The Science of Water Drainage

I met with the plumber the other day.  It turns out that the plumbing in the In Law unit was probably also done by a DIY’er (circa 1980’s).  Normally I’d be proud of their go get ’em attitude, but being a DIY’er is a huge responsibility.  There are blogs to read, HGTV to watch and You Tube videos to consult before doing the work.  Apparently, this DIY’er was a DIY’er before DIY’ing was an acronym.

The biggest “whoopsy” with our plumbing is that it was originally installed without additionally installing a vent.  Here’s how I would explain this.  Have you ever gone to the store and purchased one of these boxes of water?

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you have.  Now, if you’re like me, the first time you used one of these boxes of water you opened up the nozzle and enjoyed free-flowing water for about 10 seconds.  After that, the water stream went from free-flowing, to a trickle, then to nothing.

Finally, after shaking the box and scratching your head for a few minutes, you realized “oh, duh, you have to poke a hole in the top of the container.”  The reason for this is the air actually pushes the water out of the box.  Without a “vent” the water just hangs out in the box (no mater how hard you shake, trust me).

Well, apparently this concept also exists in bathrooms.  Without a vent, water simply doesn’t drain, or at least not well.

Long story short, we need a vent to go from the In Law unit, through the kitchen to the roof.  Luckily we have some space beside our sewage line that we can use for this vent. In all, the news isn’t horrible and not entirely unexpected.  Of course I say this now but I haven’t seen the estimate yet.  I’ll keep you posted.