Need your expert advice guys - unexplained pipe going into my wall..

[Jennifer1991]

Hi Guys,
I was wondering whether anyone had any advice on the following situation?😕

Problem:

I moved into a new flat recently and there is a bit of an odd smell in one of the rooms; I can't place exactly what the smell is though.

Details:

(please see picture attached)

On the attached picture, I can see an "unknown pipe" entering that room in the wall. I say unknown, because I have no idea that pipe is for!

The pipe is attached to another pipe, that is connected to the toilet, (the "toilet pipe" on the picture). This larger toilet pipe goes up to the roof, where i guess it vents off all the yucky toilet smells.

The only thing i can see the "unexplained pipe" doing, is carrying the smells from the toilet pipe directly into the wall of that room.

Questions for you guys:

- Does anyone have any idea what the "unexplained pipe" could be for?
- Any idea how i could find out what its purpose is? As it's flowing upwards, I can't imagine it removes any waste from the property
- Does anyone see any harm in removing it?
- How could I remove it? Do it from the outside by cutting it off (it seems to be metal), or open up the wall in the room and do it from there?

Thanks for your expert advice in advance!
Jenny😀

 

[Dotty]

Hi Jennifer and welcome to the madhouse.

Have you any flats above you?

The way that pipe runs it has to be a vent pipe.

 

[Jennifer1991]

Thanks for the quick reply, Croppie!

We are a top floor flat, and don't have any flats above us (only a roof)

Excuse my dizziness, but what would a vent pipe be used for in a bedroom? Also, would you expect it to be connected to the pipe that carries toilet waste and yucky smells?

I was wondering what would happen if I had it sealed off...
Jenni😕

 

[Jennifer1991]

Actually, regarding the flats above us, there is a flat to the immediate left, and a little higher up, that has a bathroom that connects into that main toilet pipe..
Jenni

 

[Dotty]

Reason I asked about other flats is because my immediate concern would be over the possibility of foul water and solids getting down that pipe!

Nasty niffs are bad enough!

The pipe you're concerned about, does it join the stack above where any other toilets are tee'd in?

 

[Jennifer1991]

Thanks again Croppie. Let me take another picture for you and show you the full layout, I think your expert view on the picture will allow you to see it a lot more clearly than me trying to explain it 🙂🙂

Will get back to you 😀

 

[Dotty]

you're buttering me up now Jenni! I'm making this up as I go along!

 

[Jennifer1991]

this advice is priceless to me, as my plumbing knowledge is a little on the low side, to say the least! 🙂 will get back to you with the pics, Croppie 🙂

 

[mountainman]

Croppie is really an electrician masquerading as a proper tradesman 🙂

 

[rpm]

Hi jenni,
How long have you lived there, how far in to the room does the pipe come, is the pipe that comes through the wall rubber, plastic or metal and is it around 22 - 30mm diameter? Also are there any signs of a basin, shower or toilet having been in the room in the past?

Just wondering if a macerator has been removed and the pipe wasn`t. Probably best to cover the end of the pipe with a strong plastic bag and secure it to the pipe with a jubilee clip or strong tape for now.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Just an old style air admittance pipe used to stop traps etc syphoning out if you look at photo you can see its not connected to the stack, but may do at a higher level probably old lead pipe.

 

[Jennifer1991]

JTS Plumbing, RPM, Croppie, thanks for the kind replies 🙂

I have attached a few more pictures, which show the bottom, middle and top view of the situation.

RPM, for your questions:

1."How long have you lived there?" - just moved in!
2. "how far in to the room does the pipe come?" That's the odd thing, the pipe does not show on the other side of the wall at all! It just disappears, so I've no idea where it goes..
3. "is the pipe that comes through the wall rubber, plastic or metal" the pipe outside the room is metal I (think?) i don't know what a lead pipe feel like (then it disappears when inside the wall, so doesn't show on the other side)
4. "and is it around 22 - 30mm diameter?" I'd say it's narrower - around 10 cm in diameter
5. "Also are there any signs of a basin, shower or toilet having been in the room in the past?" From inside, I can't tell,however, if you look at the "middle" photo, i can see a circular pattern of new brick, which indicates something was there in the past?



JTS Plumbing/rpm/anyone else, is it your conclusion that this is a redundant pipe then? And if it's not sealed off, then I should definitely seal it off?

- I guess I'm going to have to open the wall in the room and seal it somehow?
- I guess there's no way to trace whether it's used in the adjacent loo somehow - it seem to far away from that room to be used..
- If I need to open up the wall and seal it, who would I ask - do I need a plumber? just need the name of the type of handyman i need to google 🙂

Thanks in advance guys!
Jenni

 

[rpm]

looking at the new photos I can see the pipe is much larger than I first thought so in that respect ignore everything I said and listen to the others.

Im out!

 

[SimonG]

It's an old vent pipe. Should have been taken back to stack and closed off.

 

[buckley plumb]

I agree with simon looks like an old vent to stack from the toilet that used to be in that room.

 

[Dotty]

Thirded. I just wanted to be sure that any additional branches were tee'd in below it.

 

[Dotty]

Actually...... Firsted......... I said vent in post #2

 

[SimonG]

Needs getting out the wall as you'll be getting some moisture down it in heavy rain.

I'll second it then if you're taking firsties.

 

[Dannyparty92]

Never seen one of these vent pipes in practise. Does it just aid nastys getting down the drain?

 

[Ermintrude]

Never seen one of these vent pipes in practise. Does it just aid nastys getting down the drain?

It allows air in behind plug from when u flush toilet, prevents pressure fluctuations also adds to your scrap when stripping out.

 

[lame plumber]

lovely lead, cut off, squeeze up and leftovers in the van🙂

 

[Jennifer1991]

Thanks all, for your kind help 🙂

Seems like I can get rid of this, then.

Is there any danger if I just cut if off, so it terminates just in front of the wall? (I.e. it is kind of left, "dangling" there), or does it need to be taken all the way back to the stack?

 

[AWheating]

best to cut it back as far as you can. Then if it does leak it wont run down your windows and the smell will be further away from your window. Maybe have a word with the neighbour who has the other part into there wall and discuss if they want it removing as well. could share the costs if you get somebody in.

 

[Dotty]

:iagree:

I was wondering about the other pipe where that vanishes into the wall too.

Either way, decent plumber can remove the vent, seal the stack and make good the wall.

I'd heartily recommend any of the guys off here. Whereabouts are you Jenni?

 

[Jennifer1991]

Thanks AWheating!

By the way, are these vent pipes only something that's needed on old toilets? I'm wondering if I should be concerned that it's not connected to my new toilet.

The reason I ask, on my new toilet, it has a push button flush and it i need to push the button four or five times before it catches. When it does catch and flush though, the flush strength is fine though. Just asking, because people here were saying that the pipe helps with pressure.

Maybe my toilet problem is more related to a defective flushing mechanism though?

Thanks in advance

 

[Dotty]

The flush issue is a coincidence Jenni. The plumber you get in can look at that too!

Post a thread in the 'I'm looking for a plumber / gas engineer' section of these forums remembering to include your location. [DLMURL="http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/im-looking-plumber-gas-engineer/"]I'm looking for a Plumber or Gas Engineer[/DLMURL]

 

[tomma]

Looks like an old vent pipe

 

[Dotty]

How much of this thread did you read tomma?

 

[tom609]

That pipe is definately an old vent pipe and would be best cut back to as close as possible to the main stack you are right in assuming that the new brickwork is where the old loo was and the vent usually came off the soil pipe though some w/c pans also had a vent plug on the back to connect the vent pipe

 

[Jennifer1991]

thanks everyone for your help! to croppie's early question, i'm just outside london,so will definitely be posting here to give one of you guys some business.

The only problem is, I'm a top floor flat, so I don't think it will be possible to seal it off at the stack, without scaffolding.. So i think the only option is to hang out of the window and cut it off and seal it (is this possible?)

 

[tom609]

Health and safety issues maybe a cherry picker would do it check your insurance??

 

[lame plumber]

Looks like an old vent pipe

da daaaaaa, flip to the front tomma

 

[Gas]

thanks everyone for your help! to croppie's early question, i'm just outside london,so will definitely be posting here to give one of you guys some business.

The only problem is, I'm a top floor flat, so I don't think it will be possible to seal it off at the stack, without scaffolding.. So i think the only option is to hang out of the window and cut it off and seal it (is this possible?)

Working up to 2 floors high is fine with the ladders, any higher and it would require renting a cherry picker, as already mentioned

 

[Dotty]

thanks everyone for your help! to croppie's early question, i'm just outside london,so will definitely be posting here to give one of you guys some business.

The only problem is, I'm a top floor flat, so I don't think it will be possible to seal it off at the stack, without scaffolding.. So i think the only option is to hang out of the window and cut it off and seal it (is this possible?)

Not really but if it's lead a good clumping will seal it!

 

[SimonG]

Window up, bolster and mash hammer (def looks like lead), squish and cut pipe, pull out of wall, make good and window down.

 

[Rickster123]

Window up, bolster and mash hammer (def looks like lead), squish and cut pipe, pull out of wall, make good and window down.

Health and safety my ar**!

 

[SimonG]

Well you could always use a rope round your waist tied to something heavy or get somebody to keep hold of your feet.

 

[Rickster123]

Well you could always use a rope round your waist tied to something heavy or get somebody to keep hold of your feet.

Croppie ticks both boxes there!

 

[SimonG]

Ouch!

 

[tamz]

Thanks AWheating!

By the way, are these vent pipes only something that's needed on old toilets? I'm wondering if I should be concerned that it's not connected to my new toilet.

It is a one pipe fully vented system. The additional vent was there to prevent the loss of the trap seal which would let smells in.
No longer done as things have moved on a bit since then.
You may find this interesting (it will take 2 minutes to read) and explains the basics.
[DLMURL]http://www.cibse.org/pdfs/Shouler.pdf[/DLMURL]

 

[Jennifer1991]

thanks all for the answers!

 

[Dotty]

Croppie ticks both boxes there!

Why I'm gonna.............

 

[Jennifer1991]

Hi guys!
the latest on this:

- i had the management company plumber around to take a look - he said he couldn't guarantee that the pipe terminated in my wall, and thought that it could potentially be feeding elsewhere in the block of flats.

I'm pretty sure it terminates in my wall though! is there any way to prove this, beyond opening up the brickwork on the other side of the wall to check where the pipe is going?

- he said as the pipe is cast iron, it's not easy to cut off and seal, and that the whole stack would need to be replaced - is this right? i would have thought there is some way of sealing off a cast iron pipe

thanks

 

[Ermintrude]

No sounds reasonable. Camera or rodd it or even cat and genny?

 

[Jennifer1991]

Hi Guys,
Just a quick recap of this thread, I have an unexplained pipe going into my wall, that I wanted to have removed.

The only problem is that someone said it's cast iron, so:

- once i've cut it off, how does one seal the ends of a cast iron pipe? is it difficult? I take it you can't just squeeze it together?
- is this a job for a plumber, or more of a general trademan (not sure what the name would be, sorry!)

Jenny

 

[kris]

No Jennifer im afraid cast iron wont bend even if you hit it with a hammer, if its cast iron it maybe an old drain or down pipe for rain water on the other hand it could be a mild steel gas pipe so before cutting i would defonatly get someone to check it out incase

 

[kris]

Soz forgot to say if it is a cast iron drain pipe then it can be cemented up if unused but like i said previous please get someone just to check before cutting just incase its gas , good luck

 

[kris]

My appoligees i just read your previous thread

 

[kris]

If someone has checked it out and it is part of a stack on a block of flats then usually a stack will be vented so it would be better to find out where it terminates first either using a snake camera or using smoke , the camera is best bet but the smoke will let you know if it and where it terminates , sorry for confusion b4, Kris

 

[missplumb]

Hi Jenni, the pipe is definately an old vent pipe used to stop the traps in the toilet and basins from being sucked away when you flush. Looking again at the pics i think its more likely that the pipe coming out of your wall is lead and the connection into the vent stack is cast iron. it would take some doin to get a cast iron pipe to bend like that!! It should be ok to take out but it will be quite heavy and not the sort of thing to leave dangling from a height so probably best to get someone in to do it for you.

 

[Jennifer1991]

Thanks for your useful advice guys!

I actually have scaffolding up now, so have easy access to the pipe 🙂

Is this something I would ask a plumber to do, or just a general handyman?

Also, if anyone has any ideas about how much this would cost, I would be interested to hear!

Thanks