I bought a terraced house last year and had the plumbing re-done. The pumber removed the roof vent pipe that was pre-existing and all the bathroom plumbing was hidden behind a plasterwall. I understand that a roof vent pipe is needed to release sewer gases outside the home, so im worried that issues will appear down the line. Up until now, I've not noticed any problems regarding foul smells etc. I've seen people mention that air admittance valves can be used instead, but I have no clue if this was installed. I have no way of contacting the plumber as he changed number and as mentioned, the plumbing and pipework sit behind a plasterwall. What should I do?
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Hi mate. If you haven’t experienced any problems or back surging smells etc it’s very possible and in my opinion sounds like a Durgo (AAV) on the stack probably directly behind the loo in the boxed area.
Have you checked in the loft in case the plumber terminates the vent pipe inside the house?
As its only behind plasterboard, you could make a hole in the plasterboard and have a look.
If a bad smell comes out, then you know there is no valve and needs to be fixed.
if no smell, there could be a valve and you can look to see if one exist.
If your plumber has fitted a durgo valve on the soil pipe then you will be fine. A durgo is an air admittance valve which helps with flow rates and smells etc.
There is no real way of telling if it will cause issues or not, you may be okay
Not sure why the plumber would remove the vent pipe unless instructed but, would like to think that they installed an AAV either in the loft at the top of the run or in the wall.
Although it’s a good idea to have them accessible as they do occasionally need to be changed.
Easy to check if the pipe runs into the loft. If not you may want to cut a small section of the plasterboard out to check. You probably would have smelt it by now if an AAV wasn’t fitted but to be 100 percent sure thats what I’d do.
You could get a camera but that be more expensive.
Personally I would prefer the stack to be vented to outside AAV would always be my last option.
Hope this helps.
