An extra hole in a vent pipe?!?

[Jeff Davis]

I like that and not in a joking way throw a jim cap or duct tape it, and see the differance. I double check my theorys keeping an open mind . what I run into all the time is poor workmanship worn out products and some people need it working not always interested in fixing everything thats wrong and rebuilding thier entire house . Some times gotta decide what gives the most bang for the buck.
Jeff Davis let us know how you proceed

Good suggestion, Jeff Young. I'll put some duct tape over the pipe (or create a clog) this evening and see if that affects the 2 bathrooms down the line from the hole.

Depending on how that goes, I'm either going to put in a cleanout tee or a frenco coupler—those parts should arrive tomorrow. Since I've never done such a fix before and accessing the pipe is extremely hard, I figured I'd leave myself both options. Once the part of choice is installed, I'll scrub away the mold with soap and water then I'll spray the affected areas with a sodium hypochlorite, water, and surfactant solution to be sure that the mold won't come back. After that, I'll replace the two rotted cardboard insulation stops; I'll likely make my own out of carboard boxes, since it seems you can only buy insulation stops in quantities of 50 or more.

 

[Reach4]

Good suggestion, Jeff Young. I'll put some duct tape over the pipe (or create a clog) this evening and see if that affects the 2 bathrooms down the line from the hole.

That would be surprising if you saw any effect, other than maybe making the attic smell better.

Usually a vent problem alone will not cause poor drainage. A bad vent plus a pipe belly can cause drainage problems.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[wwhitney]

Give the discolored wood a quick screwdriver durometer test while you're at it. Take a flat head screw driver (preferably fixed, not interchangeable bits), stab some good wood for a control, then stab the discolored areas to see if you penetrate much farther. I guess if you get 1/8" penetration on the good wood and 1" on the discolored wood, I'd suggest investigating further; if you get 1/8" vs 1/4", I guess I wouldn't worry. Not sure where to draw the line.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Jeff Davis]

Give the discolored wood a quick screwdriver durometer test while you're at it. Take a flat head screw driver (preferably fixed, not interchangeable bits), stab some good wood for a control, then stab the discolored areas to see if you penetrate much farther. I guess if you get 1/8" penetration on the good wood and 1" on the discolored wood, I'd suggest investigating further; if you get 1/8" vs 1/4", I guess I wouldn't worry. Not sure where to draw the line.

Cheers, Wayne

I'll do that; thanks.

 

[Jeff Davis]

I'll do that; thanks.

Hey gentlemen, I successfully finished the hole in my attic-vent pipe!

Here’s what I did:

1. Used a hand hacksaw to cut out the section of the pvc pipe that had the hole in it—it was too tight to use a reciprocating saw.

2. moved away the loose fill—I threw out any that was wet or looked moldy

3. Primed and cemented in a clean-out tee

4. Removed the two rotten-cardboard insulation stops that were closest to the hole in the pvc pipe

5. Sprayed the surface mold that was on the wood surfaces with a 5% solution of a Sodium Hypochlorite & water that was mixed with Elemonator surfactant. I had to spray it two separate times to kill all the mold

6. Once the surfaces had completely off gassed and dried—subsequent to spraying—I replaced the cardboard-insulation stops and stapled them to the wood beams

7. I pushed the loose fill back into place and got the hell out of that cramped attic.

See the attached pictures.

Thank you for all your help; I couldn’t have done it without your assistance.

Kind regards,
-Jeff

 

[Jeff Davis]

 

[Jeff H Young]

glad it worked out jeff

 

[Jeff Davis]

glad it worked out jeff

Thank you!

 

[Reach4]

Looks like it was planned that way. Nice touch with the cleanout.

 

[Jeff Davis]

Looks like it was planned that way. Nice touch with the cleanout.

I appreciate that, friend. I know that I'll look back on this and think that it was really easy, but it wasn't—it was simple, but not easy. The attic was so hard to traverse on my hands & knees with a tool box, headlamp, PPE, etc.—moving from truss to truss (or is it joist to joist?). At times I felt like Charles Bronson's character in The Great Escape (1963)... well, maybe not that bad. Thanks again!

 

[PlumbNuts]

I know that I'll look back on this and think that it was really easy, but it wasn't—it was simple, but not easy. The attic was so hard to traverse on my hands & knees with a tool box, headlamp, PPE, etc.—moving from truss to truss (or is it joist to joist?).

Welcome to my world, your work looks really good; nice job.
I do have one question though; Did you use some type of thread sealer on the PVC cleanout plug? If you did not it is possible for sewer gas to escape through the threads.
Even if it is not sealed the escaping gasses may not be enough to worry with, but if you start smelling it from inside the home this could be the culprit.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Good thing you got that done before summer!

 

[Jeff Davis]

Welcome to my world, your work looks really good; nice job.
I do have one question though; Did you use some type of thread sealer on the PVC cleanout plug? If you did not it is possible for sewer gas to escape through the threads.
Even if it is not sealed the escaping gasses may not be enough to worry with, but if you start smelling it from inside the home this could be the culprit.

Oi! Just when I thought I was out of that attic... it pulls me back in .

No, I did not seal the cleanout cap. However, I just did some research and it seems that there are a variety of products that I can use for this, and apparently Teflon tape is not the best choice. Although I own some plumbers putty from Oatey, I read that a pipe dope is probably the best choice. I'm leaning toward Weld-on Blue since it has negligible amounts of VOCs and I'd like to give my respirator a rest for a while—also, I'm not a pro, so I'm not worried about cost overhead regarding a more-expensive product.

@PlumbNuts do you have a product that you recommend? Much thanks.

-Jeff

 

[Jeff Davis]

Good thing you got that done before summer!

Yes, I recently discovered that my attic insulation is rather inadequate—apparently my inspector wouldn't go into the attic when I was purchasing the house from out of state, after having to army crawl through much of it recently, I now know why—so it was still hot up there despite sub 50° temperatures outside. So, I'm in the market for some loose fill now

 

[Jeff H Young]

I thought the threads looked bare didn't want to fuss. Threaded C O T threads at least with ABS aren't great dry as is I way prefer dope over ptfe tape, I have preferences but whatever is listed for PVC specifically and doesn't just say for plastic is good

 

[Reach4]

Oi! Just when I thought I was out of that attic... it pulls me back in

It may not warrant a trip to the attic. Remember that a smell was not the original complaint; it was rain water getting into the insulation.

 

[PlumbNuts]

It may not warrant a trip to the attic. Remember that a smell was not the original complaint; it was rain water getting into the insulation.

Exactly, If the attic is ventilated and you do not begin to notice any sewer odors then don't worry about it. I was making the observation just in case you do start noticing weird smells.
I actually use the wax from a wax seal for cleanout plugs, it seals good and I do not get that nasty pipe dope all over my hands and clothes. Just take a small section of on and work it across the threads until completely coated and then install, no leaks, no smells, no mess and it does not dry out or seize up so if you ever have to access it you can.

 

[Jeff Davis]

You are indeed correct; cardboard sucks: it’s fragile and it can’t handle moisture at all.

I’m no attic maven, but I’ve never seen insulation stops stapled to the floor between trusses and 2-3 feet in from the edge of the eaves the way mine are. It looks like lazy workmanship—by the builder—to me.

My attic has a huge horizontal footprint, so there are literally hundreds of those cardboard insulation stops. If I decide to overhaul my attic insulation in the future, I’ll likely replace them all with MDF and attach them out at the edge of the eaves rather than further in to save on insulation, which is how it is set up currently.

 

[Mikha'el]

I don't know what happened to the pipe but I'm blaming Sparky them electricians and their auger bits if its 7/8 inch you know it was him at least there isn't any romex running through it!

Ha... years ago my dad (licensed sparky contractor) was helping me rough-in my house, and running built-in vacuum system piping. Forgot to tell me about an "oops" through a section of 3" ABS on the ground floor. Let's just say the plumber's initial leak test wasn't successful...