damn stank furnace
so we've been noticing some stankness coming through our vents since we moved in. At first, we thought it might just be some sort of "new house smell". it wasn't something brutal, just not a good smell, maybe musty.
Anyway, it didn't get better, and at times has been pretty effing bad. I could never figure out a reason for it until i went to put something in the basement the other day. it was really bad down there, coming in from outside. Then, I got closer to the furnace and figured it out...
We had a bathroom roughed in the basement, but the damn plumber never capped off the pipes (one 3" for a toilet, one 2" for a sink drain and another 2" horizontal with a big hole in the concrete around it for a shower drain). The first 2 stick up out of the concrete about 8". The AC condensation runs into the first 2", but is not a closed drain, just a 3/4" pipe with a 45 degree elbow hanging on the 2" pipe. That was the source for the stankness, sewer gas coming back up through one or all of those pipes.
Since I don't figure they put a trap in any of those pipes, i went to Menard's and got some PVC pipe and fittings. $15 and 45 minutes of work later, I got the 2 unused pipes capped off and the third pipe has a 2" to 3/4" reducer going to the AC condensation pipe. Only concern now is if the condensation pipe evaporates empty there's a vent near the furnace for that, but that'll be a simple fix of pouring some water in there in the winter when the AC isn't used.
Anyway, it didn't get better, and at times has been pretty effing bad. I could never figure out a reason for it until i went to put something in the basement the other day. it was really bad down there, coming in from outside. Then, I got closer to the furnace and figured it out...
We had a bathroom roughed in the basement, but the damn plumber never capped off the pipes (one 3" for a toilet, one 2" for a sink drain and another 2" horizontal with a big hole in the concrete around it for a shower drain). The first 2 stick up out of the concrete about 8". The AC condensation runs into the first 2", but is not a closed drain, just a 3/4" pipe with a 45 degree elbow hanging on the 2" pipe. That was the source for the stankness, sewer gas coming back up through one or all of those pipes.
Since I don't figure they put a trap in any of those pipes, i went to Menard's and got some PVC pipe and fittings. $15 and 45 minutes of work later, I got the 2 unused pipes capped off and the third pipe has a 2" to 3/4" reducer going to the AC condensation pipe. Only concern now is if the condensation pipe evaporates empty there's a vent near the furnace for that, but that'll be a simple fix of pouring some water in there in the winter when the AC isn't used.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home