Possible soil pipe woes

[bonfireoftheverities]

The gutters have just been replaced on the property we rent. There had been a soil pipe (as I only recently learned it’s called) just outside the bathroom which followed the line of the roof halfway up. The builder said it was in the way of the new gutters, so cut it down and attached a vertical extension which I’m sure is regulation length, but shorter than the previous. The next day the bathroom slowly developed a horrible smell.

It seems to be gone right now, but it’s hard to tell as we cleaned the bathroom and opened the window; we’ll see if it comes back. Our worry of course is that the smell might be related to the pipe surgery. Does that seem likely?

It's likely that the work caused the "U" bend on the sink, toilet, bath, shower in the bathroom to drain out. As soon as you they fill back up the smell leakage would go away. Which seems to have already happened. I.e. when you run water from into the plug hole.

If the soil pipe is less than 3m from a window, ensure that the vent sits at least 900mm above said window or opening. You will also need to make sure that the soil pipe sits a minimum of 200mm above the highest water entry point (aka the highest point where wastewater will reach within a soil pipe).

You might have to get a ladder & tape measure out if the smell comes back. I suppose it could just be from the disturbance of them cutting the old thing of and jiggling everything about though. When our roofer did our roof and gutters I noticed a smell, even though he didn’t physically move our soil pipe because it’s cast iron!

dwgs post makes sense. Ours didn’t smell again anyway.

Thanks. Fingers crossed I don't have to break out the tape measure.

Don't go climbing up a ladder to measure that pipe. You might fall off and hurt yourself - seriously, the risk in climbing a ladder is not trivial, and you shouldn't do it unnecessarily!

You can estimate the length of the pipe just fine from the photo. It's right around 900mm: it's a 110mm PVC pipe, and the length above the window is about eight times the pipe diameter, so 900mm as near as makes no odds. The 900mm is a guideline only - it's not as if a pipe 850mm long or 950mm long will behave any differently really.

Will that flexible connector survive though? There is no bracket supporting the pipe, just that rubber connector. I suppose it is your landlord's problem but i wouldn't be happy with that solution.