Does Your Home Harbor a Critter Gitter?

By Billy Aldridge

It first may come to your attention when your pipes start grumbling and growling or it may make its presence known by a foul odor that clearly emanates from the drain.  Either of these symptoms may indicate that something is impeding the smooth flow of air through your home’s vent stack.  While the blockage might be caused by leaf litter, it is also a real possibility that a squirrel or some other small mammal has become trapped in there and died.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is to clear the clog all you need is a ladder, a flashlight, gardening gloves, a garden hose, and drain tape. (The latter item can be found at any hardware store.)

Vent stacks consist of a series of pipes that are designed to release sewer gases outside of your home.  These vents also admit and regulate the amount of air flowing to the pipes that are needed to equalize pressure thereby allowing the proper flow of water.  Every fixture in your bathroom and kitchen is required to have an internal or external trap and an attached vent, the top of which is vented through the roof in what is referred to as a  vent stack.  So when the stack gets clogged, this will affect the ability of the wastewater and gasses from being able to exit the building.

Santa Claus isn’t the only thing that likes to climb down chimneys.

The vent stack is the diminutive plastic or metal chimney sticking out of your roof. Aside from being a necessity to the smooth functioning of your plumbing it is also a magnet to critters, some of which climb into it never to be heard from again.  To reach it you will need a ladder since it resides on your roof.  To start the process put a flashlight and pair of gloves into your pockets, securely position the ladder against the side of the house and tote a garden hose and drain tape up to the roof. (Always exercise caution when climbing up and down any ladder.)  Locate the plumbing stack and use the flashlight to peer into it for obvious signs of blockages, such as leaves or a nest.  If you see any that you can reach, put on your gloves and clear as much of the stack as you can by hand.  It is possible that whatever is gumming up the works could be but a few inches from the top, in which case clearing the clog could be over and done within a matter of seconds.

However if whatever or whoever managed to worm its way deeper down the stack, you will need to deploy the drain tape to get at the clog.  Inserting the augur end of the tape, thread it down the stack in order to break up the clog or latch onto any debris that may have lodged down there.  Pull the tape back up the stack from time to time in order to remove as much of the offending material as you can fish out. 

Once you removed as much of the debris as possible and/or broken through the clog then you need to feed the hose down the stack as far as it will go and turn on the flow.  You will know you have succeeded if the water runs down the drain.  If it shoots skyward, then this indicates that the stack is still blocked.  Repeat the process until the water runs down the stack with a whoosh.

One way to deter the stack from becoming blocked is to install a vent cap.  These devices are simple to install and will substantially reduce or even eliminate the accumulation of leaf litter and unwanted pests that like to call your vent stack home.  Just make sure that the cap you choose isn’t constructed from lead, since squirrels seem to like the taste of the metal and will gnaw holes in the cap.  Vent caps can be found online or at many hardware stores and big box home remodeling centers.

While you’re up on the roof it wouldn't hurt to also check to make sure that the flashing around

 the stack isn’t cracked or damaged, since this will cause water to leak into your home the next time it rains, potentially causing even damage than a simple clog.  You can buy replacements at the hardware store as well.  With a little foresight and an occasional trip to the roof, you can keep these critter gitters from becoming an unpleasant but necessary DIY project.

Billy Aldridge is one of the Doctors of Plumbology at Aldridge and Sons Plumbing in Jacksonville, Florida.  For more helpful hints and handy DIY videos go to http://plumbers-jacksonville-fl.com