Drain Line Vents in house

[cstettner]

I’m having a problem trying to get my toilets to flush consistently. Most of the time I can get them to flush if I fill the bowl almost completely….sometimes not. Anyway, today I checked one of my vent valves that we had a sticking problem with previously. The toilets flush great with no problem when I have the vent valve removed. So, I replaced the vent valve and still have the same problem. Vent valve installed = poor drainage…removed = great drainage… HELP!!!

[Retired plbg1Participant]

What kind of job you have run the vent through the roof like you are suppose to do.

[AnEagle4Life1Participant]

I thank you for the non-helpful (and quite illiterate response)… There are vents in the roof. There are also vents in the house behind certain fixtures with a valve to keep drain smells out and allow air in when drainage is occurring. These are the vents I’m referring to and having a problem with… Could someone ELSE please help?!?!

[nicktheplumberParticipant]

I guess you are referring to those “air admittance valves” used to vent individual fixtures in lieu of regular roof venting (covered in IRC 3114).

I’m not sure why your toilet should flush better with these valves removed. If anything, they should allow MORE air to vent your system than if you had only the roof venting (the effect would be like having a larger diameter vent stack0. I suspect that your flush problem is unrelated to your vents. It sounds more like a partial clog in the toilet trap or drain line. Try snaking the toilet and drains.

NtP

[AnEagle4Life1Participant]

Thank you Nick for the reply To close this topic out, here’s what I found today. I knew that creating a vent path was making everything work properly. So, I went onto the roof and had my wife flush the toilet. I could hear water moving but felt no air flow in or out of the vent pipe. So, I thought it might be clogged, brought the water hose up on the roof and commenced spraying. Luckily, my vent is just above my crawlspace entryway because my wife asked why there was water coming from under the house as I was spraying. Turns out that the vent line was never hooked up to the drain system…it went from the roof to the crawlspace and ended right next to the drain pipe. So, for over 2 1/2 years our system has not had a proper vent. Anyway, plumber came out and made everything right by us. Thanks again.

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