Greetings, I have suspected that I have venting issues with my plumbing. I have slow draining, hear gurgling at times and sometimes smell sewer gas. My local hardware store suggested I flush the vent pipes on the roof. I did so last weekend. I used a garden hose with a stream nosel. I ran the water for 3-5 min in each of the three vents I have. My son took a bath last night and as Inwalked past the restroom, I heard gurgling and wa the tub was draining slowly and gurgling.

I don't think the vents in the roof are they issue. Any suggestions on what to try next?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Plumbing vents are often suspected but seldom are the cause of drain problems. You probably have a partial clog somewhere in your sewer drain piping. It could be in a branch drain line if some drains in the house work ok and others do not. The washing machine is often a good indicator - if it drains ok after doing a couple of laundry loads then the main line is probably ok and the problem is in a branch drain. But there are so many variables in how houses are constructed it is hard to make general statements that apply to everyone.

Have a competent drain cleaning person or service clean out your drain lines and that should take care of the problem. Many do-it-yourselfers often attempt to clean a drain line, sometimes they get lucky and fix it, but many times the cleanout snake they use merely pokes a hole thru the blockage, doesn't push it down the line and out to the city sewer line. This is a problem that experience and the right tools are usually needed.

The sewer odor could be backup of dirty water from a clog, if it gets backed up to the drain trap or upstream you will smell it. I could be wrong but doubt that you have a vent problem. If you have a sewer line cleanout cap in your yard somewhere you can remove it, see if there is standing water inside, there shouldn't be. And you can run a bunch of water down the drain inside the house, like flush the toilet or run the shower, watch or listen for water to flow past the cleanout. In a good sewer line you can often hear the waterfall from the end of your line where it falls into the city line.



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I agree with has been said but on more then one occasion I have found the problem to be in the bathroom sink drain, "usually hair" is in the trap arm partially blocking the vent as usually would be used for a bathroom group as long as the problem is isolated only to this bathroom.