Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I can not imagine. Putting a vent stack in an attic? I guess it could wort if the attic was well vented , which brings up other concerns about how the house was constructed. I for one think a cold attic is not the way to build.
For unfinished living space (or totally unfinished) in the attic, you want the temperature in those areas the same as the outside temperature. In the winter, a cold attic is exactly what you want. Well, that is, if you don't want ice dams, condensation, and a few other maladies. Ridge and soffit vents are put in for a reason.
In the summer an attic exhaust fan helps lower the temperature to that outside.
As a licensed plumber, I can assure you for a house to lack a vent through the roof is a flagrant violation of code. The IPC code requires at least one vent through roof (VTR) of at least 1/2 the diameter of the building drain. Under this code, the other fixtures could be vented with AAV's (air admittance valves), depending upon local amendment to the code.
The stricter UPC plumbing code will require the surface area of vents through the roof to equal the surface area of the building drain.
This is not a sanitary situation and needs to be addressed immediately. Sewer gasses don't just smell bad, they are toxic.
Consult a local licensed plumber to get his opinion on what needs to be done to remedy the situation.
How expensive is it to bring up to code if it is lacking a vent entirely? It seemed like they vented all the gas through the open windows in the basement. Isn't that rather dangerous?
If you can post some pics, especially of the attic, I might be able to give you an idea.
What I suspect is that the plumber stubbed the vents into the attic at the rough in stage for pressure test and inspection. After passing inspection, they should have been extended through the roof.
It might just be that the roofers covered the holes the plumber cut in the roof deck to allow the vents to be extended through. If this is the case it isn't a big deal at all. However, if it wasn't an actual plumber who installed the plumbing, there's no telling what kind of mess you're dealing with.
No, I don't have any pics.
It ended up that we did not have further interest in the house due to a multitude of issues inherent with the overall quality of construction of the house (builder), and the nearly complete lack of exterior maintenance performed by the (homeowners) over the 10+ years that they lived there (not good in a northern climate). It was a newer construction house (custom built), but just had many issues. The roof tiles were all warped on the southern side of the house due to a common defect, but were not replaced. INSIDE of house was very nice, though!
House ended up selling a couple days ago at 10K under list price of 259K and over 100K under assessment. The house had a partial view of Lake Winnipesaukee in NH, but obviously way too many other negatives...
For unfinished living space (or totally unfinished) in the attic, you want the temperature in those areas the same as the outside temperature. In the winter, a cold attic is exactly what you want. Well, that is, if you don't want ice dams, condensation, and a few other maladies. Ridge and soffit vents are put in for a reason.
In the summer an attic exhaust fan helps lower the temperature to that outside.
I assure you that I do not have any of the above in my new build. The last house I remodeled ,built in the mid modern 60" era, had a large attic fan with louvers that automatically closed when you turned off the fan.Not only was a lot of cold air coming down from the attic, but when you ran the double sided fireplace...and the fan...well lets just say it was a bad experience.. ! I blocked off the fan with insulation, which helped some.
What you say is not always true, remember hot air gos up cold air comes down. If you build correctly there is no need for vented soffits. My " attic" so to speak is dense packed cellulose 18" of the stuff. There is no room for any air to get in, that's what we all want . Way too many people think there is only one way to build. I passed inspection with the county and have somewhere close to an R-70 . My walls are 12" thick also Cellulose. I have a flat( almost)roof. I be leave keeping out the cold is the best way to build and insulate. I do approve of top pitch ridge venting, as is done in a Morton Bldg., barn, or whatever.
Quote:"While you can use mechanical vents at fixtures...."
Depends where you live. Here in the 'Live Free or Die' state, (and maybe it is just the towns I have houses in here), they are illegal. As I am sure you know, the mechanical 'vents' are actually one-way air valves that stop a vacuum when water flows through the trap (air admittance valves), and eventually they fail.
My air valve has been in place for three years, works well. Rather than an ugly access door I hung a picture over. Yes it must have access to inside the home air. My one and only vent goes outside at the upper wall, Roof vents like any hole in a roof is just asking for problems also. Everything is a trade off. I have a one pc. Duralast white membrane, heat welded where necessary. It sits on 3/4 plywood with only a house wrap material under it. My " attic" is all dense pack on the inside. NO AIR gets in or out.( 18 " cell) . Those valves are legal in most areas when done right, as in my case.
I assure you that I do not have any of the above in my new build. The last house I remodeled ,built in the mid modern 60" era, had a large attic fan with louvers that automatically closed when you turned off the fan.Not only was a lot of cold air coming down from the attic, but when you ran the double sided fireplace...and the fan...well lets just say it was a bad experience.. ! I blocked off the fan with insulation, which helped some.
What you say is not always true, remember hot air gos up cold air comes down. If you build correctly there is no need for vented soffits. My " attic" so to speak is dense packed cellulose 18" of the stuff. There is no room for any air to get in, that's what we all want . Way too many people think there is only one way to build. I passed inspection with the county and have somewhere close to an R-70 . My walls are 12" thick also Cellulose. I have a flat( almost)roof. I be leave keeping out the cold is the best way to build and insulate. I do approve of top pitch ridge venting, as is done in a Morton Bldg., barn, or whatever.
Quote:"I assure you that I do not have any of the above in my new build."
Sample size of one, and how many years has the structure been there?
QUote:"Not only was a lot of cold air coming down from the attic, but when you ran the double sided fireplace...and the fan...well lets just say it was a bad experience.. !"
My parents had one of those fans in their 60's house. They were intended to pull hot air out of the house in the summer. Why would you run a fireplace when it is hot outside?
Quote:"remember hot air gos up cold air comes down."
Exactly. It is entirely impractical to make a house absolutely airtight. So, in the winter, when it is cold and dty outside, and in the house it is warm and more humid, small amounts of the warm moist air escapes into the attic, and small amounts of cold dry air escape into the house. When you drop the temperature of the warm moist air, the water vapor condenses on cold surfaces in the attic.
Quote:"There is no room for any air to get in, that's what we all want"
So you are stating that your insulation makes the attic/house barrier absolutely airtight. I would pay to see that.
The reason why the sheets of plastic, or paper ('vapor barriers) are used, is that there are only a few closed-cell insulation products that are water/vapor proof, such as extruded polystyrene, and certain foam insulations. Dense-packed cellulose isn't one of them. (Also, the tigher you pack the cellulose, the R-value goes down, granted only a slight amount). It is slightly better than fiberglass in terms of R-value, if installed to the same thiickness, but I would have recommended extruded polystyrene (R5.0 and airtight) or polyurethane or polyisocyanurate (R6.0-R7.0, and airtight). I used the latter, but since the R value of wood rafters is about 1.4, it is rapidly a diminishing return. But on a sunny day up here in NH in the winter, when it is 25 degrees out, I can get the house to 78 degrees using no energy (other than the sun) all day long.
Quote": Way too many people think there is only one way to build."
There are many ways to build. Some have been scientifically proven to be better than others. Those ways are the ones I choose.
Quote:"I assure you that I do not have any of the above in my new build."
Sample size of one, and how many years has the structure been there?
QUote:"Not only was a lot of cold air coming down from the attic, but when you ran the double sided fireplace...and the fan...well lets just say it was a bad experience.. !"
My parents had one of those fans in their 60's house. They were intended to pull hot air out of the house in the summer. Why would you run a fireplace when it is hot outside?
Quote:"remember hot air gos up cold air comes down."
Exactly. It is entirely impractical to make a house absolutely airtight. So, in the winter, when it is cold and dty outside, and in the house it is warm and more humid, small amounts of the warm moist air escapes into the attic, and small amounts of cold dry air escape into the house. When you drop the temperature of the warm moist air, the water vapor condenses on cold surfaces in the attic.
Quote:"There is no room for any air to get in, that's what we all want"
So you are stating that your insulation makes the attic/house barrier absolutely airtight. I would pay to see that.
The reason why the sheets of plastic, or paper ('vapor barriers) are used, is that there are only a few closed-cell insulation products that are water/vapor proof, such as extruded polystyrene, and certain foam insulations. Dense-packed cellulose isn't one of them. (Also, the tigher you pack the cellulose, the R-value goes down, granted only a slight amount). It is slightly better than fiberglass in terms of R-value, if installed to the same thiickness, but I would have recommended extruded polystyrene (R5.0 and airtight) or polyurethane or polyisocyanurate (R6.0-R7.0, and airtight). I used the latter, but since the R value of wood rafters is about 1.4, it is rapidly a diminishing return. But on a sunny day up here in NH in the winter, when it is 25 degrees out, I can get the house to 78 degrees using no energy (other than the sun) all day long.
Quote": Way too many people think there is only one way to build."
There are many ways to build. Some have been scientifically proven to be better than others. Those ways are the ones I choose.
My choices were few. Most flat roof houses they put tapered closed cell sheets on the outside. Quite expensive, as I needed a lot of build up to meet R valye,. I chose New Wool at 18" thick,blown in as we put up ceiling drywall.Neu wool recommended this procedure, and the county OK it also., as long , as there was no open air space and there is not. Its all cellulose up there,no venting.The 18" is the exact dems of my roof trusses built to handle 100 lb snow load requirements.The house is 30" x 60" over 70 percent thermal separated glass. ( 8 sliding 5' ft. wide aluminum doors.). I started 4 years ago, moved in 2 years ago while building was still in progress. Its an all electric home sitting on a rocky mt. top.overlooking Lake Superior. My highest electric bill so far was 300.00. I am now on a budget plan. We have no AC, but are considering it. Its very sunny in winter here w/SE exposure, lots of solar gain.I did use closed cell spray in all around the top of basement wall.
My choices were few. Most flat roof houses they put tapered closed cell sheets on the outside. Quite expensive, as I needed a lot of build up to meet R valye,. I chose New Wool at 18" thick,blown in as we put up ceiling drywall.Neu wool recommended this procedure, and the county OK it also., as long , as there was no open air space and there is not. Its all cellulose up there,no venting.The 18" is the exact dems of my roof trusses built to handle 100 lb snow load requirements.The house is 30" x 60" over 70 percent thermal separated glass. ( 8 sliding 5' ft. wide aluminum doors.). I started 4 years ago, moved in 2 years ago while building was still in progress. Its an all electric home sitting on a rocky mt. top.overlooking Lake Superior. My highest electric bill so far was 300.00. I am now on a budget plan. We have no AC, but are considering it. Its very sunny in winter here w/SE exposure, lots of solar gain.I did use closed cell spray in all around the top of basement wall.
I also have a flat-roofed house as well, tapered about 6 feet wide around the edges. For some reason they were really popular in upstate NY in the late 1800's, and I have no idea why, as they get the lake effect, so the snow is brutal in the winter. The are enough huge attic beams to probably build the Santa Maria. What they did back then was to put in small windows all around the edges of the attic to keep it cool in the summer, since there was no A/C. The insulation was abysmal. The outer walls were two rows of brick, with a 4" or so gap in between them (can you say 'chimney'). I used similar insulation as you did, since it had to be blown in from the attic between the brick walls, and then would drop all the way to the foundation. (It was balloon construction. I don't think they make dimensional 2" x 4" x 30-something foot studs anymore )
So far, it has been moderately good on energy consumption.
(With flat roofs, at least in this case, they ran the rain 'downspouts' through the interior walls, so they could be fed into the cistern in the basement.)
Sounds like you have a very special built long ago,but with a lot of modern touch .in my design there is. No roof over hang, a very modern minalist design,. We have a lot of lake effect here, but because of the mt.top,the wind blow most of the snow off. My designer also intended to put the roof drains in the walls I used one 6" PVC vertical pipe on the outside painted same as house. So far it works well. There are several LVL rocio Romero homes in upstate NY and in Maine . I do miss roof over hangs but the design did call for it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would pay to see that.
) 
