Bought my home 6 years ago...keep smelling dank odors coming up from the basement, discovered the drainage from the toilet to the septic was never vented through the floor/walls to the roof. There is a short 5-6inch stack just below the floor, leaving me with only 2 inches there. How to I vent this properly without having a pipe running through an upstairs room or hallway. Looks like no matter where we vent this to our roof, the pipe from the toilet to the septic isn't under any walls or closets to hide it. I wanted to be able to put a vent free propane heater down there if the furnace isn't working in emergencies, and I realized an open flame down there could be dangerous because of the gases coming from the septic and this pipe. How did this pass inspection?! How can I vent this damn pipe out horizontally, safely?

I went to make the repair and realized I have 1.5" pipe, not 2" (stupid). I was originally surprised at the amount of water accumulation, but I'm not well versed on how much condensate to expect. I have a cup underneath the drip right now, and collected maybe a few ounces in a 24 hour period. I can tell you this: After coming down from the roof, the line goes horizontal and from visual inspection appears to be pitched in the right direction. After maybe 8' of horizontal run there is a short 90 elbow, also horizontal. Then there is a short, say 1" section of pipe connected to this 90. This 1" section is mated up with a pvc coupling ring. This coupling is mated with about another 4" section of pipe until it meets a 90 oriented vertically. The drip is between the coupling and the 4" section of pipe. It appears they glued the wrong length pipe and then used a coupling to fix the problem. There must be a small gap between the coupling and the 4" section of pipe where the water finds a low spot. My plan was to cut the long 8' run of pipe just upstream of the horizontal 90, and also cut the 4" section of pipe after the leak. Then put new couplings on the existing pipe and connect a new horizontal 90 with new 1.5" pipe. I've done a number of pvc glue jobs and one thing that always bothered me: When I dry fit the pieces to check spacing, I can only twist the various parts together so much. When I apply glue the pieces then slide together tighter due to the lubrication, and then my spacing is off a little. I'm reluctant to push the pieces together less than the full amount when lubricated for fear of getting a leak. Do you oversize your piping sections a little to account for this, or just leave a little slack with plenty of glue? I haven't had any pvc leak on me yet, but always struggled with this. I thought maybe to glue everything together except the last coupling, and then dry fit that last connection and cut down the pipe as needed to make the final fit.

Umm. I would guess that OSHA would be interested in these pics. People are injured or die all of the time when the sides of a hole cave in and trap the worker. They suffocate because the dirt around them prevents them from inhaling - even if their head is above ground. They also suffer oxygen deprivation to the limbs because blood flow is cut off. To prevent that, various methods are used including a metal structure lowered into the hole to prevent it from collapsing while the worker is below grade. Trenches over 5 feet deep must be supported in such a manner. To be down 12 feet with no protection is major stupidity and the supervisor should be called out on this. Really - make an issue of it... Send the photos to OSHA and the head of the department. The next guy in the hole may not be so lucky. Education and enforcement is the only way not to end up with dead workers. Here is a link that might be useful: Trench OSHA Quick Card

Do you think we can just call a stupid rotor rooter service?? Sewer gas is a serious problem and one that should not be trusted to "Stupid" people no matter what their business letterhead or personal job title might be. Sewer gas is a product of the decomposition of organic waste material and primarily contains a number of different gasses, which include but is not limited to: Hydrogen Sulfide, Ammonia, Methane, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide and may contain remnants of household solvents, chemicals, oil, gasoline or any other liquid that may have been discharged into the drain system. Sewer gas can be very elusive because the gasses are present in differing amounts from one moment in time to the next and some of the gasses or vapors are lighter than air while others are heavier than air so they may be rising in the vent system at one time and falling at another time. In addition, if the sewer gasses should happen to leak out of the vent system into the living space they may stratify in layers in the room air, near the ceiling and upper level of the room at one time and near the floor where they are less noticable at other times. It must also be noted that the rate at which these gasses rise or fall will vary in proportion to changes in the normal atmosphere barometric pressure. To make matters more complex some of the gasses present in sewer gas have a very strong odor such as Hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) or Ammonia, while some of the gasses such as nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide are odorless. Again, because these gasses are present in differing amounts they may smell strong at one time but go totally unnoticed at others. To make matters even more complex when hydrogen sulfide is present in higher levels it actually paralyzes the body's olfactory sensors in your nose so you do not smell it. Having said all that, let me also say that although it is not impossible, it is extremely unlikely that you could ever get a sewer gas buidup in a residence that would even approach dangerous levels. Now to locate the source. As Pinoke already pointed out, the most common source is a defective wax ring under the toilet. It is possible that it could result from an obstruction in the vent stack but generally you will see other indicators of a plugged stack. 1.The at rest water level in the toilet bowl lower than usual. 2.Slight movement of the water or a gurgling sound in the toilet bowl when a sink or tub is drained. 3.Dry traps-take a flashlight and visually look down the sink drain to see if there is water in the trap. The Uniform Plumbing Code requires all vents to go through the roof however if you live in a region that is under the International Residential Code you should be aware that the code permits terminating auxillary vents in the attic space. When doing so the code requires the vent opening to be at least 6" above the level of an insulation present but often people are unaware of the vents and add additional insulation covering the vent openings. When a vent is terminated in the attic space it is quite possible that the heavier than air components of the sewer gas will then permeat through any cracks or crevices and come into the living space. Check under the lavatory to to see if you have an air admittance valve (Studor Vent) on the drain line. If so, the diaphram may be stuck in the open position. The proper fix is to replace the AAV. AAV's are threaded on the bottom and screwed into a female thread adapter so they can easily be changed. If you have chrome plated brass tailpieces or traps check the brass carefully for signs of corrosion. Even if the surface of the pipe only feels rough it may be corroded sufficiently to allow gasses to escape. The only solution here is to replace the defective components. If you have checked all of these points and still have not located the source of the problem you should contact a plumber or drain cleaning service that can run a camera down the vent stack to inspect it. In a worst case scenario the can also make a small access hole in the sheetrock and run the camera inside the wall which would preclude making a major tear out until you are sure you have identified the problem.