Blocking a soil vent pipe

d-don

Hi all ,
Okay I started a job today ( I'm a tiler ) after the bathroom fitter /tiler was ran from the job . I noticed today that the soil stack pipe that runs up through the batroom into the attic and out through the roof was cut and blanked off to make more space .... Surely that is dangerous and can make a build up of gas etc .. Can anyone with experience enlighten me as I feel I have to tell the client but I need to know the cons of it as I never seen this before . The toilet is upstairs in a semi detached house ..

Thanks all for looking

D-don

DublinDilbert

d-don wrote: »

Hi all ,
Okay I started a job today ( I'm a tiler ) after the bathroom fitter /tiler was ran from the job . I noticed today that the soil stack pipe that runs up through the batroom into the attic and out through the roof was cut and blanked off to make more space .... Surely that is dangerous and can make a build up of gas etc .. Can anyone with experience enlighten me as I feel I have to tell the client but I need to know the cons of it as I never seen this before . The toilet is upstairs in a semi detached house ..

Thanks all for looking

D-don

Is it blanked off in the bathroom?

Quite often this is done in smallish bathrooms so the bath can be re-located or moved and they don't want a 4" vent pip running up into the attic.

What they should do is run the vent pipe out the wall and up the side of the house. The function of the vent pipe is to allow air in as the waste is falling from the toilet and as you say so fumes can be exhausted out. If the vent is blocked off and no other vent pipe is fitted it will more than likely pull all the water out of the toilet U bend when its flushed due to the vacuum.

dpofloinn

Has it been fully capped off or has there been an air admittance valve put on it( http://www.studor.net/air-admittance-valves-aavs )? Is it the only soil stack in the house?

d-don

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Is it blanked off in the bathroom?

Quite often this is done in smallish bathrooms so the bath can be re-located or moved and they don't want a 4" vent pip running up into the attic.

What they should do is run the vent pipe out the wall and up the side of the house. The function of the vent pipe is to allow air in as the waste is falling from the toilet and as you say so fumes can be exhausted out. If the vent is blocked off and no other vent pipe is fitted it will more than likely pull all the water out of the toilet U bend when its flushed due to the vacuum.

Thanks for the reply
Yes it's blanked off in the bathroom so there is no other vent at call for the soil pipe .. The bath and sink also lead into this pipe .. So basically your saying (god no it's a bad idea ) just so i can be honest and let the customer know as even with my knowledge it's wrong but that's why I am asking more experienced people like you ..

d-don

dpofloinn wrote: »

Has it been fully capped off or has there been an air admittance valve put on it( http://www.studor.net/air-admittance-valves-aavs )? Is it the only soil stack in the house?

Definately a 4 inch blank out on the soul pipe I even found the tag from the fitting in a bag ... It's a single bathroom house and defiantly only one soil stack . Feel the answer to my info maybe bad after the customer got shafted big time by a cowboy .

dpofloinn

Ya best to let the customer know.Ssoil stacks are quite important things to have, and before you tile it will give them a chance to rectify it

d-don

dpofloinn wrote: »

Ya best to let the customer know.Ssoil stacks are quite important things to have, and before you tile it will give them a chance to rectify it

What could happen if left blocked ?

dpofloinn

Basically the soil stack serves 2 functions releases sewer gas to atmosphere and neutralises the pressure within the pipework, so imagine if you will that the sealed soil stack is a syringe and when you flush the toilet it acts like the plunger in creating a negative pressure within the pipework which will pull the trap seal out of every appliance attached to that pipework allowing sewer gases into the house

d-don

dpofloinn wrote: »

Basically the soil stack serves 2 functions releases sewer gas to atmosphere and neutralises the pressure within the pipework, so imagine if you will that the sealed soil stack is a syringe and when you flush the toilet it acts like the plunger in creating a negative pressure within the pipework which will pull the trap seal out of every appliance attached to that pipework allowing sewer gases into the house

Roger .. That's a great way to explain . Will tell the customer tomorrow .,thanks for your input and replies , appreciate it a lot .

D-don