Ask Me Help Desk - Clogged Stack Vent?

First off, I'm pretty new to this whole plumbing thing, but I'm learning more than I though I would ever have to now that we bought this new (built in the 20s) house.

Now that I've said that I'll explain the issue. We have a clogged sink upstairs. The upstairs bathroom sink drains about a sink full of water no problem but then can take literally all night to drain a second sink full. The toilet and tub drain no problem. So, checked the trap. Clean. Then, got a 25' pipe snake. Took the trap off again and shoved it on down. Ran out of snake with no blockage to speak of. At this point, not being a plumber I was a bit confused so I talked with a plumber who told me it was likely the main stack air intake (I think he called it something else) was clogged (likely rust).

Being winter we didn't do much about it, just avoided using the sink upstairs. Well now the downstairs kitchen sink is doing basically the same thing. That happened when I got home from work...

So, today I decided to try to clean out the stack vent. The first attempt was to go up on the roof and run water down via garden hose. This method probably would have worked but it resulted in a flooding of our bathroom with black "stuff"... We also had a little leaking (probably from the flooded 2nd floor bathroom) into the lower floor kitchen ceiling.

So, I humbly ask... is there a better way to clean a stack vent? :) Or, how would I go about not flooding anything and still accomplish the goal? Oh, it's worth mentioning about 5 or so feet down the hose hit something solid. I'm guessing it's a "T" of some sort, but could that be the infamous clog of iron-oxide?

Thanks much in advance!

-Scott

There is no "easy" way to snake a vent. You don't go after it with a garden hose,you rent a sewer machine,(see image) to do the job.

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about 5 or so feet down the hose hit something solid.

If it was only 5 feet in from a roof vent then it was a blockage and not a tee. Take the sewer machine up to the roof and send it down the vent. Put out enough cable to reach the base and 20 feet more. Do this with the vent of every fixture that gave you trouble. Good luck, Tom

Thanks Tom, Sounds viable. What can I expect to happen with this machine as far as debris falling down and/or clogging something up further down?

Also, how far down would a "T" be? If I had hit something 10 feet down would it have been a "T"? Further?

I've also been given the advice to rip the wall out and remove the pipe... what do you think about that advice?

Thanks,

-Scott

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What can I expect to happen with this machine as far as debris falling down and/or clogging something up further down?

You auger through the clog and flush the main out by flushing or cycling the washer.

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Also, how far down would a "T" be? If I had hit something 10 feet down would it have been a "T"? Further?

If it was a tee you hit,(which it wasn't) you would have pushed right past it and never known it. I think what you ran into was a dead critter. Unless you have a flat roof with no attic the first tee would have been a lot farther down the line then 10 feet. Put some muscle into it and auger into it. Bring it back up if the auger bites into whatever's down there.

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I've also been given the advice to rip the wall out and remove the pipe... what do you think about that advice?

WOW! Talk about overkill. Rip out a wall and cut the pipe out for a clog? Is your friend angry with you? Just how much money do you have to spend on foolishness? I live in Florida and I have some lovely waterfront property if you're interested down in Corkscrew Swamp. Rent a sewer machine and auger that blocked vent. Good luck, Tom