Help!! He wants to run the vent into the attic...doesn't seem right to me...

[chocochip]

Ok, I hate to just jump in and post out of desperation but our plumber is here working right now!!

We are moving our master bathroom (along with the plumbing of course), drain and water lines seem to be an easy move but the issue is with the vents. I don't know much (OK, anything) but it doesn't seem right to vent right into the attic. It is a walk in attic (used for storage) with venting in the soffit and also a ventilation fan.

Don't the vents have to go through the roof? Doesn't smelly gas come out of the vent? Is it normal to have a vent on the front of the house or is that just a matter of preference? Can vents go to the side wall of a house (that was his other option for the toilet vent, the sink is running smack dab in the center of the attic)?

TIA!!

[FloridaOrange]

The vent needs to exit the building. Usually through the roof, sometimes as a sidewall vent given certain conditions and if your local code allows. Where are you located?. Never vent into the attic, ever!!!

[jadnashua]

That holds true for the fan exhaust vent as well..not a good idea to exhaust humid air into the attic where it can condense and feed mold and rot.

[Gary Swart]

That's something even a hack handyman should know! I have to wonder about your "plumber's" credentials! I not an expert on all plumbing codes, but I can't imagine that this would pass any local codes in the US or Canada. I would be very suspicious of the rest of the work he has done for you. Certainly have it checked by a licensed plumber or an inspector prior to covering anything.

[chocochip]

We are near Charlotte NC. I guess I need to find out what the code requires. UGH!!

All the space above the new bathroom is attic, two walls are exterior and one other is load bearing. The 4th wall is the one sitting under the middle section of the attic and we think it may be load bearing as well.

So the proposed vent could be extended to the roof...but it is a poor location right in the middle of the attic. Can a vent have a horizontal portion running between joists?

[FloridaOrange]

Your vent can run horizontal with a continuous slope.

Do you know this plumber well, or use him often. Your intitial question would lead me to not have any more work done by this plumber. Vent termination is a pretty straight forward affair. If this isn't done right, what else isn't done right?

Good luck.

[chocochip]

Jim, we have already re-run the exhaust vents in two other bathrooms....they had been vented right into the insulation...but plumbing is something we don't have the knowledge or experience to do ourselves so we hire it out. Now I am wishing we had enough knowledge so we would know what was going on. But hey, isn't a plumber supposed to know this stuff?

[FloridaOrange]

A plumber should know his stuff otherwise he's a hack.
Running exhaust vents into your attic could create problems down the road with mold. Think of it, an exhaust vent running while the shower is on is drawing moist air and dumping it into your attic.

[chocochip]

He has done some other work for us...fairly simple things.
DH is on his way home now to see where the proposed vents will be going. Perhaps I misunderstood and he intends to extend them to the roof but he didn't say so. Either way...a vent sticking up the middle of the attic isn't ideal....just not sure what the options are.

[jadnashua]

It needs to have slope like a drain in case it gets condensation or rain accumulations in it, so once it is above the ceiling, you have the depth of the joist to run it before it is in the way. Now, depending on which way the joists run, that could be along ways. The vents for all of the fixtures can be combined somewhere in the attic and only one penetration through the roof is required, though.

[molo]

He has done some other work for us...fairly simple things.
DH is on his way home now to see where the proposed vents will be going. Perhaps I misunderstood and he intends to extend them to the roof but he didn't say so. Either way...a vent sticking up the middle of the attic isn't ideal....just not sure what the options are.

Ask him where they will be exiting the roof. You might have misunderstood him. Otherwise ask him for his license.