We have 2 story house. One toilet and shower downstairs. Full bath and toilet and toilet and shower upstairs. Can't locate vent stack. There are 3 inline vents upstairs. One in each bathroom and one under kitchen sink. Toilets are gurgling when showers on. Pipes gurgling when toilets flushed, toilets draining slow, backing up, but not overflowing. Need help!
How often should inline vents be replaced? There is a capped PVC downstairs under porch, could that be stack vent? I have picture, but can't seem to figure out how to post. Septic was pumped when we bought the house and we had inspection down on entire house...but now can't locate vent stack, not sure if we have one. Previous owner built house and maybe cut corners? Will appreciate any info. Thanks.

Any non-mechanical vent should protrude through the roof, so if you have one, or some, look at the roof. Gurgling would be more of a restricted drain or full septic. Is this condition new or since you bought the house?

under certain conditions "air admittance valves" which be what you call "inline vents" will prevent drainag when there is a partial stoppage of the drain line. In any case, no matter how many AAVs you have there MUST be at least one vent through the roof, usually the furthest one from where the pipe enters the building.

This is new Steve. And AJ I'm not sure what you mean furtherest from where it enters the house? Thanks.



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try temporarily unscrewing one or more automatic vent/s. see what happens.

I will try that Packy. How often should those be replaced?

AAV's come in the cheap 5 dollar variety and better quality, more expensive models as well.

they are not allowed in my state (MA) so i can't really address their usefullness nor their longevity..

If the sewer enters the front of the house, the "vent stack" at the rear should be the one that exits the roof.

In most cases replacing them does not help the situation, because they are not designed to handle the problem. In fact, often, if they DID need replacement you would probably NOT have the poor drainage problem.



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Thanks AJ. I loosened the auto stack, didn't seem to do anything. I will go ahead Nd replace all three, just to be on the safe side. If I don't have a vent stack exiting the roof, what is the best way to get rid of the clog?

If removing them didn't change anything, you have at minimum a partial blockage of your main sewer line. Have the line cleaned and it should remedy your troubles.

The vent exiting the roof should have nothing to do with getting rid of the clog. It just helps create the drainage problem. You need to have a plumber snake the line, although if you have a septic system, that can create the problem even without a clog.

Thanks to you all for helping me understand this issue better.



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