DIY Builds
DIY Builds
Photo: Anna Shvets
The plumbing code requires plumbing vents to terminate at least 12″ above the surface of the roof to help prevent the vents from getting blocked with snow, but the higher the vent the greater the potential for getting blocked with frost.
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Learn More »When there’s a long period of sub-zero temperatures in Minnesota, plumbing vents often stop working. The problem is that plumbing vents can get completely blocked shut with frost when it’s very cold outside for a long period of time. I previously wrote about why houses need plumbing vents, which should help to explain why this stuff matters. This first photo shows how the frost begins to form. This is a 3″ steel vent pipe at an old house in Minneapolis. Frost was just beginning to form at the top, and could actually be seen from the ground. This next photo shows a 4″ cast iron vent pipe at a multi-family home in Saint Paul. It wasn’t completely blocked with frost… yet. As the frost keeps accumulating with very cold temperatures, eventually the vents get completely blocked with frost, which prevents them from ‘venting’. I’ve included several photos here to show that all types of vents can be subject to frost closure, given the right weather conditions. The tried-and-true method of preventing plumbing vents from getting blocked with frost is to increase the size of the vent before it protrudes through the roof. Here in Minnesota, the smallest size vent that can penetrate the roof surface is 2″, according to Minnesota Plumbing Code section 4715.2530, Subp.2. Keep in mind, however, that this is the minimum requirement. That’s all the code is; a minimum requirement. As you can see from the photos above, this isn’t necessarily a formula for success. Many old-school plumbers in Minneapolis and Saint Paul knew about this problem, and it was common for old houses to have vents that were significantly increased in size before penetrating the roof, just to help prevent the vents from getting blocked by frost.
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