Is this a vent, what should I do about it?


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Old 07-24-15, 08:49 AM
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Is this a vent, what should I do about it?

After removing a pile of rubish under the porch I found a half buried pipe I believe is a vent due to it being near similar pipes that are in the basement. There was some packing in the pipe which I removed along with some dirt.

Picture of vent half buried : https://www.flickr.com/gp/7414524@N02/1B1JE3

This has been the situation for atleast 40 years and has not been a problem.

What should be done to determine if it is a vent.

What should be done to bring it as close to current plumbing practice as possible? What should I tell the plumber I need done?
 
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Old 07-24-15, 09:00 AM
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It looks like a vent to the main drain. Is there a toilet above that section of the cellar? If that's what it is, I would put a screen on it.
 
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Old 07-24-15, 09:45 AM
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No there is not a toilet directly above it. The main and only sewer stack is 50 ft away. The vent is where the sewer line exits the house and goes to the city sewer line.

Should I pour water into the vent from a garden house to clear out any dirt? Would that risk pushing dirt into the sewer line?

What is the screen you mention called?

Should I remove dirt so that all the vent is above the ground level?

Should I add an elbo and some vertical pipe sections so that the opening will be above the ground?

Thank you for your response, George
 
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Old 07-24-15, 09:46 AM
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A vent would not be buried.. Your pic is really not clear. Is it 1/2 in the ground?

Take a pic in the house of the incoming sewer lines. The only thing it may be is a vent for a house trap, but it would be vertical or out the foundation..

Could be an old line to an old septic but the hub seems oriented wrong..

Old storm drain from gutters?
 
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Old 07-24-15, 11:12 AM
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Old storm drain from gutters?
My first thought was something having to do with weeping tiles or gutters.
 
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Old 07-24-15, 05:00 PM
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geo8rge, it can't hurt to dig a little more. Who knows what's under there? Maybe a buried treasure. I wouldn't send any water through the pipe just yet, although it might be good for a laugh. I wouldn't add an elbow yet either.

http://cdn.balkanplumbing.com/wp-con...-air-plate.jpg

That's ^^ the cover that I mentioned.
 
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Old 07-27-15, 07:15 PM
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This is the plumbing in the basement leaving the house going to the main sewer just below what might be a vent.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/7414524@N02/19WR5p

The vent was not buried. The vent is about an inch above the cement walk way around the house. For some reason the dirt under the porch is 2 inches higher which means the bottom of the vent opening is covered by about an inch of dirt, which may be traveling back into the pipe and into the sewer line.

Any thoughts on what this is and what should be done?
 
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Old 07-27-15, 07:26 PM
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looks like a trap vent... need a pic of the floor where this pipe goes too...

Like this...


Whole house trap and vent...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]53891[/ATTACH]
 
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Old 07-27-15, 07:47 PM
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I would still install the fresh air plate that I recommended.
 

Last edited by Pulpo; 07-27-15 at 10:23 PM.
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Old 07-28-15, 09:18 AM
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Picture of floor with the 2 trap covers showing. They seem badly rusted, can they actually be opened?

https://www.flickr.com/gp/7414524@N02/k35PfA
 
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Old 07-28-15, 09:22 AM
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Lawrosa, your diagram shows 1 vent pipe, but my basement seems to have 2. Any thoughts on why that is?
 
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Old 07-28-15, 09:31 AM
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Larger one is the vent. The other one may just be a cleanout to access from outside to snake the main line. There would not be a vent on the street side...
 
 

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