Illinois code question

I have a home that was built around 1940 and I am selling it. The buyers had an inspector tell them that the drains from the sink are not vented and he is correct. I don't believe when the home was built it was required, and in my opinion it is not reasonable to expect an already existing home to be brought up to code after the fact especially since the walls would have to be torn out. My plumber already said that the plumbing is in good working condition and that it would be unreasonable to install vents after the fact.
Can anyone steer me or cite the Illinois plumbing code that states the requirements for venting sink drains and if there is no requirement for it to be vented since the house was built before the code was written?
CJ

Well every fixture in your house MUST be vented. I don't have a copy of the code as it was written in the 1940's, but I suspect that the original code requirements would have definitely required that your sinks be vented. Plumbing has been around for a long time. Proper venting sorta falls under the plumbing 101/remedial deck. I find what you say difficult to fathom.
All that aside, if your sinks need to be vented, they make air admittance valves that can easily be installed without tearing out any walls.
So just do what the inspector wants and install some air admittance valves and be done with it. They cost about $25/each.
Any plumber in town can get your AAV's installed without tearing out anything. So don't panic. This is not a big thing.
For the record, the inspector has already done his damage by underscoring a problem that may not actually exist. He does not have the right to require that you bring the house up to the current codes. Codes have changed significantly over the last ten years (let alone the changes that have happened over the last 70-years). If home inspectors required that property be brought up to current code, most of them would have to be torn down to the footing and re-built from the ground up. (in fact a lot of them would need a new foot poured too).
I seriously doubt that the sinks in your house have been working fine for 70 years without a vent. I think this home inspector is flat-out wrong. Before you pay your plumber anything at all, have him verify the status of the vents. That doesn't sound right to me. If the plumber determines that this home inspector is mistaken, don't pay the plumber to do shit. Just slip him a few dollars for his time and ask him to put it in writing. Then make a phone call to your friendly home inspector and tell him to amend his report...or his erros and omissions insurance just bought a house (the cost for chasing a buyer away from the deal in the first place). Frankly...I find it very hard to believe that not a single sink in your house is vented. It would also suggest that NOTHING in your house is vented as most of us will use the vent from the lavatory to wet-vent both the toilet and the tub. This does not make sense to me.
More than likely, the plumber pulled a line off the same stack that serves the toilet and bathtub and then tied it all back together in the attic so you wouldn't have a dozen roof penetrations. Personally, most of us like to tie our vents together. Most of us shoot for ONLY ONE penetration.
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AAV's? Hmm...2 plumbers I had look at it said that there were indeed not vented, but that I would have to rip walls out. They didn't say anything about AAV's...I'll have to look into it.
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In most cases you only need to bring a home up to current code is if you are doing over 50% of new plumbing.
Check the building date again, Plumming codes were written during WW II in Wash. DC.
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That's a good point. Thanks for the update on when the codes were actually written. That's one little fact I did not know. I know that in my state, they didn't start enforcing ANY of the building codes at all until 1976. So there are lots of older homes around here that aren't built quite up-to-snuff.
However, it has been my experience that even without specific codes, a lot of those older homes are built to a sort of tradesman code. Even buildings that were built pre-code were built pretty well. However, I don't agree with the people who roll their eyes and say "they don't build 'em like they used to. I think it's a good thing that they "don't build 'em like they used to."
I did own a 105-year old home over in the city. I was pretty impressed. This damn thing was framed completely with old hard oak. Just hammering nails into the joists to hang pipe was a major pain in the ass.
There getting better though. Watch for pine construction to fall away. There is a new trend that is going to revolutionize the way homes are built. Slowly but surely, it appears that metal-framed homes are becoming more and more popular. In addition, they've started to build homes where the walls are no framed in any traditional manner. The studs are not exactly studs. Instead, they're welding up a skeletal frame. It's a very cool development in the trades.
I'll be building a spec home with a friend in the next 6-months. The plan is to do a cost comparison between welded metal vs. metal stud framing vs. pine framing to see how the costs pan out along the entire project. I'm pretty excited about it. Since it's spec, I'll have a chance to try out some of my inventions on a real project.
As for the dude with the venting issue....SEND ME EMAIL. I'll take my digital camera and email you a step-by-step and show you how to do this thing yourself with the studor vents.
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On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 13:43:38 GMT, Blackbeard
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Could you set up a web site with lots of pictures? I would love to share your frustrations and progress with this project.
EFP

I often go to Canada, you never see any pine 2x4's, its all *metal studs.
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I would think you are grandfathered but....
This is what I think the public should consider a time to call the local code enforcer and make them come out free of charge and consult.
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True, its all about public health.
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You say the buyer is the one yanking your chain not the city inspector. He is just trying to find an angle for a discount. If you're smart, you already overpriced the house to account for cheap asses like that. Unless it has been hard to sell, let him walk, if he really wants the location, he will buy iy anyway.
Unless the city gets involved or you cannot sell the house like that, you can just do nothing.
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sounds like a real shithole of a house you got there old timer.
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