coming from near the toilet, down at the wax ring etc, but FROM the water itself. So I am thinking this is a venting/pressure issue? I climbed on the roof and looked in the vent. Nothing I can see. Gonna try to snake it today just for fun.

Occasionally when its windy out I can see toilet water moving up and down. Also a vent issue correct?

What I am wondering is is the old style house trap could be to blame? Even though things flush down and sinks drain they aren't super fast as if the main is too slow and the house trap is slowing things down the most.

I am really trying to avoid opening up the 4" cast cleanout on the house trap.

[fastfred]

you have a venting problem it's going to cost you alot of money

good luck

buy a real toilet, american standard cadet purchased and ferguson, soft close seat, only toilet you need to buy, don't buy a shitter at the big box stores please

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Any reason my plumber couldn't tap in to the PVC (some interior laterals are PVC before the cast iron) and plumb an additional vent out the side of the house using an existing small foundation window/vent?

Other than normal plumber rates why would this cost alot of money?

[Foggy_Goggles]

Phish, I'll cut to the chase and save you some time.

a. Your "problem" makes no sense. Water doesn't absorb sewer gas, think about how a trap works. How many roof penetrations do you have for vents? You need to figure out how your DWV system is plumbed to trouble shoot the problem. Go on the roof and cap all you waste lines. Then start pouring 5 gall. buckets of water down your shitters, showers & tubs. If everything drains the same of before you have a problem.

b. If you have problem with you "vent" system and it is anywhere below the highest fixture of that stack, you also have a "waste" problem. The reason it can be expensive is multiple including the hourly rate of plumbers, drywall repair and the fact that their may be water damage.

c. If your not committed to diagnosing the problem and you want to throw money at it, do as fred said at my a quality shitter and set it with a mechanical seal. It old homes, the flange is often fucked up and it all has to be rebuilt including tearing out the tile and subfloor.

[XXX-er]

Isnt " DIY plumbing expert " an oxymoron ?

[XXX-er]

I have seen strong wind suck the water up and down in a properly working system

If you are smelling sewer gases I betcha that shitter is vented into a wall cavity

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Wow. So I figured I would actually use my brain and decided there had to be another vent. There is only one on the roof. Duh, right in front of me coming out of the main before the house trap and sewer.



Figured it must be clogged or have a bees nest in it or something. Well, it was jammed full with a solid plug of old hardened TP!! I remember my previous tenants saying that the previous owner had to have the main snaked for a clog about a year ago. Well, this must have been left over from that!!! Um....I assume this was my problem since sewer gas had no where to go but up into the house and through the roof vent which ties in just below and to the left of my second story toilet. I guess each flush of the toilet allowed a bubble of rising sewer gas to sneak though the toilet trap?!

[iceman]

I ain't no plumbing expert but I don't think shit should be trying to come out the side of your house.

[hawkgt]

^^^^ crawl spaces are good though

[reckless toboggan]

Well, it was jammed full with a solid plug of old hardened TP!!

No shit.

[fastfred]

I ain't no plumbing expert but I don't think shit should be trying to come out the side of your house.

you should be an expert with an observation like that

you've got some really old school drains that's for sure, once found a lead drain trap shaped like a bucket burried in a wall, pretty neat

a weekend well spend white room, I'd suggest having your line from the house to the sewer scoped it's worth the money and throw the glacier bay toilet out, thats just wrong

[BmillsSkier]

Glacier Bay sounds like a lovely place to drop a shit.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

That was just a bit of the fun I had today. I officially opened up the can of worms that is getting drain/supply lines so that both halves of the duplex can have laundry. Looks like the only access is by ripping up the kitchen floor.



Old old floorboards under the subfloor.



I planned on having to actually excavate a little trench under the house to lay a drain and feed supply lines from the tiny basement. Turns out someone already did it. Score! This drain line heads straight to the backyard but under a concrete slab for a back porch poured sometime in the last 50 years. I assume it went to the old cesspool before the sewer was put in the street. Something is tapped in heading toward the tenant's side, may possibly be my kitchen sink drain. Can't really tell until I rip up more floor. Hopefully I can gain access somewhere inside their kitchen/closet. Otherwise the concrete saw is coming out.




Nice little Sunday.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

And yeah, that Glacier Shit Bay toilet is getting dumpstered for sure.

[reckless toboggan]

Good call. Shit can the Glacier Bay piece of crap.

[digitaldeath]

Second thread this week involving a maggot to get to the roof!!

[Vt-Freeheel]

Something about this thread made me think....

[fastfred]

prolly no asbestos in the glue holding the sheet vinyl down if there is it's only around 5%

[Core Shot]

Mother in law had that same setup. I had never before seen a wall vent like that. And her's was clogged with TP since the septic was backing up, just like yours had been.

Who the frick designs sewer gas to vent out the front of your house?
On the plus side, you can tell when your septic or main waste is clogged when the slime oozes out!

Wow. So I figured I would actually use my brain and decided there had to be another vent. There is only one on the roof. Duh, right in front of me coming out of the main before the house trap and sewer.


Figured it must be clogged or have a bees nest in it or something. Well, it was jammed full with a solid plug of old hardened TP!! I remember my previous tenants saying that the previous owner had to have the main snaked for a clog about a year ago. Well, this must have been left over from that!!! Um....I assume this was my problem since sewer gas had no where to go but up into the house and through the roof vent which ties in just below and to the left of my second story toilet. I guess each flush of the toilet allowed a bubble of rising sewer gas to sneak though the toilet trap?!

[digitaldeath]

Milwaukee tools better than dewalt

[Core Shot]

Milwaukee tools better than dewalt

My thoughts were more about those tools have been "FLAGGED"

[Percy Rideout]

have you checked to see if there is a studor vent under the kitchen sink? Either that or you are missing a drain/ptrap somewhere along the way. Fill those bitches every week.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Milwaukee tools better than dewalt

When I started buying up new tools about 8 years ago Milwaukee was going through some tough times it seems. Quality was way way down. I bought two Milwaukee hammer drills in a row that were seized up in the box.

That said if I were to start over again now I would go Milwaukee. All the guys at work have been going Milwaukee the last couple years and it's really nice stuff.

Either way, the 20v Dewalt batteries last forever and I have dropped a couple of these tools off the roof onto concrete and they are still going strong.

[digitaldeath]

red is superior to yellow

look at ferrari

[The Tortoise]

*Bump*

We're having odd issues with our toilet.

It was clogged and I was able to get it free with some plungering. Then after a while it gets clogged again. Then if I plunger again I'll be free.

When it's free I can flush it ten or so times and it works great. When I wake up the next morning it's fucked again. WTF?

It isn't completely clogged and will drain slowly.

It's a big box store hi/lo flush toilet, so there's that.

No odors all other drains are fine.

My next step is to tear it out and see if there's anything. Yes, I'll get a new wax ring.