Any plumbers here?

Randomly random post here, hopefully it won’t be the WORST use of the The Pub. I can do most of the indoor (most) plumbing, but am not 100% on the venting. Starting to get some gurgling in a sink or two and believe my vent may be getting plugged up. I realize what the vent is for, how it works, and why it’s needed. I have two, one on the main stack, and another for plumbing on the other side of the house. I’ve seen some (questionable) YT vids of people just humping up on the roof, jamming a garden hose into the vent pipe, letting it rip, and hoping for the best. I’m sure that COULD work as the water pressure/weight (maybe) forces down any debris, but I’m wondering if it’s just better to run a big snake down it.

Plumbing’s fun, … just as long as you don’t BREAK it…

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I worked as a project manager for a commercial plumbing contractor for some time, and I did not stay at a holiday inn express last night.

Assuming your house is built to code, this garden hose business is sound in theory, because the vent should be hitting the drain below the rim of any fixture, and it should be smaller than the drain line size. That said, if you live in a building boom house or if you or a previous owner used unlicensed plumbers, who knows. Suggest you get your old lady to be near the highest fixture on the stack to make sure you dont flood a bathroom. If it doesnt work, the next step is to get a snake machine in there and see if you can get it out that way. Any idea what it could be?

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JMak you had me @ " I did NOT stay at a HIE…"

Roger that on the watch out fo leaks bit, makes me feel better. It’s not plugged, but it’s an older house with some cast, lotsa copper, and a smidge of pvc. Think it’s slowly been getting plugged, over time. Might be leaves, stink bugs, who knows, not plugged, but I’d like to make sure it’s wide open, probably help with the “gurgling” in my traps I think.

Thanks for the help @JMak642

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if it’s a baby clog that may work. definitely doesn’t hurt to try but the blockage could be anywhere. if it’s a blockage lower in the system it’s going to fill with water and spew out the sinks and everywhere before it breaks a clog. usually clogs due to lack of air causing water to drain slow build up slow over time. meaning it is very settled and probably tighter in there, requiring more force than it takes to spit up the half liter of water in the traps. a sewer auger is best. …easier option is sulphuric acid if you think your pipes can handle it. if the blackpipe is damn near rusted through it will not be recommended. this is SERIOUS stuff. i have used it on many jobs and it does Wonders. eats through anything. but if you use it, (1)wear gloves and goggles (2) after Following the directions and letting it sit (i think its 15min, it says let the water run for some minutes, but i would pour some down all the drains and let it sit the recommended time and then turn on every faucet in the house for an hour and flush the toilets as fast as they refill for at least 30min. it Will most probably either work or you will find out you had a pipe that was severely deteriorated and it ate through it. but i have used this stuff for 15years on many jobs and Never seen it ruin a pipe. if it ruins the pipe then the pipe was ruined already anyway. but be careful bc i did watch a guy pour it down a sink once and it literally blew up out of the drain in his face bc there was a bunch of crap in the trap. pour it slow and listen that its not making a crazy sound then pour faster. here is a link to the stuff i use. it’s not no draino. this is professional 100% acid:
https://www.njsupply.com/mobile/64Oz-Drain-Cleaner_p_105948.html

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btw, venting problem doesn’t necessarily mean leaves or something in vent pipe. commonly it means air entering in from vent pipe isn’t flowing through the system due to a negative pressure caused by a blockage anywhere in the system. could be just before it enters the sewer line.

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Wow, what a click bait topic title. This topic really is about plumbing.

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@Too_tall is a licensed plumber. Knee deep in shit every day!:+1:

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Lucky he is too_tall it would be up to anyone else’s neck lol.

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Baaahhhaaa! Haven’t heard from him in a while, hope he hasn’t drowned in it

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Hard to troubleshoot in text but I’m sure he is the one to help more than any.

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What’s the problem??

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@Too_tall the team has nominated you as the resident plumbing expert, as well as @g_man2. My post was in regards to an older house where we are starting to get some gurgling in the sinks/traps. Reading up, assumed that perhaps one or both of my vents were getting clogged a bit. Not completely for sure, but maybe I needed to purge them a bit.

That’s to funny I didn’t know it was so well known I am a plumber lol. And yes it sounds like a venting problem but I doubt a vent is clogged it’s probably more of something just isn’t vented at all what happens is old timer plumbers didn’t do a very good job they would use things called s traps instead of per traps for example look in your vanity if it’s an s trap it would go through the trap and straight down through the floor making it impossible for it to be vented the gurgling sound is your pee trap getting sucked dry or the fixture that isn’t vented properly is trying to pull air form that per trap causing the gurgling sound the one quick farley easy solution to this problem is to add a mechanical or around here it’s called a studor vent after the pee trap so it can pull the air from the mechanical vent and not your pew trap

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Have you looked down the vent pipe with a flashlight? it may be something as simple as a birds nest near the top. I would suggest a snake down the drainpipe first then use a hydro jet to clean it out. It uses high pressure water jet to clean it. It’s less harmful than anything else. and will run in as far as you need.

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Haven’t humped up on the roof yet, as everything’s draining good. Been in the (older) house for 17 years, never had any backups beyond a hair snake in the shower drain, so it’s nothing that came on suddenly, just seemed as it slowly started happening. I’m going to have to find the extension ladder now…

If you have been there that long and never had to snake anything you might have a bad case of narrowing of drain. running a water jet would bring them back to new status more or less.

The two on the back propel it and clean up any leftovers from the center front one. It is so much better than just a snake. Just have all your main runs done

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@GPC2012 I see the benefit of that jet, never knew they existed. Thanks for that tip.

I live in a mobile home built in 1968 that I’m rehabbing. Kept having problems with the line from the kitchen Had to snake it myself several times got tired of it and had a plumber come out on my warranty plan he suggested I have it done to both main lines in the place haven’t had a slow drain since then. As he explained it a snake opens a hole big enough to allow the pipe to drain as most older plumbing will build up a coating over time just like us humans the have plaque in our arteries around our hearts and have to have an angiogram and I stent put in. The Hydro blows everything out so it’s like starting over with fresh pipes.

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Mmmmmm, fresh pipes for the win then !!!

I am still betting the whole problem is just improper venting I Highly doubt your vent has anything in it that would be a one in a thousand chance 17 years of plumbing and my father is a plumber to and I have never had a vent that needed a snake or a hydro jet but in the case of a clogged drain yes a hydro jet is the way to go. But I highly doubt that climbing on your roof will do anything to help you but I guarantee adding mechanical vents in your cabinet s at your problem fixtures will definetly solve the problem I am willing to put money on it lol.

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