faulty air admittance valve?

[Daryl Bradley]

Afer purchasing a new house about 18 months ago from a national building company who shall remain nameless we had a really annoying problem for about

4 months of sewerage smells in our hallway (and only there) for several months, that naturally of course we were just imaging. This was the place the main waste pipe was boxed in - always the same, fine at night and morning, building up during the day and reaching its worst at about 4/5pm each day.

Eventually, the problem was resolved after much badgering and they hadn't fitted the air admittance valve to to top of the waste pipe sticking up in the loft (yes, I know, how on earth did something allegedly part of a house inspection accidentally get missed off). Problem solved.

Now, as of 2 days ago, exactly the same problem has come back - so my question is, is it likely to be a faulty air admittance/dirgo valve? what's the likelihood of this failing? I'm of course about to do the obvious and try changing it, but if this isn't the case, any suggestions? I'm fairly new to the whole plumbing/drainage experience so even the obvious suggestions are welcome to at least remove possible sources from the list of options.

Cheers

daryl

[Nigel Molesworth]

Why not smell it first? How long ago was it fitted?

[manatbandq]

Go up to the loft and have someone flush the loo. you should be able to hear the valve opening. Mine has a screw top which you can remove and check that the valve isn't sticking.

MBQ

[Donwill]

I had a similar problem with an air admittance valve,i.e. smells in the ground floor hallway below the bathroom, the AAV was in the boxed in section containing the toilet cistern. I tied a plastic bag over the AAV sealing the bag to the 100mm pipe with strong elastic bands, the problem (smell) dissapeared and since there wasn't a prob with sink and bath traps emptying when flushing toilet, I let the bag remain sealed on to the pipe. The smells never came back. Hope this helps Cheers Donwill

[Christian McArdle]

Quite frankly, if you've got an AAV in the loft, it might better to punch it up through the roof and stick a vent on the top. Durgos might get you out of trouble in some situations, but they create plenty of their own and should be avoided if possible.

Think in terms of Saniflos. They might let you have a toilet where you might not otherwise be able to place one. You don't, however, put them on a toilet where there's a nice soil stack in reach.

Christian.

[Nigel Molesworth]

Why FFS?

[Christian McArdle]

Because vents don't go wrong every 3 months, leaving the house smelling of shit.

Christian.

[Paula Parfitt]

replying to Daryl Bradley, Paula Parfitt wrote: Hi was it crest nicholson

[The Natural Philosopher]

I supect he has died in the intervening 11 years...

[Brian Gaff]

Yes always read the small print the bit that says posted on..... The stupid software in this ere portal to this group seems to regurgitate messages from times past. I suspect the writer is a DR Who fan. Brian