Replies

1. 
   Piffin | Dec 02, 2002 07:13am | #1

   Oh Man, I hate that! Now you've got a hand hold for any snake that wants to climb down through that pipe to scare folks by coming up through the toilet.

   ;)

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

   "The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.

   The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

   --Marcus Aurelius

2. 
   RW | Dec 02, 2002 07:26am | #2

   heh. As long as you plugged it up, I think what pif's saying here is no blood no foul. You could have hit a water line. Don't see any big issues with a vent stack.

3. 
   CloudHidden | Dec 02, 2002 08:15am | #3

   If it had been the waste line, plumbers have an epoxy putty that'll work.

4. 
   mikemahan | Dec 02, 2002 08:45pm | #4

   Are you saying you went ahead and attached the towel rack to the vent??

5. 
   MisterT | Dec 03, 2002 02:39am | #5

   Man I can't believe you did that!

   Your gonna have to take the entire house down to the foundation and start over.

   But at least this will give you a chance to fix any otnher mistakes you made.

   T

   Do not try this at home!

   I am a trained professional!

6. 
   JDRHI | Dec 03, 2002 05:30am | #6

   First off...dummy smack for not checking photos PRIOR to drilling!

   Secondly...shouldnt be a problem as far as vent goes....if hole wasnt patched properly, your nose will let you know.

   Thirdly...did you really anchor the towel bar to pipe? Oh man....that ones up there!

   J. D. Reynolds

   Home Improvements

   "DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"

1. 
   4Lorn1 | Dec 03, 2002 08:11am | #7

   Many years ago, one of my first construction jobs, I helped remodel a pool/beer hall. The boss would tell me what to do and I would blindly do it. I was supposed drill three pre marked locations for toggle bolts to join a vertical metal bracket to support a bar top. When drilling the three 5/8" holes I saw white PVC come out but thought nothing of it. I hung the bracket and tightened everything up nice and plumb and tight to the mark.

   The boss saw a few small tufts of PVC sticking out and ask me about them. We looked on the other side of the wall and found a sink that matched up pretty close to the line. To redo it he would have had to remove a large chunk of bar that had been finished in place. In the end he gave it a very professional mechanics shrug, cut the few PVC shavings off with a knife and caulked over the seam.

   I went there a few times after the job and, as far as I know, nobody had any problems. If a plumber ever snakes from the roof there might be some issues. Three 1/4" by 3" toggles set in 5/8" holes at about 18" centers each a precision placement in the side of a vent pipe. It happens.

2. 
   MajorWool | Dec 03, 2002 10:35am | #8

   The problem with a leaky vent pipe is that your nose will only detect it if you knew what the place smelled like in the first place. We had an un-trapped opening in the basement for a toilet which was pointed out by a plumber who was there quoting a service-line job. I had been in the house for a month and just assumed it had a musty smelling basement. But 24 hrs later it was a world of difference better. Granted that a 4" basement opening is different than a vertical pipe with a small hole in it, but just because the nose or brain doesn't detect it doesn't mean it isn't leaking. It may take someone trained to know what is right or wrong to spot a problem. In my case, one of those expanding rings sealed it off in no time. I only wonder how long the previous occupants put up with the smell.