Vent stack issues? Or just clogged?

[salemguy2012]

Having some water draining problems that might be hard to describe, so hang with me. Whenever we run the bathroom sink for longer than 10 seconds, we can hear the water begin to bubble up in the shower drain. Whenever we take long showers (again, not that we should), the water begins to build up in the base of the shower. I took a plunger to the shower drain a bunch of sediment-filled water came up into the sink.

Last year we discovered that when renovations were done to our bathroom several years before we moved in, that the bathroom was improperly ventilated (the guy did beautiful work in the house but took some sever shortcuts), and that it was going to cost almost 10k to re-do all the piping in the bathroom. On some level, because of this, we expect a small amount of draining problems because we know there's bad venting, but it seems to have gotten worse lately. The problem is just too expensive to fix, and definitely not worth it in our place, so we're hoping for a temporary solution, and that the next owner, with our full disclosure, will be willing to put up the money to fix everything.

So my question is this - does this sound like a little clog? Can we get a temporary fix in before calling the pros?

T.E.
Salem, MA

[LiQuId]

A proper fix would have been to have a professional plumber come out and do the work, As one of these I would have to say nothing is "beautiful " about a system that was imoproperly designed, regardless of the cosmetics of what the "plumber" you had did.

Okay, the issue.

unvented or improper venting causes a burping effect in the drains ( think 2 liter bottle turned upside down ) so the heavy materials ( like #2 ) remain behind in many instances and, over time cause enough buildup to restrict flow... this causes backups like what you are experiencing.

With a Proper Vent installed the waters flow is Considered "laminar" ( meaning smooth ) as compared to prior to the Vent installation which would be turbulent. and so material can run smoothly through.

What to do now,
Start by having your drains snaked as they are fiull of crap and this will not go away without proper cleaning, regardless of vent installation.

if you Can, have a proper vent installed... If this is not possiblle Then try puting and Air admitance valve ( commonly referred to as a "cheater vent" _ on the place where your bathroom sink comes up, it should be a T with the vent coming off the top as high up as practical and downstream of the p trap for that sink.

If your plumber missed installing vents and the importance of these vents then I wager he Also didnt Run the DWV properly and simply adding a vent may not be enough to prevent Re occurance.

1. Call plumber to snake drain.
2. get them to assess the drainage problem.
3. stop having poop in your shower...


If you really want to SEE what is happening in your drainage Take a 2 liter bottle and fill with water, tip in upside down... This is the system without venting. now poke a pin hole into the bottom of the bottle and invert it again. this si the effect of adding a vent, it allows the atmospheric pressure to remain the same on the traps and drainage piping. \

..Sorry for the long Writeup, I got a busted leg right now and am Bored...

Hope you enjoyed Plumbing 101

[havasu]

Great visuals as always!