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Frozen Sewer Vent

NorthCyd

NorthCyd

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Aug 22, 2011
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I heard some gurgling in the sink after flushing the toilet. I went outside to check and it looks like the vents are frozen. I can see ice sticking up out of a couple of them. I was wondering if anyone has any solutions to this that don't require me to climb up on an icy roof, or should it be ok to leave it for a couple of days when we're supposed to get 50 weather on Thursday. Thanks!
 
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NorthCyd said:
I heard some gurgling in the sink after flushing the toilet. I went outside to check and it looks like the vents are frozen. I can see ice sticking up out of a couple of them. I was wondering if anyone has any solutions to this that don't require me to climb up on an icy roof, or should it be ok to leave it for a couple of days when we're supposed to get 50 weather on Thursday. Thanks!
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It will probably melt tomorrow.

What is the diameter of your vents? Do they look 4"?
 
I wouldn't leave it that way! There are toxic gases that can enter your home if that thing is plugged.

Try running hot water for awhile in a sink to see if it will help melt it.
 
herbicide said:
I wouldn't leave it that way! There are toxic gases that can enter your home if that thing is plugged.

Try running hot water for awhile in a sink to see if it will help melt it.
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More than likely any steam that rises will add to the ice pack. It's still plenty cold outside.

If the lines are in good shape (no leaks) the traps will be more than enough to keep any fumes away for a day. Push comes to shove just make sure to pour water down each line to make sure traps are full.

The one to watch is the toilet being a larger trap. Can always just look and see if the water has disappeared from the bowl. If so.........flush again.
 
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CYEATHAWK said:
Four inches is good. Anything smaller, this becomes a problem which is why they require at least 4". Can you tell which comes off your bath?
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I can't really tell. It's new construction and mostly finished so I can't really tell what is going where and I'm far from an expert in this stuff.
 
NorthCyd said:
I can't really tell. It's new construction and mostly finished so I can't really tell what is going where and I'm far from an expert in this stuff.
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Sounds as if you have multiple vents.....so I wouldn't worry too much with warming coming on. I'm surprised they allowed smaller than 4" (insert CF TWSS joke here)____________________________vent line.

Unless you smell sewer in the house anywhere I wouldn't worry about it. And if you do.......pour water down the drain that smells to fill up trap. Being a new build I highly doubt your vent line it plugged. And being single family your traps aren't going to be sucked dry in record speed.

I would suggest in the future to make any vents smaller than 4".............4", and maybe have them raised off the roof line a bit.
 
Being new you just paid a pretty penny per sq foot. Call your builder in the morning, who will then call the sub who installed your plumbing for an inspection and fix.
 
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I had the same thing happen on my furnace exhaust vent on a farmhouse in the country. No doubt caused by the weather but needs to be addressed.
 
NorthCyd said:
I heard some gurgling in the sink after flushing the toilet. I went outside to check and it looks like the vents are frozen. I can see ice sticking up out of a couple of them. I was wondering if anyone has any solutions to this that don't require me to climb up on an icy roof, or should it be ok to leave it for a couple of days when we're supposed to get 50 weather on Thursday. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I had the same situation the last couple days and I got up on the roof and poured some boiling water down the drain to thaw it out. Problem solved. Took about 5 minutes to fix.
 
Odd that I've never heard of this before. Interesting. Being a Minnesotan for the last four plus decades I thought I knew all things freezing ass weather related.
 
BoxsterCy said:
Odd that I've never heard of this before. Interesting. Being a Minnesotan for the last four plus decades I thought I knew all things freezing ass weather related.
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I had to get on the roof twice last week. I think it was just a bad combination of being really cold, windy and blowing snow. I’ve never had this problem before until last week.
 
Had the same issue. Happened a couple years ago when it was super cold out like last week. Two inch stack pipe from kitchen sink and washer was froze over along with four inch stack from bathroom toilets, tub, shower and sink.

Thursday night I thought I would check the furnace exhaust might be froze. Looked on the roof and saw the four inch pipe was froze over. Got the ladder our which blew over before I even got on it. It was 90% plugged. Was able to remove the majority of it. Took a hammer and tapped around the pipe to get rid of the remaining ice.

Just glad I thought to look at it.
 
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Have a similar issue with dryer exhaust. Been getting vent may be clogged error since it got really cold.
 
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NorthCyd said:
I can't really tell. It's new construction and mostly finished so I can't really tell what is going where and I'm far from an expert in this stuff.
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If it’s a new construction, the smaller vent could be a passive radon vent. The sewer vents should be 4”.
 
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