We bought this townhouse three years ago. Basement is unfinished but the pipes were installed for a bathroom in the future if required. There is a vent pipe in place at the top of the wall in the area of the bathroom. One day, the cap burst off the pipe and a bucket of water rushed out of the pipe. What caused this?

Tell me more about this "cap" in the vent. Describe thie cap. Was it a temporary cap? A cleanout tee cap? Why was the cap there tn the first place? How high was this cap off the floor? Was anything draining into this vent from above? Can you take a picture? Back to you, Tom

Hi all...

I'm betting that there was some writing on the cap or the pipe... should be FV written on the cap or the pipe. This FV stands for FUTURE VENT and it is required to be installed in all homes just in case the owners decide that they want to add a bathroom or kitchen in the basement in the future.

Without the future vent a homeowner would need to run a vent upstairs and open walls or go through all kinds of trouble getting the vent up to where it needs to go. This code requirement can save some pretty big money for the homeowner... never mind the hassle/mess if it wasn't there.

The water inside is reasonable as all vents pitch back topward the drains so rain water that enters the pipe (from vent pipe out the roof) can drain by gravity to the drain pipes. As this FV is not hooked up yet it would just hold the water until uncapped and hooked to the drainage system.

Recap it for now with PVC cement/primer and know that it is present to be used should you desire toinstall a bathroom in the basement someday!

Let us know if you find the FV written anywhere... OK..?

MARK

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