Anybody know residential plumbing code?

[Guest Arko]

Anybody know plumbing code?

A friend of ours moved into a crap rental house.

The problem I can't figure out, which may be a health issue is this:

The slumlord converted a crap garage into a bedroom and bathroom.

Bad smells (sewer gas?) comes up from the shower drain, and unless she covers it, gnats take up residence in there.

The toilet can't muster enough energy to swallow anything bigger that a hamster turd most of the time, and whenever that toilet, or the one in the original bathroom are flushed ALL the drains in the house gurgle.

She had one back up that cause even the kitchen sink to fill. That was cleared, but he now wants to blame all the issues on her. I say he's a dirtbag, knew about it, and is trying to cover his tracks.

My question is, what is code on slope for drains, and venting?

I don't see a vent anywhere on the roof, and peering under the crawl space, it looks like there is little slope from the kitchen on one end of the house and the glorious addition.

Any thoughts?

[Guest Spurhunter]

Sounds like slope/vent issues for sure here. 1/4" every ten feet is enough slope, but if your venting is wrong, thats out the window. I would say the culprit on the addition space is because they didnt dig deep enough when installing the pipe for the new bathroom. (assuming its under the concrete). There are small vents that can be added in-line, but you should be able to see those in a vanity or crawl space somewhere. Its hard to figure out without looking at it, and I am no expert, just did a bunch of this a few months ago renovating my own house.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I wonder if they put a trap in. Venting can make all the difference, too. Sewer gas can be flammable. I would move to a better rental rather than fight with a jackleg slumlord.

I don't know the codes, but I have re-plumbed a couple houses with a plumber friend's

guidance. Those one way flap valves should only be used when you can't tap into a good vent pipe.

This may be a good start for codes.Tennessee Building Codes | Regional Construction Information | Reed Construction Data

[Guest Arko]

Sounds like slope/vent issues for sure here. 1/4" every ten feet is enough slope, but if your venting is wrong, thats out the window. I would say the culprit on the addition space is because they didnt dig deep enough when installing the pipe for the new bathroom. (assuming its under the concrete). There are small vents that can be added in-line, but you should be able to see those in a vanity or crawl space somewhere. Its hard to figure out without looking at it, and I am no expert, just did a bunch of this a few months ago renovating my own house.

That kind of reinforced what I was thinking from my limited plumbing experience. This guy is too cheap, too sleazy to care about an inline vent, so I doubt there are any at all.

I wonder if they put a trap in. Venting can make all the difference, too. Sewer gas can be flammable. I would move to a better rental rather than fight with a jackleg slumlord.

I don't know the codes, but I have re-plumbed a couple houses with a plumber friend's

guidance. Those one way flap valves should only be used when you can't tap into a good vent pipe.

This may be a good start for codes.Tennessee Building Codes | Regional Construction Information | Reed Construction Data

Thanks for the link. I searched before I posted, but missed that somehow.

I agree she should move, but she's afraid to break the lease. if it's a health/safety issue though, I believe she has grounds. Doubt he'd fight anyway. I'm told he's broke/in bankruptcy.

[bronco302]

Code on vents is fixtures need to be within 10' of a vent and the main sewer vent should be the same size as the main sewer, other vents can be smaller. No vents visible through the roof is a big no no.

Been a long time since I read specs but grade is generaly 1/4" per foot unless it puts you below the house drain tie in outside. You can get away with less with PVC but not a lot without trouble down the road. The 1/4" gives the system a natural scouring action to slow buildup.

If the shower is in the garage clean out the drain good and rinse it with a hose to get all the hair and hair products out of it. Then shine a light down the drain and see if it has water standing in it. If the LL did the work himself he may have left the trap off, this would make it an open sewer. Got to have a trap. Another thing that could happen if the system is not vented is flushing the toilet can jerk the water out of a trap then it is an open sewer till you add more water. If it looks like it has a trap under the floor flush the toilet a couple of times to see if it pulls the water out of the shower trap. It can be trapped father down the line but that is a bad way to do it.

Also stress not to ever flush anything but toilet paper and anything she Previously had to eat or drink. Take it from some that gets to pull toilets and clean that junk out it don't always flush. Anything caught in the trap will cause a bad flush and if it can't be gotten out the toilet is trash. HTH.

Joe W.

[Smith]

I can tell you from just building an addition and dealing with metro the hardest thing we had problems with was venting. They were very picky about vents. It all depends on the set up but the vent has to be at the end of the line just after the p-trap. Like I said it varies depending on setup but it sounds like not enough slope and bad venting. There may not be p-traps on everything either. The whole purpose of P-traps is to create a clean water "plug" between the sewer fumes and the fixture. Without that the smells will come right into the house. Even a backed up drain won't smell too bad if the p-traps and venting are correct.

[Guest Arko]

Code on vents is fixtures need to be within 10' of a vent and the main sewer vent should be the same size as the main sewer, other vents can be smaller. No vents visible through the roof is a big no no.

Been a long time since I read specs but grade is generaly 1/4" per foot unless it puts you below the house drain tie in outside. You can get away with less with PVC but not a lot without trouble down the road. The 1/4" gives the system a natural scouring action to slow buildup.

If the shower is in the garage clean out the drain good and rinse it with a hose to get all the hair and hair products out of it. Then shine a light down the drain and see if it has water standing in it. If the LL did the work himself he may have left the trap off, this would make it an open sewer. Got to have a trap. Another thing that could happen if the system is not vented is flushing the toilet can jerk the water out of a trap then it is an open sewer till you add more water. If it looks like it has a trap under the floor flush the toilet a couple of times to see if it pulls the water out of the shower trap. It can be trapped father down the line but that is a bad way to do it.

Also stress not to ever flush anything but toilet paper and anything she Previously had to eat or drink. Take it from some that gets to pull toilets and clean that junk out it don't always flush. Anything caught in the trap will cause a bad flush and if it can't be gotten out the toilet is trash. HTH.

Joe W.

Thanks Joe. Great info. I'll look and see what I can see. I KNOW there is no roof vent, and I can smell sewer gas every time I walk in her bathroom.

Not sure I can access the end end of the house with the added bathroom via the crawl space without attracting too much attention, but I'll see.

It wouldn't surprise me if she had no trap at all. This is the same guy that won't fix the HVAC system, and instead tried to give her a 40 year old, POS fireplace insert for heat...that had the vent chamber hook up cover plate that was missing "repaired" with tape. That was the first time I got involved..

At this point I'm looking for ammo for her to break the lease without having to pay the balance. She needs out of there.

[Smith]

All you have to do is put in an anonymous cal to codes. They will be out in a heart beat and she will have all the legal ammo she needs. They WILL find something.

[Guest Spurhunter]

Where is this rat-trap located?

[Guest jackdm3]

There won't be much "Anonymous" about that call because no one else in the hood knows she has a prob in order to call it in. Just call the code department so they can observe that it's not right, they'll do paperwork for the tenant that will be sufficient official grounds to move out. He'd rather have another tenant that won't fuss than persue the tenant for breaking lease. The Department needs to address this for all future tenants.

[ftncityfatboy]

ALL drains, ie: showers, sinks, toilets, etc....must have a trap under them. Traps keep water in them, thus preventing methane gases' from filtering out the drain. Without them, code violation......gurgling is sometimes caused by the drain being below the original drain grade or septic system. sometime gurgling happens when the septic tank is full. Had the same issue in a sink at my dads, once he connected to sewer, problem went away. I did install a one way backflow trap prior to connecting to sewer.

PM Suntzu....he's a supt for a construction company, he may be able to help you better. He's would be most familiar with the local codes and offer some good advice.

that's about all I know, and yes venting is extremely important. IANAP(plumber) YMMV

[Guest Arko]

Where is this rat-trap located?

It

LOL..It's in Cleveland, off Lee before the bypass.

There won't be much "Anonymous" about that call because no one else in the hood knows she has a prob in order to call it in. Just call the code department so they can observe that it's not right, they'll do paperwork for the tenant that will be sufficient official grounds to move out. He'd rather have another tenant that won't fuss than persue the tenant for breaking lease. The Department needs to address this for all future tenants.

Yeah..It sounds like a good idea, but I think she'd feel more comfortable if she looks around and finds an alternate place first..but once she's done that, I may just call for her "insurance"

Thanks guys!

[Guest jackdm3]

I thought she was looking already. It's easy for anybody to sniff out a deadbeat landlord early on. This has been going on for years across the street with a tub backing up with sewage so much that the tub is permanently stained gray brown halfway up the sides. It's cheaper for him to lose tenants than to do the mainline dig-up for 3 or 4K. DB LL's are not any better than career criminals and should be treated just the same.

[Guest Arko]

This guy had a smooth line of crap Jack. He was "Remodeling" the place when she signed the lease, and she assumed he would actually do a decent job. She'll be more skeptical from now on, I'm guessing.

She IS looking now, BTW, but was afraid to move, fearing getting stuck with the current lease.

I don't think now though, with the info you guys gave me that he'll challenge her.

[Guest jackdm3]

She's good to GO!

[Guest Arko]

Once again, TGO saves the day.

Thanks guys. You all ROCK!