Hey everyone, so I was installing one of those wall anchors in the hallway closet, the ones that go into drywall and expand once you place a screw in it. Well as the subject says, I drilled a hole into the vent running from the downstairs bathroom up to the roof. What are the odds of that??
So, is there any problem with fumes, hazardous or not, seeping out between the drywall?
I think the anchor and the screw plugged the hole.
Thanks for your time, Matt
by modifying your home in this manner you have left the future of the explosive fume exhaust system up to anyone with a screwdriver. unless you are not speaking about a sewer vent line. in any case the poor next guy will be asking us for help with a mysterious source of odor or fumes from his hallway closet... if you're not afraid of the methane produced by sewage that vents above your roof, think about how nice it is when the system works properly for a flammable liquid spill into the street sewer.
You might get a bit of gas but probably not noticable, a bit of rain water may come in eventualy. Best would be to caulk it up, maybe use silicone.
Well its a small hole, and its right up against the drywall and the anchor is lodged in the hole. Perhaps I can jam a bunch of silicone cocking in there to further plug it up.
I bet if the sewer vent was actually in the center between the drywall that I wouldn't have this problem.
Thanks, Matt
Thanks for your response, I'm looking to remedy the situation.
That will work. It is a minor problem, not the doomsday machine.
I'd just take an appropriate sized sheet metal screw, use a rubber washer, dab some silicon on it and screw it into the hole. It'll hold forever against the gases to prevent odor which is the only _real_ concern.
I think you've "cocked it up" enough already, Matt. :-)
Probably, but out of curiousity, how did you learn about your unfortunate choice of spots to drill? Did you feel the resistance of the pipe and seefind
If the anchor you used was one of those simple plastic ones that gets expanded by a screw entering it, then I think you'd be fine if you just removed the screw, pulled the anchor out, squirted in the silicone sealer like you said and reset the anchor and screw.
HTH,
Jeff
Hahaha, good one Jeff :-) I got a good laugh out of that.
Honestly I didn't feel much of a resistance. I have one of those 18v Dewalt drills and it cut right through it. I found out when I tried to insert the anchor in and it had more resistance than the other anchor I inserted. So I got one of those fiber optic attachment for my mini Maglight and I was able to see some plastic but couldn't really make out what it was, and then it hit me. Oh shit! I climbed up into the attic and confirmed my suspicion.
The pvc piping that comes up from the wall in the closet doesn't go straight to the roof. It actually hooks a 90 to meet up with another vent and the pvc it self seems kinda flimsy. I guess it doesn't need much since it just a vent.
I'll go ahead and seal that up with silicone and monitor it.
Thanks, take it easy, Matt
Do you think his wife will mind losing her favorite toy?
My Solution: Take out a bit of the drywall around it. Put some epoxy putty on hole & surrounds replace drywall.
That's what I would do!
According to Edwin Pawlowski :
Darn, I rather thought having jets of flaming methane would be cool ;-)
A few years ago I drilled a 3/8" hole through my family room floor and garage ceiling to run back speaker cables to the other side of the room. I didn't realize I had drilled directly between the conductors of a run of 10 gauge romex until I started pulling the speaker wires through and hit a kink in one of them which tore the romex insulation enough to short the conductors.
The fire was put out very quickly. Impressive sparkly light show, however.
Jon
Depends on what you eat, try holding a lighter near your.............................
My vote for best answer is above. Only need to drill the sheetrock hole a little bigger and will be easy to patch.
Just be happy it was ABS or PVC and not cast iron (though you probably wouldn't have penetrated that so easily)
Cool, but I'd never stop hearing it from the lady of the house :-)
Yeah, it would be nice to have the plans to the house, but KB is being stingy due to fear of copy cats building companies. I wish that it would just have where the plumbing and wiring are laid out. I don't care about all the structural numbers just some dimensions.
I hope it wasn't an expensive lesson learned.
Matt
Not too bad. The top paper of the ceiling drywall caught for a few seconds but went out. I had to replace some insulation, patch the drywall and rerun the electrical line to my AC Compressor. Unfortunately I lost about 10 years off my life when the short made a loud bang, the lights went out and sparks flew out of the hole for a few seconds.
Jon
Just take a utility knife and remove an inch circle of the drywall. (after removing your anchor). Then plug the pipe with silicone caulk or JB Weld. I would NOT leave it as it is now, you may get odors, and worse yet, condensation builds up in vent pipes and will likely seep out and cause your drywall to absorb moisture, causing mold and deterioration of wall. Do it right, it's not that hard to spackle a small hole after the repair.
PS. I'd use caulking and keep your "cocking" in your pants. A 3/16 hole is much too small for most cockings, and could be quite painful if there was a sewer rat inside the pipe.... OUCH :)
Haha yeah :-) my girlfriend humorously pointed out my mis spelling. Thanks for repair tip!!! and the social advise... hahaha
Matt
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