I was on my roof today and found that two of the three vent pipes are full of green water. What should I do?

Rod them to the basement level plus about 15' more rod.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Rod them to the basement level plus about 15' more rod.

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Thanks, but I am a novice. What is "Rod them?"

Go to the hardware store and tell the guy you want to rod your vent pipes. Ask him which is his favorites, buy what he picks up. It's a spool about 2' in diameter with a tightly coiled spring steel shaft used to shove down blocked drain pipes. Some folks call them snakes too.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Rod them to the basement level plus about 15' more rod.

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Follow Bobs advice and rent a sewer machine, (see image). Take the machine up to the roof with a spool of cable. Put out enough cable to reach the base of the vent and 15 or 20 feet more to reach the main sewer. When the water drains out of the vents you'll know you have cleared the clog. Good luck, tom

Truly amazing piece of information. At least to me. All those years I've been doing plumbing, I have never seen a drain filled all the way up to the roof - except for the water test we do when installing new plumbing system.

Now I am going to be wondering for rest of my life: how does this happen..

I have only seen one filled to the top. Combination of a dead squirrel and a season full of leaves, it did not smell nice or rod well. Think of how much rain it would take to fill a vent, like 20' or 30' of rain. That's a bit hard to picture.

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Originally Posted by Milo Dolezal

Truly amazing piece of information. At least to me. All those years I've been doing plumbing, I have never seen a drain filled all the way up to the roof - except for the water test we do when installing new plumbing system.

Now I am going to be wondering for rest of my life: how does this happen....?

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Milo! Wonder no more! My gut tells me that Bob nailed it. I'm with you, ain't no way you're going to run into two filled vent stacks unless you're running a static test for inspection. Debris, dead critters or whatever, I think that the vents are blocked a little way down and rain water did the rest. Cheers, Tom

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Originally Posted by speedball1

Milo! Wonder no more! My gut tells me that Bob nailed it. I'm with you, ain't no way you're gonna run into two filled vent stacks unless you're running a static test for inspection. Debris, dead critters or whatever, I think that the vents are blocked a little way down and rain water did the rest. Cheers, Tom

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Guys, Thanks for all the responses. If I can figure out how to attach a digital picture, I will. It will take a couple days for me to get back up on the roof.

All, I called a local plumber that has done some work for me in the past. He said that local code states a 3" pipe at the roof line, but 18" down it probably is reduced to 1 1/2". He suggested I take a broom up and see if I can push it down through this to see if it is just full of leaves.

That I can picture better than a 3" pipe full of 20' of water. Take a garden hose with you when you rod with that broom handle to flush out the debris. I think a broom handle may be a bit short unless the transition is in the first 3 feet.