Soil pipe smells in house.... options?

[wkinedward]

Hi all, first post so please go easy.
Had a look through the forums but couldnt find an answer to this problem so hopefully someone will be kind enough to help me.

We have a bathroom at the front of the house and ensuite at rear. On the roof at rear is a soil vent through the roof, and the soil pipe from the front bathroom has a AAV in loft. We have been experiencing some terrible intermittent smells in the house for a while now, our neighbours have similar problems as well, water company have been informed and they have been digging in road for a long time.

Well we had a plumber round to see if there was anything wrong with the house to make sure there wasn't anything we could do to help with the problem. He said that although the system in 'theory' was correct, he wouldn't have installed it in the same way. He said that it is acceptable to put the AAV in the top of the front stack as long as the back stack has an open roof vent (this being the furthest from the main drain), however the distance on our house was quiet large and therefore bad air would collect in the stack and find it's way out causing the smells. He proposed extending the front soil pipe through the roof to ventin the ssame way as the back one.

He said it would be expensive though as he would have to hire equipment etc, no quote yet though.

Firstly, does this sound like good advice?

I have an opportunity over the next few days to get up on the roof to do this job myself as we currently have scaffolding round house to have ridge tiles relaid. I looked around and found that there are more discreet vent options than the 110mm pipe sticking out the roof, like the look of this one which may be OK.
Klober Universal Ventilation Tile With Cap - Brown

I think that I have to get the pipe to a position that complies with building regs (900mm above any opening window within 3 metres). Then install the Ventilation tile from inside the roof meaning that the existing felt would be cut . I'm a little unsure about how to seal vent tile to felt to make sure no water gets in.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[vectra65]

carnt see how you could get a smell through house if aav in loft if you are getting smells lower level check behind wc see if pan con ok then check ant drainage under house for any cracks or breaks

 

[dontknowitall]

Are all the vent pipe joins sealed?

Have you a shower? If so, has it been used for a while? The trap can evaporate water much more than basins and baths and this can allow drain smells up.

Presumably it's a drain smell? Not a dead mouse or something (usually very pongy for a couple of days then it goes).

AAV's can fail - might it be old enough to be due a replacement?

Presumably the smell starts from the house? I'm thinking it could be a drain cover say in the garage or close to the house and then wafting in through a vent.

 

[e/bourneplumber]

as above, but could also be rubbers missing from push fit joints or glued joints not glued, or failed dergo valve in roof

 

[wkinedward]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Let me clarify some of the points raised. The smells are intermittent and have been on and off ever since we moved in a couple of years ago. Our neighbours say that they have similar problems and so do the people over the road. we are the last few houses in a large village and when we spoke to the water board they suggested that they were having problems with the sewerage by our houses and are investigating.

The smells are definitely from the front stack, no problems at all with the rear roof vented stack. We do have traps in the bathroom but none are dry. In fact my other half seems to be constantly filling them with bleach to mask the pong!!

I have checked the seals that I can get to, the pipe is enclosed as it goes down through the downstairs toilet. The toilet goes in at floor level and the wastes are join in lower down which are difficult to see. I have considered opening up the boxing to see if there could be a problem with any of the seals lower down which are hidden. might have to do this but not ideal as I will have to repair and get re-plastered afterwards (££££!!!!) Is there a way of checking this without having to open it up. maybe a pressure test? to see if the stack is sealed.

Dont really know how I would check the drains under house unless i get someone in with camera equipment, house is only 9 years old and I really would be surprised if the drain was cracked, saying that I know that anything is possible.

My real problem is timing now, got the opportunity to get the pipe extended to roof as the roofers have scaffolding erected over Xmas period and I will get up there myself to put a roof soil vent in but not really sure if this is a wise thing to do and my concern is what type of sealent to use to seal felt as the pipe comes through.
Vent Plate from Screwfix
Have also seen this vent pipe plate which I thought I might be able to use to get the pipe through felt (sealant/adhesive???) then cover with Klober Vent Cap.

Appreciate all replies.

 

[Guest123]

Can't you take the AAV to terminate out through to the external wall? The new triple AAA valves can be used outside and have safeguards against insects and vermin and extreme temperatures.

 

[wkinedward]

Thepipe currently is boxed in the bathroom and I can get access to it in the loft where there the AAV is located. I could replace the AAV as a starting point, but not sure about getting it to an external wall. Had been told by plumber that viewed the job that it would be best vented to the roof.

If this bad air rises into the front stack wont it just sit there if the AAV is in place and working well? I think this was the reason that the plumber said he would prefer to vent to the roof and let the updraught suck the smelly air away. This is fine on the rear stack, no problems at all.

 

[dontknowitall]

An AAV lets air into the vent pipe but not out (until the diaphragm fails).

When I mentioned the seals earlier as I was wondering if there has been some maintenance or updating of something where the soil and vent pipe might have been moved. If all fitting properly then there should be no smell - in theory.

Just saying this for info.

 

[Guest123]

Terminating the soil through the roof would be the best option. If using a plastic vent tile like a Ubink or similar make sure that the flexible pipe is fully sealed to your soil pipe or you will definately not solve the problem of foul smells!
When locating your vent tile, fit it well up the roof. My preference is a vented ridge tile. Ensure that a plastic tile is well fixed to the tile battens, drill it under the lap of the tile and fix it to the tile battens with brass or stainless steel screws. I fix a lot of these where they have blown off or a blown off ridge tile has slid down the roof and dislodged it. Again if you can, try the vented ridge tile in preference to a standard vent tile.

 

[wkinedward]

System3- your reply seems to be the same as the plumber I had round which encourages me to go this route, thanks.
Understand your preference for ridge tiles but the route to the ridge would be difficult from the stack loction as the chimney is in the way.

My concern is sealing the felt onto the ventilation tile. Is this difficult? am I right to be concerned about this or is it straight forward? Any guidance on suitable sealant would be appreciated.

Thanks all.