There are a lot of different pipes that might run through your home and if you are carrying out some DIY, it is important that you can tell the difference between them. Making a mistake could contaminate the water you need for bathing and drinking. Here are some pointers on soil pipes to get you started:
What they do
Soil pipes carry faeces and soiled water from the toilet to the sewer. They need to be bigger than some of the other pipes in order to do this, as they have to carry solids and not just water, so they can be identified through their size.
Soil pipe regulations
There are regulations that cover soil pipes and these must be adhered to if you are carrying out DIY yourself or if you are having the work done professionally by your plumber. It is important that you comply with building regulations as you could be fined or made to redo the work if you are in breach of them.
Soil pipe vents
Soil pipes have vents close to the top of the building as this helps to reduce the chance of odours coming into your home. This in turn helps to keep the environment safe. This part of the pipe is therefore very important and is covered by the building regulations.
Soil pipe protectors
These are a very important consideration. Pipes that take water outside your home are subject to the elements and could get damaged. Similarly, they could be damaged by wildlife. Pipe protectors are non-threaded caps that fit over the opening of the pipe. This protects them which means that all of your hard work will last a lot longer. These pipe protectors are quite inexpensive and will save you money and effort in the long run.
If you are in any doubt about which pipe is which, then it may be worth calling in the experts. Although most DIY jobs have relatively few consequences if things go wrong, pipe work can cause you a lot of problems and may even put you in breach of building regulation laws. If the work then needs to be redone by an expert, it will cost you a lot more money overall than getting them to do the job in the first place and saving yourself the headache.
