No vent pipe for sewer drain

[Kaymo]

Hi,
I recently moved into a 1880ish detached house, and amongst the many problems there has been a smell in the downstairs bathroom. I first thought this was dampness as dampness affects the other side of the property but this doesn't actually seem to be the problem, and the smell comes and goes although is present most of the time.

It struck me today that there is no vent pipe on the outside of the house, and the other houses in the street of a similar age have these. The back of the house had an extension done in the 1980's and as this is probably where the vent would have been I wondered if it has been removed then. Around the same time a toilet was added along with a loft conversion, and again this would presumably have meant the existing vent would have been too low and plumbing would have been added above for this.

I am presuming this is not right, and could be the cause of the smell coming into the lower bathroom, but maybe I am missing something?

If this needs to be rectified, could a pipe be branched off the loft conversion toilet drain and vented straight through the roof.

Apologies if I am stating the obvious or talking nonsense here, I understand the principle of why vents are fitted, but have no knowledge of what various plumbing practices might be!

Thanks

 

[dilalio]

Why don't you just get a couple of plumbers round to have a look and give you their opinions?
It would be far more useful than us "blindly" guessing!
Remedial work really needs a visit, to get a feel for the property and to begin assessment of the defects and possible solutions!

The property I have recently done a lot of work in had no vents at all. Just had 2 x 50mm waste pipes up in the loft space, with air admittance valves on them! This place is one of hundreds of 'executive town houses' built on the grounds of a massive estate which used to be a community for the mentally ill. The houses are a high spec and not cheap. Built about 20 years ago, and none of them, it seems with an SVP! We speculated that there must be some other allowance for venting the sewers, elsewhere in the grounds!?

Edit: still not ideal as the end of each run... I.e. Each house, becomes a trap for gases!!!

 

[Kaymo]

Thanks, I will have a hunt around to see if there are any vents anywhere but I a fairly sure there is nothing that resembles a vent.

I guess the answer is anyway that if there is not one, there ideally should be so it is worth getting one fitted.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Drains need to 'breathe', I am often telling people who are asking about removing vents, not to do it. Adding a vent is never going to be a bad idea, and in your case could go some way to solving your problem.

 

[Kaymo]

Hugh, This house has in the past been the poster child for people doing things that are a "bad idea"!

Its got cement render on sandstone, suspended floors with vents that are blocked with wall paint, gutters that look like they had been blocked for decades, so this is just the latest in a line of things I have found that have been done badly!

Even when I tried to get under the bath to try and locate the smell I found the wooden bath panel has been glued to the frame, and then tiled and skirted over, which means that in order to get in there, which will need to be done as one of the taps needs replaced, the room will need to be re-tiled!

Still, the plus side is that if it wasn't for all the issues someone else would probably have bought it at a price that I couldn't have afforded!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Welcome to the joys of home ownership Kaymo. My house is lightly newer (1896), but hadn't been touched in 40 years when I bought it in 1999, so even now, I am uncovering all sorts of things! Biggest issue seems to be the wallpaper is holding the plaster to the wall in a lot of places......

 

[dilalio]

Biggest issue seems to be the wallpaper is holding the plaster to the wall in a lot of places......

That's why woodchip was invented

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

That's why woodchip was invented

Luckily none of that, although Anaglypta was everywhere downstairs, and looking at the upstairs, they seriously had terrible taste in the 60's. The thought of the green wallpaper in the main bedroom still haunts me today.

 

[dilalio]

Luckily none of that, although Anaglypta was everywhere downstairs, and looking at the upstairs, they seriously had terrible taste in the 60's. The thought of the green wallpaper in the main bedroom still haunts me today.

You should have left it mate! It'll be all the rage again next year!

 

[Doggit]

We'll need some pictures (or diagrams) but vent pipes don't need to go straight up, so it could follow the line of the extension roof, and then go up over the gutter line. Do the toilets etc all flush properly, or are there issues. Is it possible that they fitted an air admittance valve somewhere in the house, and the smells are coming back through that, or there might be a leak behind one of the tiled panels.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

You should have left it mate! It'll be all the rage again next year!

If I could have got it off complete it would be on eBay. Seem to be the place to sell all your redundant carp you've just stripped out your house....