Removed the hedges on the left side of the house this weekend in preparation to do a flower garden. While taking them out, I discovered these two things. Based on where things are in the basement, the plug appears to be an access to the sewer line and the other thing is a waste vent. Anyone ever seen this before? I did a quick search and I guess the waste vent was normal in the 50's when the house was built. It just seems awfuly low to the ground. And is normal to have an access pipe to the sewer line outside of the house? Can that be covered with dirt or do I need to put something around it if I plan on adding some fresh soil and mulch?
The sewer "clean out" is typical and often near the house. The waste vent is typically no less than 10 feet above ground level. You might be able to run it to the corner and up the wall and above the roof line using a surround that will make it less obvious. I used to build (25 years ago) and for the clean out, we cut a piece of 4 inch PVC and set it over the cleanout plug so that it was a few inches above the finished grade/bedding and then it was easy to locate in the event the clean out needed to be accessed.
Just wondering if that vent is a vacuum break for the footing drains? Never seen one there before. Hmmm. Can you trace it inside? ws
Sometime before we bought our house, a toilet was added in my basement and it was vented through the wall above the block. The vent looks similar outside. UticaGeoff
A drain/sewer vent should extend 1' above roof line penetration. Don't know what a footing drain is? Irrigation, rain or any other source of water should not be going down sewer. Looks like you have a main line clean out, the other hole may be another clean out heading back into dwelling for an upstream stoppage(with no clean out plug installed?) If its a vent, my query would be why, what's the purpose?
Cleanout can be covered...just makes it harder to find/access. Don't know code in your area, but waste vents generally required to be above living area.
The cap is almost certainly a cleanout. Massachusetts requires one at any point in the sewer line where there is an angle of greater then 22 degrees. I doubt that MA is unique in this. I have to assume that the vent was originally above grade level; it still should be. Most codes require either an openable window or a vent in a bathroom (toilet). Since you have the dirt removed, this would be a good time to properly vent the cellar bathroom. If you ever sell the house, the buyer will probably want the vent to meet code. I would.
John, you probably meant 120 degrees, 22 or correctly 22 1/2 degrees is a 1/16, you'd have more clean outs than you could count in a normal system....lol
Don't know what a footing drain is? In a nutshell, a footing drain keeps water from migrating under the basement floor to relieve hydrostatic pressure on the slab. This pic shows the general construction of the foundation , generally with a slab being fee floating. Avent would prevent the line from getting choked and not draining in the event of a blockage or whatever reason. ws
Bill scores with the best drawing of the week - impressive and effective! If you want to understand what the "drain" is connected to -- I would guess you can pour some water in it and see if you can hear it run inside the house or into the sewer. I hope that Bill's explanation is correct because otherwise it really is a hack...
Nope, I did mean 22 degrees. There are three cleanouts in the new line from the house (in Medway, MA) that we sold a bit over a year ago.
I guess geography plays a key part in the thinking too... When Pat and i were shopping for homes up here, at least 95% (!) had a spare toilet, even just free standing in the basements. Some were set up as a finished bathroom with a shower as well, but just a lone crapper in the middle of a raw cruddy basement was not unusual. Even our current place "had" one that the seller removed when he finished the basement, and build a LARGE bedroom downstairs, but to be honest with yooz, its a hassle at 3 a.m. to go all the way upstairs to to take a leak. At any rate, that makes most of the soil lines about 6-7 feet deep. No one up here needs a transfer pump to raise the waste for drainage. Kinda weird too as we are <a block off lake Michigan, with a 10-12 foot deep water table. All new construction requires a mound system now. Mmmm... dinner time! Mexican tonight too! . ws
