How to clean the ventilation in the apartment and what you

If you are interested in how to clean the ventilation in the apartment itself, then you can immediately say that this question is far from unequivocal, since your canal is connected to a common shaft or shaft. So the causes of blockages and their location is not always the same.

To understand how to clean something, you need to fully understand how it looks, if not thoroughly, then at least in principle, otherwise all your attempts will end in failure. Let's take a closer look at the air exchange device in multi-storey buildings, find out what can be done in this or that case, and get help with the video in this article.

Ventilation service in high-rise buildings

Note. In low-rise (up to five floors) and high-rise residential buildings, ventilation of supply and exhaust type is always installed, which should ensure sufficient air circulation in the apartment.

System differences

Low-rise construction in the Soviet Union almost solved acute housing problems, and we now inherit a lot of Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev-type buildings in which the ventilation system was designed according to the same principle that has been preserved in low-rise construction to the present day.

We will not describe the entire system in detail, but you need to know the following: an individual horizontal canal, which you can feel by hand through the window, connects the kitchen to the bathroom and toilet. It does not connect with neighboring apartments, but enters a common shaft, divided into channels, which already throws air into the attic and onto the street. It turns out that for each entrance one vertical shaft is installed.

But already in the times of Brezhnev, they began to erect two pipes for each entrance, as in the photo above, thus creating the opportunity to separate the channels coming from the kitchen and toilets. Some may have a reasonable question: Why do smells from other apartments penetrate the apartment?

But here everything is explained very simply - in the mine between the channels gaps are formed or even bricks fall out. But this happens quite rarely, and if odors get into the apartment through the air exchange system, it is only as a result of increased pressure, but this also happens extremely rarely.

In high-rise residential buildings, the ventilation system is made somewhat differently, since there exists interfloor ventilation, that is, such a kind of air strip between the ceilings. In addition, the load-bearing wall is also closed with a thin concrete or gypsum slab, and between them there is a layer of air, which also serves as insulation.

Some, doing home repairs, remove these partitions to expand the area of ​​the bathrooms, although the instruction prohibits this, since in such situations not only the air insulation is lost, but also the ventilation channel is blocked.

In these cases, a vertical ventilation pipe called the barrel, to which satellites from each apartment are connected, serves as a shaft. Such trunks are usually designed for two pieces for each vertical of apartments, in order to separate air circulation from the kitchen and a joint or separate bathroom. The blockage of the trunk itself is unlikely here.

Note. There are special projects of residential buildings, where all ventilation ducts are made in the form of metal shafts. With such designs, cleaning the ventilation in the apartment is almost not needed.

Cleaning Features

• If you suspect that the air exchange in your apartment and in the bathrooms and the kitchen in particular is not happening properly, then first of all you need to establish the cause, which may be clogged ventilation pipe. But do not rush to conclusions, but check first whether there is a thrust in the channel - for this you do not need to have a special device used by the representatives of the gas industry - the test can be carried out with tissue paper, a lit match or a cigarette lighter to nothing).
• During normal circulation (paper), the paper will adhere to the window, and the burning flame will turn sharply towards the channel, as seen in the top photo.. In cases where the cigarette paper or the flame from the match reacts to the air flow weakly or does not react at all, then your ventilation will have to be cleaned. To do this, first of all you have to remove the ventilation grilles and exhaust fans, if any.

• Now let's see how to clean the ventilation in the apartment on their own, without resorting to the help of a master or a neighbor. After you remove the grate, you will most likely see a pile of garbage on the edge, which you can immediately rake in a bucket with your hand, but at the same time try to stick your hand as deep as possible, it is possible that the garbage is not only on the edge. You have already taken the first step, and it may be that this is exactly what caused the poor circulation, so, again, test the cravings with a flame of a match or tissue paper, keeping it on weight.
• If everything remains the same, it means blockage in the mine - it can be fallen leaves or even dead organics - birds fly to smells or to heat, crawling into the canals, and not everyone can get back. Therefore, here you will need a long piece of soft steel wire with a section of 3-4 mm or a thick (10-12 mm) steel cable, to the end of which you need to wind a rag or tie a large brush. Also for this you can connect 3-4 identical brushes with a nap outside - then you will have a ruff.

Conclusion

You will need to do it yourself and with the help of various devices to get all the garbage that has accumulated there, but if a brick fell somewhere in the mine, then the brush will not help you. To do this, it is best to make a cat out of a wire and tie it to the end of a cable - this is how you can hook a brick. Good luck!