Venting question

My husband and I are under contract purchasing a new home. Our fanstastic inspector (we couldn’t have asked for better!) found several issues. The big one was, there was no plumbing vents present on the roof . We asked the seller to look into the issue and repair as needed. They agreed, but after using their own contractor to inspect, we were told the vent on the left of the house (red) is most likely the vent for the plumbing, and the vent on the right (blue) is a vent for the bathroom exhaust fan. Neither vent looks adequate to me, but I’m no expert, that’s why I’m here! It is important to note, that gurgling was heard when the bathroom sinks were drained, although their contractor claimed not to hear this. What do you think? All advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! a

Those pictures have nothing to do with plumbing vents.
Whoever provided them is confused with what type of vents were in question and/or they don't know what a plumbing vent is.
Sad!
Those vents that have been highlighted, are some type of AREA vents.

Without looking at the applicable Plumbing Code for your area, I would venture a guess that there should be a Minimum of at least one main vent pipe, through the roof.

That’s what I thought too! They look like regular soffit vents for the small attic space. Our inspector did not go up there during the inspection. The only way in was through the fan.

Sarah Ruth said:

That’s what I thought too! They look like regular soffit vents for the small attic space. Our inspector did not go up there during the inspection. The only way in was through the fan.

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Right...some type of soffit vents.

There is no need to go up there as there is no question, those are not plumbing vents.

Like I said.... I am no expert by any means....and my main resource is the internet. I’m looking up plumbing codes and I found this. Is there any way it could apply to my situation?

There needs to be at least one Plumbing vent penetration through a roof every other vent in the house can be an aav vent.

I understand your frustration. As purchasing a home can be the most challenging things on the planet. For my experience people like to play dumb in every situation for someone to suggest That those pictures that you posted are Plumbing vents. Is downright retarded

Look at the pics, someone hung gutters over those vents, trapping the grills and partially blocking the vents.

Meanwhile, those are not typical soffit vents, which would be installed on the bottom surface of the overhang.

Those are some freaky vents installed in the fascia boards.

I have never seen vents like that.

They look like some BS installed by uncle Joe and cousin Moe.

So maybe some chucklehead actually ran a plumbing stack up next to one of those.

You need to go in the attic, and see where both vents lead to.

They should probably be removed, and solid aluminum sheets or similar be installed weather tight to eliminate them.

Then, install proper vents for whatever the heck they were trying to make these rigged up junkers try to do.

If the seller claims ignorance, demand an escrow of at least $3,000 to investigate and fix whatever this goofy arrangement is meant to do.

OK

Lots of opinions on this thread.

here is the real deal. only one vent is legal on your house IF
Automatic air vents were used to vent the fixtures.
With out me being there, or you posting pictures. I can not say yes you have aav's and the 1 vent is legal

the weird soffit vents, look to see where the dryer is exhausting to
IF, you find the dryer is venting to the weird ugly grill, then remove/replace the grill. the dryer can not have the vent covered up. that is a blockage, which is a fire hazard
look to see if the water heater has a duct next to it. it is for combustion air, IF the WH is gas

frodo said:

IF, you find the dryer is venting to the weird ugly grill, then remove/replace the grill. the dryer can not have the vent covered up. that is a blockage, which is a fire hazard
look to see if the water heater has a duct next to it. it is for combustion air, IF the WH is gas

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the dryer is vented separately in basement. The water heater is electric. What would I need to look for to find out if I have automatic air vents?

Thanks again!

Sarah Ruth said:

the dryer is vented separately in basement. The water heater is electric. What would I need to look for to find out if I have automatic air vents?

Thanks again!

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The easiest way to identify AAV's and/or the absence of them, would be to take pictures of the drain piping under all your sinks and at your washing machine, and post them.

We have not purchased this house yet, so I do not have full access to photograph inside the home. There was only one photo in our inspection report featuring underneath a bathroom sink:

It is possible that during a re-roofing project, some chucklehead decided to eliminate any existing roof vents for the plumbing, which may originally have been installed normally as pipes up through the roof.

Someone has to get into the attic, to see what is going on up there.

Pull out the fan, if that is the only way up there.

Jeff Handy said:

It is possible that during a re-roofing project, some chucklehead decided to eliminate any existing roof vents for the plumbing, which may originally have been installed normally as pipes up through the roof.

Someone has to get into the attic, to see what is going on up there.

Pull out the fan, if that is the only way up there.

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That is exactly what we thought too! The roof was replaced last year

Update: the seller had previously claimed that the plumber said there was no issue. I was persistent in asking specific questions about how the test was done and seeing the report. Well I finally saw a report from the contractor (had yesterday’s date....hmmmm.....) and there is a whole list of recommendations for repair! Seems like the seller was being pretty dishonest. I’m not sure where we stand on getting the repairs done, but at least we know what we need to do! Thanks so much for everyone’s help here! If the sale of this house goes through, I will definitely be back on this forum, because I’ll be my own handyman! Thanks again! You guys are great!

Sarah Ruth

Sarah Ruth said:

Update: the seller had previously claimed that the plumber said there was no issue. I was persistent in asking specific questions about how the test was done and seeing the report. Well I finally saw a report from the contractor (had yesterday’s date....hmmmm.....) and there is a whole list of recommendations for repair! Seems like the seller was being pretty dishonest. I’m not sure where we stand on getting the repairs done, but at least we know what we need to do! Thanks so much for everyone’s help here! If the sale of this house goes through, I will definitely be back on this forum, because I’ll be my own handyman! Thanks again! You guys are great!

Sarah Ruth

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Before you buy a house. pay a house inspector [ he works for you, not them]
as you have seen here. they are jacking you around and hiding info.
spend the extra $300.00 and it can save you thousands down the road.
you realtor should be telling you this.
you should also demand $5000.00 be put in an escrow account to pay for the items on that plumbing list to be prepared.
are they hiding info on the hvac? electrical? foundation?

Frodo, in the 1st post, she mentions that they had a home inspector check out the house. If I were her, I would have him come back and check on the VENT or no-VENTs issue, since she probably already paid him, as that *definitely* SHOULD have been flagged in his inspection, if disconnected, not there, whatever....???

Home inspectors come in a wide variety of quality. I had an inspector report on my home (in New York State at the time) that did not know the difference between a hot water boiler and a steam boiler!