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sink pipe in the attic is not vented thru the roof

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mspattyB

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio

Daughter brought a house almost 2 years ago and we just found out that the stink pipe in the attic is not vented thru the roof. Can they sue the house flipper that they got the house from?
 
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BL

Senior Member
Please explain why a sink pipe needs to be vented , and the location of the sink pipes "in" the attic ?
 

Cedrus

Member
So the sink (kitchen or bathroom) has a vent that goes behind the wall and up into the attic? Is it capped off or open and venting into the attic?

Guess your home inspector missed this. :rolleyes:
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Please explain why a sink pipe needs to be vented , and the location of the sink pipes "in" the attic ?
BL, I know you know the answer to this.

all drains in a house require an air vent so the draining of the receptacle does not create a vacuum as it tries to drain. That vacuum can prevent a receptacle from draining.

it is typically called a "stack" or "vent stack".

typically, the stack is run through the roof. Since the inception of those little vent caps, air admittance valves, that only allow airflow one way, some localities allow the vent to not have to go through the roof but use one of those to prevent outflow of sewer gasses.

the problem with an open stack is, it is open from that point clear to either the municipal sewege line or to the septic tank with no p trap to prevent backflow of sewer gasses. If this is as such in an attic, sewer gasses can accumulate in the attic if there is improper attic ventilation.

generally, it is not allowed by code to do this.

it often causes no problems but it can cause some very extreme problems if things all go wrong. It is best to fix this as soon as possible. If the locality would allow a vent cap, such as this:
http://www.oatey.com/aav_public/resources/photos/6_sink_app.jpg, it would be a simple fix. If the locality would not allow it, then the pipe would need to be extended through the roof. That would obviously be more expensive due to the roof repair involved.
 

BL

Senior Member
Yes , I do know .

It was the way it was posted , why I asked .

The sink vent would connect to the vent pipe ( not sink pipe ) . :)

And yes , by code , they should go through the roof , extending to what ever measurement is required .

Well believe it or not , someone was once explaining their sink pipes in the attic , and they were actually the water pipes under the attic flooring , and the ceiling below .

I agree , it wouldn't cost much to have the vent put through the roof , but make sure it's done to code , and sealed properly , or you'll end up with water leakage/damages .
 
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justalayman

Senior Member
Yes , I do know .

.
I knew you did.

I have read too many of your posts to think otherwise.

I figured it was probably the situation you posted or an attempt to seek info from the OP to allow you to explain things as they would understand them.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Or if code allows and there is another vent stack going thru the roof else where local code might allow a T to be put in and the pipe extended to the T. Some inspectors EVEN city /county inspectors miss things. BTW at one of the group homes the firm I work for owns it too was a new house, ALL inspections were signed off by the counties building , electrical and plumbing inspectors too INC a special county licensing so the home could be used as group home. They had alot of trouble with the septic system the 18 months inc drains running poorly, The maint guy for that area ( CR ) went on the roof, none of the inspection caps had been removed , they were to be removed after the plumbing inspector signed off. CR damn near fell off the roof after he pried them open, the trapped gasses vented. ( I couldnt resist ) any way if you have a second vent stack and code would allow it to be tapped into this would be a relatively easy change to do with out going thru the roof. (your city /county inspections /zoning desk can tell you if it is allowed)
 

mspattyB

Junior Member
Thanks for your inputs

It is the STINK pipe 4" PVC thats comes up from the bathroom and is about 18" from the roof where there is another PVC pipe that goes out the roof (but capped so that rain don't come in) but these two pipes are NOT lined up right inorder to conect them so someone just forgot to get the right parts to finish the job. What I was asking is the gases that come out of this stink pipe harmful since the attic is not vented at all, and is there any thing legally can be done to the house flipper or inspector.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Oh brother - so, for $10 worth of supplies, you want to go after the inspector or flipper?

Incredible...
 

justalayman

Senior Member
What I was asking is the gases that come out of this stink pipe harmful since the attic is not vented at all, and is there any thing legally can be done to the house flipper or inspector.
it doesn;t make any difference if the rain goes down the pipe. It goes to your septic system. Most are not capped.

The gasses can be harmful, especially since the attic has no ventilation (I would do something about that) but I doubt it is so airtight to really be a serious danger.

You may be able to go back on the seller but you need to realize that if a person does not live in a house, they may not know all the defects. In cases such as those, they are not liable for the defect, whether it was disclosed or not, unless there is blaring evidence and they should have know of the defect even without living there.

Chasing this through the seller is going to be such a waste of time. It would cost you less to hire a plumber to finish the job. If you know somebody handy with things such as this, it is not a difficult job, especially if it can be tied into the pipe that already penetrates the roof. Speak with your local plumbing inspector to see if that is legal.
 

HuAi

Member
Jeebus, it's a stinking PVC pipe, go buy a 1 way valve and some PVC cement for $10 at Home Depot, cap it off and be done with it.
 

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