Sewer Gas Smell

A couple of years ago we had to have a new sptic system installed, as our old one needed frequent pumping. Before the new system was installed we had never had a problem with sewer gas. We had new field lines installed as well as a new tank. Since the new tank was installed we have bouts of sewer gas that no one seems to be able to help with. We were told by local plumbers the vent pipes may be stopped up. But we never had a problem prior to the new tank. We have the most problems when we have very clear cold,(below 32 degrees) weather. The problem is more obvious during the winter. We live in the mountains of Western NC. We have bought caps for the vents and changed the commode seals anything has been worth a try. Seems the oder is always around the commodes. Please help.

You need to test to see if the vent pipes have a leak. The best way is to smoke test the system. You may not have anyone near you with this equipment and experience. The second choice is to do the same test we plumbers must do to pass a final inspection. You cap off the roof vents and insert a wiener plug in the building drain just before it exits the house. Make sure all fixture traps have water in them. Lift the flapper valve slowly in the lowest toilet. The water should rise in the toilet bowl several inches. Reseat the flapper valve so the toilet does not overflow. If no leaks in the system, the water in the bowl will stay at this elevated level for hours.

We have a swer smell only in our bathroom when the wind is from the NE.
Lately it is also when we do laundry.
Anyone have any suggestions on fixing this smelly problem???? Help!!!

Kellie,
Check to make sure all fixture traps are filled with water. Read *all* of my past plumbing articles about vent pipes and how to search for leaks.

Brett,

I have been fighting with the same problem. I also had a new mound system installed in the spring of o6 with no interior sewer gas smell prior. After the system was installed my vent pipes returned to working normal. So normal and good that I had bought a sweet air filter this summer to try and minimize the vent odor outside the house. Just today I went up to the roof and removed he filter and is was frozen solid essentially plugging my vent pipe. Even if you do not have one of these you must get up on the roof, preferrably after a few morning showers in freezing temps. Now I know why these manufacturers of these vents make them black in color..it is to promote daytime melting via sun. If you were to inspect pipe after sunshine late in day your evidence of a blocked vent pipe may have melted away also. Good luck!

Chris

If you do not catch the blokage at first put a string with a little weight like a fishing line and sinker in the pipe so that it is a couple of feet down. Tie it off outside and the next time you get the bad gas smell go check and if the string will not come out then the blockage is further down than the eye can see.

I have a smell of sewer gas that comes out one of my heat vent but not all the rest of them. My house is on a slab . Thanks for any comments.

Sounds like it might be moldy water if the venting ducts are under the slab. If so, I have another article in my Heating category about water in ducts.

I have had some sewer smells in my home. 1 plumber said it was the washer machine drain pipe & the other said the toilet needed to be reset and caulked (both jobs done within days of each other so can't really say which one worked) however I don't have the the odor inside the home anymore. However I have a sewer odor outside my home. It's reaaly bad when its windy. It's stonger outside my bedroom area. I was wondering could it be that pipe on the roof blowing the sewer smell or could it be in the soil. I don't see anything back up in the yard. If i pour bleach in the toilet and flush the smell goes away for a while but the sewer like smell always return

This is all covered in these comments and the multiple columns here at the website about this topic. Please reread.

We currently rent an end unit in a triplex (Rowhouse style). The other two units do not have the same problem.

When we first moved in 6 years ago the sewer line backed up into our basement throught the french drain. At that time the landlord said that it was due to tree roots because the house had not been occupied for 18 months due to remodeling.

Then about a 1 1/2 ago it happened again. Wife said the landlord was out of town and she would tell him when he came back in a few days. Do we got an auger, cleaned it out, all is fine.

Well it happened again this past weekend. Due to the lack of responde the first time, again we went and rented an auger, finally dislodged the blockage (which my husband and neighbor believe was the cap to the sewer drain). Ocassionally when it rains heavily for multiple days we get water in our coal room. We believe the cap went down the drain as the water receeded, the cap just barely fit, it was not the proper size. Anyway, the water receeded, we threw out our belongs, bleached the floor, but we cannot get rid of the sewer gas smell. The smell is coming from the pipe in the coal room. I have asked my landlord several times now for a solution and have been ignored. Do you have any thoughts? (Other than moving, which we plan to do int he spring) Thanks

Karen,
Unless I am missing something, is there water in the trap? This water seals the trap preventing odors.

Good question. I don't have the foggiest clue. Honestly I don't even know what the trap is.

I will ask my husband to check. Hopefully between him and my neighbors they will know.

Thanks!

My problem is that the house I presently reside in was built approximately in 1967. since I ahve moved in, the past three years I have experienced sewer gas smells in my laundry room and half bath located in the hallway. The smell seems to be present only during cold weather and not at the summer period. At times the smell is too much throughout the house we can't stand it. Even opening the windowes does help getting rid of the smell. At times when we come home it's unbelievedable. Please help in solving this problem. We did not have this issue when we first moved into our home.

Mike,
Please read *all* of my columns about this topic. Your answer is there.

We have a mother living in a 50 year old home with city sewer and a sump pump. We also have a gas problem that came suddenly and does not have any obvious source. At first we heavily bleached the whole system including the wastewater sump. By nose test we cannot even be sure of where in the basement the odor originates. Yes we have consulted plumbers.. one of whom is bringing in a camera system.
All the common flush and fill things have been tried. While I'm waiting for the camera guy I'm heading for the roof and trying a visulal look and then compressed air charge to see if the intake air vent line is leaking...

ANY HOPE out there in cycberland?

Davis,
The answer is Yes. I am producing a step-by-step guide that helps troubleshoot these sewer-gas situations. It should be ready in 30 days.

Hi Tim,
I desparately need your help. I have this awful sewer odor that continues to come in my kitchen on a regular basis, only late in the evening or night. I bought my home after my husband passed away in 2003. For 4 and a half yrs now I have had this problem, contacted the county sewer, since I do have city water and sewer. They have been out twice and cleaned the sewer drains in front and behind my home. The county sewer base is located in the far back of my property. Each time they came out the problem always comes back into the kitchen. I also have asked my neighbors on both side of me if they have ever had a smell in their home and both told me they have but not as frequent as me. I am afraid the gases comming into my home are harmful and I do not know what else to do. It is just a strange thing that it is only in my kitchen nowhere else in the house.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Linda

Kitchen odor at nite...Is this summer and winter- is it occuring every nite?

Since you mention only in the kitchen I would venture a guess and say you have a vent leak.. crack or leak at he joint where the sink drain is.. or.. you got a little critter nest left over from the years plugging it partially.. and the critter comes home at nite ! Do you have slow drain in kitchen and nowhere else? Im a novice and NOT a pro.. It will be interesting to see what the "man" has to say.

Linda,
Read my other columns about the biofilm on the inside of the drain lines between your sink and the p trap under the sink. You will find them easily in my Plumbing Design category.

My Husband and I just moved into a completely renovated home 4 months ago. Everything was fine until the winter months hit and we ran the furnace. Now, every time we run the kitchen sink, dishwasher or washing machine (laundry room is next to the kitchen), we get a VERY foul odor. Some days it smells like sewage and other days it smells like somebody went to the bathroom. I'm pregnant and it's really starting to bother me. My husband already went to the roof and cleaned out the duct that comes out of the roof above the kitchen. We are trying to avoid a plumber who doesn't quite know what he's talking about. Any suggestions?

Stephanie,
Have you eliminated the biofilm possibility? Did you read the past columns of mine that discuss biofilm? I also want you to read all of my past columns about plumbing vents so you can determine that all of your fixtures are vented properly.

We have a sewer gas smell coming from our shower drain. There's water in the trap but I think it gets siphoned away from the sink, toilet and washing machine. We can't access the trap as we are on a slab. I have been told of a flap we can install in the drain. Any help?

Scott,
If that shower drain gurgles when the other fixtures are used, then it is a serious issue that will not be solved by a simple flapper valve. Make sure it is not a biofilm problem on the sides of the shower drain.

We have a "sewer" odor smell in the basement. A portion of the basement wall, approx. 1.5' has a brown stain which has been there for several years. There is water in the french drain below the stain, which seems to be the source of the smell. Could there be a cracked sewer line? The drain flow is fine and we haven't observed any back up. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Mike,
It could be, but it also could be bacteria in the water.

I currently own a 3 family home. The apartment on the third floor appears to have a sewer like odor coming from the bathroom. I am not sure if the smell is actually coming from the sink, toilet or shower. The home is quite old and does not have a vent pipe. Can someone help?

Thanks

WE HAVE BEEN LIVING IN OUR HOME FOR 11YEARS. I DONT RECALL THE METHANE GAS SMELL IN THE FIRST FEW YEARS. WITHIN THE PAST FEW YEARS WE HAVE REPLACED A SUMP PUMP TWO TIMES, AND REPLACED A TOILET ON THE FIRST FLOOR. WE COULD NEVER FIGURE OUT WHAT THE SMELL WAS IN OUR BEDROOM (ON THE UPPER LEVEL). WE CALLED THE HEATING COMPANY,THEY CHECKED THE HEATING VENTS WITH CAMERAS AND FOUNE NOTHING. WE THEN CALLED THE GAS COMPANY AND THEY SAID THAT THEY COULD NOT EVEN SMELL ANYTHING, BUT CHECKED ANYWAY AND FOUND NOTHING. WE CAN ONLY SWELL IT IN OUR BEDROOM WHICH IS OVER OUR FAMILY ROOM AND KITCHEN,WHICH IS OVER ONE OF THE SUMP PUMPS IN THE BASEMENT. ONE DAY OUR PAINTER WENT TO THE BASEMENT TO CLEAN OUT HIS BRUSHES AND TOLD ME I HAVE SEWER GAS COMING OUT FROM THE SINK. FINALLY A SAME TO THE SMELL! ALTHOUGH WE CANT SMELL IT IN THE BASEMENT, OUR PAINTER COULD. HE SUGGESTED A PLUMBER. THEN I MET A MAN THAT USED TO DO HEATING AND HE SAID THAT IT WAS PROBABLY COMING FROM THE FLOOR DRAIN. HE SUGGESTED THAT WE JUST KEEP ADDING WATER TO KEEP IT MOIST. WE HAVE BEEN TRYING THAT FOR THE LONGEST TIME WITH NO SUCCESS. WE CAN ONLY SMELL IT BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8AM AND ABOUT 11:30AM. WE GET A FEW MONTHS OF RELIEF DURING THE SUMMER THEN AS SOON AS FALL COMES ITS BACK AGAIN(WE IN A CHICAGO SUBURB) WE HIRED A PLUMBER WHO REPLACED ONE OF THE SUMP PUMPS WITH ONE THAT COSTS $450, THE WHOLE JOB ENDED UP COSTING ME $1200. AND STILL NO SUCCESS. WE STILL HAVE NO IDEA EXACTLY WERE THE SOURCE IS. OR MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHICH PLUMBER TO CALL THAT WE CAN TRUST TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE AREA. HELP

We were having sewer smells in our house all winter (only when furnace comes on). I went to Home Depot and talked to a plumber and he told me what to do. He said to check the floor drain in the room with the furnace. He said to make sure that there is standing water in there. If there isn't, then that is what the problem was. Somehow, the water blocks the sewer gases from coming up the drain. If there wasn't water in there, then that meant that the furnace was sucking up the sewer smell and passing it through the house. Sure enough, as soon as I got home, I looked and ALL THE WATER HAD EVAPORATED!!!! I poured water down there, and voila! We no longer have the sewer smell in our home!! Hope this helps someone!

Hi there we have currently been in our home for 3 years, and the past 3-5 weeks we have noticed a very strong sewer gas smell, it get worse in the evening when the showers, disherwasher, or washing machine is being used. I have already checked the outside vent on the holding tank, and that is clear, we have a floor drain in the room the smell is most potent, I have just poured water down the drain, but I am curious on how much water I should pour down it? Thank you for your time. Shelly

We have a terrible sewer smell in our basement that blows throughout our house when the heat fan comes on. A plumber/contractor who in stalled out inside french drains for us told us it might be due to the fact that there is no trap in between our house and the main sewer line. If we install a trap, a bit of a costly enterprise, is there a good chance we will not longer suffer from the the smell? What does "dangerous" mean in regards to this smell? How do we know if the smell is methane-tainted?...

Please help!

What are some of the health risk from someone who has bend breathing sewer gas for a long period of time. Lets say 6 months or so.
Thanks

Elvert,
I have no clue. I am not an MD.

So, has anyone heard that installing a trap on the sewer line between the house and the main line might help?

Melissa,

It may help....... but the problem is you still would have the opening where the gas is coming in!!!!!

I am in the development process for a super EBook on this topic. It is being fast tracked right now.

Locating Sewer gas Leaks: Sewer gas is a serious health hazard. It can kill you, you read about municipal workers now and then that die in a confined space exposed to sewer gas. It may contain methane gas and can easily be explosive in a confined space.
If your renting and you have a problem, call the health department/ fire department and that may get things rolling with the landlord.
I find sewer gas leaks for a living. We're a sewer and drain cleaning specialist and we fairly often run into clients that have sewer gas issues.
Hands down the best way to locate sewer gas leaks is to use smoke. It is extremely accurate. We have a specialized machine that is completely controllable as far as how much air pressure and smoke is delivered. But, the poor mans way will work. You can use a shop vac, reverse the hoses so that you are blowing out the long hose. place a smoke bomb into a coffee can inside the shop vac. Smoke bombs are available online at a place called East county wholesale in one and three minute versions. warning, these guys put out a tremendous volume of smoke. I would stick to the one minute version and just keep adding to it as necessary. Call the fire department prior to your test to let them know you'll be generating smoke.
Smoke will show itself inside the building at some point in time. start the test without a/c running, if no smoke shows after 10 minutes, turn on the ac and see if that changes things. Bathroom exhaust fans can pull sewer gas into the building through failed pipe or toilet seals. The smoke may have to migrate through spaces to become evident. You have to be careful about what you see and what you deduce from it. Just keep chasing it back to it's origin.
Search for smoke in darkened room light with a powerful flashlight.

I live in a mobile home (in a park), and until about a week ago, we had no problems with sewer gas. Our vent comes out in our laundry room next to the hot and cold water shut offs. It is the laundry room that smells horrible. What would be the reason that there is only recently a smell? And what needs to be done to fix it? I thought that it was unusual that the vent comes out into the house. Do I just need to run the vent to the outside?

Candi,
All plumbing vent lines should exit roofs.

I recently replaced the float assembly on one of my toilets. The new float does not allow the tank water as high as the old - about an inch or so lower. I have to hold the handle down to get everything on one flush. Since replacing this I constantly get the smell of sewer gas. It seems to be coming right out of the bowl. There is no evidence of any leak and I have sniffed all around the toilet and the smell is definitely coming out of the bowl. Any ideas?

Thanks

We rent office space in the basement of an older building with three suites and two bathrooms. When you enter the hall from the outside it smells and the suite closest to the bathrooms and the bathrooms smell. The other two suites do not smell, but are not used very much. The hall and the bathrooms are basicaly heated by the furnace in the suite that smells. Plumbers came and thought maybe it was the sink trap in one bathroom that may have dried up from non use, and we aired out the rooms after running water. Over the weekend the smell returned. The plumbers are going to replace the seals on the two toilets and roto root. What would the roto root do and could it work? Do you think maybe it could be associated with the furnace and how??? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I cannot stand working in the smell and was told it could not hurt you. I know it is very bad for my health and will be showing the landlord and plumber some arctles to prove it. I go home with the taste in my mouth, a headache & sore throat.

Theresa,
The roto rooting of the drain lines will do nothing to stop sewer gas smells or odors. You need to have a company come and smoke test to find the leak *if* the new toilet gaskets fail to solve the problem.

Hi Tim,

When we first turn the cold water on in the bathroom, it smells like sewer. I really don't think it is sulphur, this really smells a lot worse. This only happens with this particular sink, and only with cold water. After running the water for several minutes, most of the smell does disappear. Here is a little more info:

1. We have well water. Lived here for 18yrs. No problems before.
2. Turning on the shower or flushing the toilet has no effect. These all use the same supply line.
3. All other cold water spigots in the house do not have this problem.
4. There is definatly water in the trap and there is no smell coming from the drain.
5. I did replace this sink about 4 months ago and had to replace the supply lines. They were that plastic/rubber lines that have been banned. I did not have to reroute anything, just cut, added an adapter and flexible supply line to the faucet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Fred

Fred,
Go read all the columns I have that mention biofilm. Check the overflow channel.

Dear Tim,

I am hoping you can shed light on the source of our septic odor problem. I have read all the other notes and columns and similar categories, but still no solution or clue as to the cause of the odor.

We purchased our 1985 ranch home two years ago. It has a 2/3rds basement and a gravity-fed septic system. The toilets are all on the main floor, but the water heater, washer, and utility sink are in the basement. The waste line runs down into the basement slab and then underneath out to the septic tank.

We have two vent stacks, and they are the source of the very pungent odor that we occasionally experience outdoors near our house. Sometimes it is more prevalent with heavy toilet use, oftentimes when there is a moderate wind or breeze, and always when the toilet has been stopped up for one reason or another.

I hired someone to come out and run their "video snake" through the waste line from the basement out to the tank, and the plumber said the drains were surprisingly clean, lacking the sludge and grime he usually finds. (no garbage disposal may help with this).

I know I can purchase either a Studor Mini-vent or a carbon filter to install on top of the vents, but I'd like to know what is the cause of the odor in the first place. Shouldn't there be a trap in the vent stack similar to the traps in the plumbing drains?

The odor is embarrassing when we have company over and we're all on the deck. Kind of ruins the appetite. :)

I appreciate your help in this matter.

Thanks,
Tim
Virginia

Tim,
Never install a trap in a vent line! The vent is the way air gets into the system. You need to relocate the vent pipes on the roof so they are downwind of the patio area - if this is possible. At the very least, move the pipes so they are as far away from the patio as possible.

Jsut bought our home. 3600sq' up & down. Septic smell in basement when heavy laudry or shower use, especially during heavy rains. Can't seem to find any drains downstairs. Any suggestions?

i have lived in this duplex for 20 years. sometime ago one of my daughters noticed a foul odor in the house. i have had a chronic cough for about 2 years. she called a plumber friend of hers and he removed the toilet and said the rubber flange was faulty and there was no wax ring. after he repaired the toilet the odor disappeared. my cough has also immediatley stopped. its amazing, because the cough was driving me crazy and my doctor could not give me a definitive answer on what was causing the cough.

Hello Tim, In reading your article I need your help if you can shed any light on the subject. We recently have a persistant sewer odor in our alcove of our basement. It is located outside a bathroom and the laundry room. Our problem is that the odor is not present when no activity is going on. When I start the dryer appears and becomes stronger as time goes on. When we do not use the dryer we do not have the issue. We have ran extra water in the traps..as far as we know. We have only lived in this house for less than two years. We checked the vents on the roof and found no issues and also any drains outside and the dryer vent. We are puzzled and are at a loss. If you have any ideas for us we would appreciate it.

Dottie

Dottie,
If you have a gas dryer, it could be a strange backdrafting problem. Read my past columns about backdrafts and the two about makeup air vents.

Dear Tim: My Parent's house has a sewer smell coming from the area,around the main drain for the down spouts.The two downspouts enter a 4 inch castiron pipe . I checked the gutters and the traps, The gutters are clear and the traps are working . I was wondering if the cast pipe is cracked under the floor,and the gas is passing through the concrete? The weird thing is the smell only appears around 7 pm for aboput 1 hr. I checked the floor there is no cracks that i can see.
Thankx

Hi

We have a horrible sewage smell from the basement. We ahve owned our hosue for about a year and a half and we know that the previous owner had big problems with the odor as well. There used to be a shower in the basement, so there was a drain that went straight to the sewer. Now, we closed the drain and and now have a pipe that goes to the washer (which we close when washer is not in use). I learned from this website that we have to check our vent pipe, so that will be done. But I was wondering if it is possible that the smell is "stuck" in the wooden stairs and such in the basement??? And how would we eliminate that odor??

Thanks for any advise... this site has been really helpful!

Don,
It could be that.

A few days after pumping the septic tank I have a sewer odor in the garage. The garage is under the house. The sewer pipe comes up thru the garage floor, exposed, and up into the house to a sink, toilet and tub. The odor is only in the garage. The traps are wet, and I ran water thru the vents. The wax toilet ring was just replaced. The pipes are exposed in the garage ceiling and show no leaks. I have to keep the garage door partially open to keep the odor to a minimum. The septic tank is 40' from the house. There are no outside odors. The septic tank cleaner said the tank was in good condition and working properly. I'm out of idea's. Can you help?

Christa,
Please read all of my Sewer Gas columns and all of the comments.

why is it when i lift the toilet off the flange in a commercial building i get alot of pressure and excessive sewer gas what can be done to solve the problem if the toilet seal goes the building becomes uninhabitable

ScottRomanovich,
There is lots of water moving in commercial drains. This causes the air in the pipes to be pushed ahead of the moving water. Install a proper seal.

Well I have read all the comments about sewer smells and I have one for you. I have two bathrooms basically back to back as they share the same vent and drain going to the septic. The septic is right outside of these two baths. Well the problem is one bath has odors and one does not. I find that if i close the drain, the odor subsides. From reading the other comments, there's possibly no water in my drain. How do you find out this and why one would smell and the other doesnt and they are on same line.
thanks

Brett,
Add water to all fixtures. Flush the toilets. When you flush, does water get syphoned from any fixtures? Do a smoke test to find the leak.

In your response, you say to add water to all fistures and then flush to see if water is siphoned? What do you mean by add water? Do you mean fill sink and tub and then flush? If drains are closed, how will the siphon action work?

Thanks

I just moved into a fairly new home. We have severe sewer smells. We found out the house was built with a studor vent on every drain- any way to stop the smells with this kind of system? it gets worse after running water. thanks

Ray,
Read my other columns that deal with Drains and Odors. There are several.

We have a sewer gas like smell coming from one heat duct in our living room. Our home is on a slab....this is very embarrasing and we cannot seem to fix the problem...please help!

Jeff,
You need to get the water and mold out of the ducts. Read ALL of my Drainage category columns and install one of my trench drains.

We have moved into an older home. Within the last two weeks we have noticed a some what strong sewer smell in our master bedroom. It now has also seemed in another place by two walls away near intake vent. We have had two plumbers now and everything checked out including the drains and the intake vents. We are on a pier an beam foundation could this be coming from a possum family living on the house or dead animal?

David,
It could be any number of things. Read all of the comments in all of the sewer-gas columns I have.

We too have an untraceable odor in our basement (walk-out). There is an effluent system of waste disposal, and we had that checked. Also, we had a plumber check all bathroom fixtures to insure there is water in traps and all seals are in tact. The odor is strongest before the pipe exits the house, at floor level. We've been keeping windows open to alleviate smell, but need help figuring out where it originates. Live in SE so vent pipe is not frozen, nor is it clogged. Thanks.

I am also in the smell club. For the past three years, I have a stinky smell coming out of the a/c vent in my family room. Sometimes, the smell moves into other rooms. The catch is that this only happens in the winter time, during the late evening and night when the a/c is off. When the smell is most prevalent, I can feel a downdraft coming from the vent. My house was re-roofed three years ago and some ridge vents were added. There are not close to the vent pipes. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Last winter, thinking that it was my coil, I had it pulled and cleaned. Thanks...I enjoy your posts.

Michael,
Welcome to the Smell Club. I like that name! You need to snoop around and see if you can discover where the odor is the strongest and locate the source. It will not be easy as you state it comes and goes.

Hello Tim

I just purchased my house and as it is my first winter here, I have discovered that I have a sewer gas smell. I have located the problem to an open 4" plumbing duct in the cellar. It seems that this duct is also used for a drainage pipe for any water that seeps into the cellar as there is a trench for collecting such water in the cellar. The house was built around 1940 or so. The duct is just below the cement floor, level with the trench. At times the smell is so bad that open one of the basement windows and actually leave the house. What can I do to fix this problem? Thanks.

There is sewer gas odor in one of our closets, the one that has the attic access door in the ceiling. Is a leak in a vent pipe in the attic a likely cause?

Hello, I have this problem in my basement and found that I have two floor drains without traps... ...the drains also seem to be encased in the concrete of the floor as I have drilled, in preparation of cutting out the old drains to install new ones with traps, over 5 inches deep and the inside bottom of the drain is 7 inches.
I stopped for the moment to take a break and regroup and think this through, I would hate to find that the drain pipe is not accessible to repair due to concrete surround and cause a bigger problem.
Any ideas on fixing the floor drains without excavation?

Gary,
Locate the floor drain this system was connected to. See if a floor drain is empty.

Emy,
I would always look first at dry fixture traps and then a failed toilet seal. Then look at vent pipes.

Elmo,
Yes, call in three plumbers and see if they agree that you do not have traps.

Our hot water tank spilled water inside my house six months ago. It is located in the center of my home. Ever since then, our water smells bad in kitchen on warm windy days. We have cleaned the traps under sinks. I had city water department test my water for sulfur and lack of chlorine. Tests came back negative. Water damage may be behind walls and plumbing is polybutne pipes that are located in walls. Can smells enter these pipes that are connected to what I can see by copperand run through floor studs from room to room? Or is the smell from sewer lines somewhere that got messed up after water damage. Water does not smell in kitchen on cold days. Please reply to my e-mail address.

Hi, I have read all of the comments and reasons why smelly drains occur. I would just like to let you all know that there is now a new invention that solves most of these problems (keeps the foul smell down the drain). It is called 'Medidrain', it is cheap enough, can be fitted yourself and really works! It can only be purchased over the internet.
Regards,
John Cody

what is wrong when all homes emit sewer gas thru the roof vent pipes in a complete new gravity system?

When ever we do laundry, by the second load, the whole house smells like sewer gas. We have a well and septic system if that is of any help.
We have tried adding water to the floor drain 5 gallons at a time, we tried dumping anti freeze in the floor drain... Nothing seems to help. That is the only time we notice the smell. What could be causing it?

Beth,
The drain for the washing machine is not vented properly. The powerful discharge of the water from the machine is syphoning the closest trap.

Hart,
I would say the vent pipes are doing their job.

Tim, we had problem with sewer gas smell at a high school in CT. after a complete renovation. The smell would come periodically. After many attempts to locate the source we turned off the air handlers in that particular section of the school and dumped a small portion of 100% oil of peppermint,ordered at a local drugstore, down a sink with the water slowly running in the area of the school we suspected was the problem. We removed some ceiling tiles in several areas and within minutes traced the peppermint smell to a room that had an old vent pipe that was cut and uncapped above the ceiling. We capped the pipe and the problem was solved.

Hello

In the fall I had my septic tank pumped. Soon after when ever we would run the water in the bathtub or shower we would get these awful sewer smells.
I was told by the septic company it had nothing to do with the septic being pumped. The house is almost 5 yrs old. We have checked all the drains in the house. We checked the vent on the roof. It does not always smell in the bathroom now but everytime you use the washing machine in the basement the smells travel up into the bathroom.
Do you have any ideas as to what the problem could be....
thanks
Tammy

Tammy,
Read all of the columns where I use the word Biofilm. Type that into the search engine above.

Please provide feedback to the following situation: There's a family in our community who experiences sewer gas problems in there crawl space and inside the home during periods of heavy rains. The owner has told me that the house foundation darin has never worked, in fact he has to use a pump to remove water from the drain during these rainy periods. What coudl the problem be with regard to the origin of the sewer gas odors?

EJI

Eric,
It could be a number of things. You should read all of the comments in this area.

TIM OK WHATS WHAT ON PAGE ONE OF SEWER SMELL YOU STATE VENT PIPES ARE INTAKE NOT EXHAUST THEN YOU TELL ME THAT THE SEWER SMELL COMING OUT [EXHAUST]IS SHOWING THAT THE SYSTEM IS WORKING PROPERLY -WHATS-WHAT ????????????????

Hart,
You need to go read all of my past columns to get an understanding of the primary purpose of plumbing vent pipes. Then it will make sense. You bet odors can come out of them..... But that happens only because they are open to the atmosphere.

Hello,
I've been having a sewer odor coming from the outside of my house; pretty sure it's from the sewer vent; what's unusual is I have two sewer roof vents and the odor only comes from one vent.I had a mound system installed last summer and is working fine. In 27 years I've never had the odor before; the vent where the odor comes from services my kitchen and spare bathroom. I rarely use the spare bathroom. One plumber said I need to get a vandal proof roof vent cap; are you familiar with this solution? I also see you can install filters into the vents to diminish the odor. Any advice would be appreciated., Thanks for your help.

Steve

We have just had some remodeling done in both bathrooms in our home. In one bathroom we are smelling sewer gas off and on this past two weeks we have been there. They completely gutted everything out and moved the toilets to a new spot. Also, the one we're smelling gas from when you flush the toilet I can hear water dropping sounds that I never heard before and I don't hear in the other bathroom even though they are butted up to each other with a wall separating them. This may not have anything to do with the gas. My sinks, tub and showers do not go into my septic tank just the toilet so they are not connected. Can you give me some suggestions what it could be?

Steve,
The vent filters can clog with ice if you are in a cold climate. Why not relocate the vent to the farthest point away from where you are normally outdoors?

Teresa,

It could be 10 things, all of which are mentioned in my past columns and comments on this topic. You need to begin testing..... oil of peppermint first and smoke second.

Hi. We have been having similar problems as everyone has listed hear for a good year. Everytime we get this smell, I have poured water down a drain in the basement, until we hear some pump go off, and the water flows. Now, we can't seem to get rid of the smell. I noticed that it is stronger today in one of our bathrooms. I see the picture in your article about a water seal being broken on a toliet, and other articles about holding a flap and the toliet filling up with water. Can you tell me how i can determine if this is the problem, and how to fix it? Thanks so much!

Holly,
You just need to read all of my Sewer Gas columns and all of the comments.

I know everyone thinks that the vent on your roof is one way, only sucking in. However; your septic tank creates gases with positive pressure that can vent out your stack. This happens more noticeably when there is a temperature inversion or when the wind blows across your vents causing negative pressure, or running lots of water.

If you only notice it outside or coming in a window say at night, then buy an activated charcoal vent attachment that goes on top of your outside vents. The cost is about $35.00

It works!

the water from my washing machine, drain in the same pipes from my kitchen sink,everytime the washer is draining the water a rotten eggs smells comes out from my kitchen and bathroom sink and tub.

Tony,
Did you buy my friend Dave Evans house? The two drains are not vented properly. The washer needs its own vent. Read all of my columns about Plumbing Vent Pipes.

Recently had tile work done in bathroom on second floor of my house. Since tile work completed smell of sewer gas present in bathroom will not go away. Plumber has been checking system did the system check with blocking vent pipe, clean out with filling the toilt up and showed no leaks. Have replaced toilet flange, reset toilet with new wax rings about 5 times now. Plumber has no clue do you???????

I am in serious trouble. When I purchased my house (which is over 100 years old!) I knew there were plumbing issues. After a lot of renovations, I thought we had them all taken care of. Then, when we ran the shower, water would start coming out of the kitchen sink. At first, it was just an inconvenience, but then, when we would flush the toilet, waste would start coming up out of the sink. We had several plumbers come and clear out the line that leads from our house to the main line. Then, the city came and replaced the line leading from our house to the main, because a city tree had damaged the line with the roots. That was two years ago. Since then, we haven't been able to flush toilet paper down the toilet, and there is an awful sewer smell coming from the basement now that the weather is getting warmer, and we can't even find a plumber willing to go down into the basement to find out what's wrong because it's so small and the staircase is nothing more than an old ladder. They can't even fit a snake down into the basement, so half the time they can't get the snake far enough down the line to see what the real problem is. I don't know what to do; I'm 24 years old and I feel like I'm living in "The Money Pit"!

Just moved into a home that has been vacant for awhile. Having problems with the master bathroom. Bathroom has toilet, separate shower & tub, and two sinks. If the tub is used at all, water and sewage from tub, toilet, and sinks backs up into shower and water leaks from around toilet onto floor. As long as tub is not used, the others work fine, although shower drains slowly. We have community water and sewer. It seems there is a problem with venting, since water running from tub stops up other fixtures. Could there be a clog in the drain pipe, or a clogged vent? We have used Drano max on pipes, and ran snakes down vent pipes, shower, and sinks and have found nothing. House is slab on grade, which makes inspecting pipes and vent pipes difficult. Any advice is helpful. Thanks.

we have 3 bathrooms and all three have that septic tank oder when they are flushed. we are getting ready to add rid-x to see if that helps. the tank was pumped out last summer. what have we overlooked ?

I have a stinky egg smell in my home also. I buy gallons of bleach every other day. I can smell this odor under my kitchen sink, down my hall, in my laundry room, and from the drain inside of the tub? I really do not know what causes this odor. However, I do not look forward to have company over because of this problem. Help if anyone have suggestions. Thanks

Josh,
I am convinced the wax ring is not sealing correctly. You can test this easily if you have a second toilet to use. Take the toilet in this bathroom off. Have the plumber install an expanding test ball or test plug in the flange. Make it tight as if the system were undergoing a test. Leave it this way for a day or two. If there is no odor, you know the plumber was not installing the ring correctly.

me and my husband just bought a billards and sports bar.. Before we took over the previous owner had install a new urinal in the mens bathroom. about 2 months later the mens bathroom started to smell like sewer odor. We try everything.. We clean the bathroom with bleach from top to the bottom.. And we even put 1/2 a gallon of bleach in the urinal and drain.. But it seems like it didn't work.. We been doing this for the past 2 weeks. And still the ordor comes back! We called Mr. Rooter and he said theres nothing u can do..Our drainage isn't back up.But of course i don't believe him.. Theres got to be something that we could do.. Can anyone please help!!

Dear Sir
we had bad odor problem in one of our commercial building of our client in Dubai we got check with many experience Co. who checked but not able to trace the problem.
I will be very thankful to you if could give your expert advice on this odor problem.

Thanks and best regards

Tim,

I read all of the above. My problem begins as soon as furnace season is over. The odor is very strong in one of my bathrooms which has a common wall with my first floor laundry facility. My son also told me that last night when washing paint brushes in basement laundry tub the smell was very strong, in fact he had to leave the basement and get some fresh air. Do any of your previous suggestions pertain to my problem. If so, I will try to locate a plumber who may have the apparatus you spoke. As a side note, I do live in a four unit condo. I have asked others if they have the same problem and they don't.

Thank you.

Purchased a home recently which originally had septic system, then public sewage installed. There was a strong sewer gas smell in the basement, appeared to be coming from an open floor drain where household waste apparently drained to septic system. Lines to the drain have been obviously cut. Local plumbing company sold me a cap to cover the drain, smell is gone. I read that the gas is flammable. Is it dangerous to cap the drain off? Where will the gas go if it can't escape through the drain?

If the hvac system supply ducts in the attic have leaks it can put the inside of the house under negative pressure when the system is running. This can suck sewer gas out from damaged toilet wax seals. Just another thing to check.

Poured water down the all the drains in the basement and ran the water for a bit down the basement bathroom sink that is rarely used...smell went away!

Thanks for the tips.

I have a shower in the lower level (3-ft below grade) which I don't use and keep getting a noticible sewer-like smell from the shower drain. When I look down the drain with a flashlight I cannot see any water. If I run water into the drain the smell disappears for a time but eventually comes back.

Why is this happening? Is this normal? What can I do to prevent the smell without having to remember to run water in the drain?

I have a sump crock that has a terrible sewer like smell. It does not travel through the houe though, only stinks my newly finished basement up. IThe home is in Holland Ohio with a small lake about 30 to the rear of the home. I didn't notice any sewer smell before the finished basement but it is definately strong now. I keep the door of that room closed to help deter the smell. I had t roto rooter type company clean the crock and it smelled terribly again within a few weeks. I had a plumber run a camera and no signs of a reason. IHe ran some sort of orange dye through my toilets and kitchen sink and says the dye came into the crock so he wants to tear some of the floor out now. Help. I have public sewer and water.

Strong Sewer Smell - One day when it was windy and I was doing laundry, I heard a big glug. I thought I had a clogged sewer line. I noticed a strong sewer smell in my basement. I had all the drain lines cleaned in my basement floor and out to the street. The strong smell is coming from one of our vertical cast iron pipes in the basement, and eminates up into the kitchen cabinet above. No signs of leakage, all traps have water. Basement floor drains do not smell. Had a sewer man scope open the pipe trap and ran a camera up to my bathroom and out to the street. He couldn't see a leak. The smell seemed to be reduced after the trap was opened, but still persists. I'm reluctant to have my 20 roof vents cleaned out, they have little roofs on them, it may make my problem worse. Help. House was built in 1960.

I've just moved into a high-rise building in downtown LA. The building, it seems, is cursed with a pervasive, nearly constant sewage odor. The owners have tried putting amino acids down the drain pipes they think the smell is coming from. I am concerned that this - what appears to be me methane gas - will cause harm to those of us who have lived here now for 8 months. It is a strong odor, and very much present nearly all the time. They've acknowledged it is methane, but have said it is not concentrated enough to hurt anyone. I say that's not the case - that constant doses of anything like this has to be harmful. Help. Any info you can provide would be terrific. SOlutions, info, advice...

Is there any danger from sewer gas if the LANDLORD removes the toilet in a vacant apartment and doesn't seal the open pipe left from removing the toilet? The bathroom fan vents are ducted to the attic, not the building exterior!

the town came to my road ,to clean the sewerline with sometype of waterpressure.while they were doing that.my toilet erupted and the water went all my bathroom,and the eggsmell went through my home.my wife,and i had to go for medical treatment for chest pain,and breathing,running nose,headaches.how long does this gas stay in my home.

For 4 years, we lived in a rental property that had an illegal drain in the basement, without a valve. We smelled sewer down there frequently and the furnace was right next to the drain opening. This was all discovered when neighborhood sewer backed up into our basement (4 separate occasions). The problem was eventually remedied.
My husband and I became increasingly ill during our time there. Moving 4 years ago has helped, but we are not recovered and the Drs. are baffled. SURPRISE: we just discovered that a vent pipe inside the wall behind our bed has been uncapped all the time we've been at our apartment. This discovery came after a drain blockage and then subsequent stench in the apartment. My husband worked with maintenance to get the vent capped off.
We are hoping this discovery will lead to answers to our health problems.
I'd like to address the issue with our aparment management as I believe it must have been a health code violation to have an open vent pipe inside the wall.
What do you think?

I have been renting a home for over two years and since the day we moved in, the sewer gas smell has been prominent. Here in Texas we run the A/C A LOT and every time we run the A/C the smell is overpowering. I've asked my landlord to come do something about it and when she comes over, she says she can't smell it.

The past several weeks when the A/C runs, we get sick to our stomachs and light headed.

One day when my very young son had forgotten to flush after himself, I came in a few hours later and flushed. The A/C was running and within seconds, the baby-waste smell was throughout the house. (sorry to be graphic, thought it was relevant)

We're finally moving out next month, but I'm concerned over the smell. We have placed CO monitors throughout the house with no results, but I wanted to see if you had any suggestions.

I read above several of your answers, but quite frankly its all a bit confusing as I know nothing about plumbing. Do I need to have the pipes checked or the A/C?

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

After having our septic tank pumped we noticed the discharge pipe was loose.we had the pipe dug up and fixed.since then we are smelling septic odors outside on our deck and patio when using water.It seems as though it is comming from the roof vents.(seems worse when the wind blows a certain way or air is stagnent.we never had this problem until we fixed the discharge pipe.The tank seems to be working fine.Good water level good flow in & out of tank.Any ideas why this is happening and what to do?

The house that we are renting has been renovated. They put a washer and dryer in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Early in the morning when the dryer is going our youngest daughter has sewage fumes in her closet and bedroom(gas like) that are coming from the pipe next to the water taps for the washer and dryer hook ups which they have installed. The washer and dryer in her room have been removed and we use the facilities that are down stairs. Should the pipe where the fumes are coming from be capped?

hmmm where to start! well we have a sewer leak smell,water is in my drains!i went to the attic to check vent clear had wife flushfelt air heard water! at night it intensifies mostly in bathroom spreads through out house! i have 1 bathroom and a cellar half of my house my bathroom is in crawl space,someone sugested pouring water down vent pipe is this good idea to find leak ? or what else can it be . i replaced wax ring a while ago and no water is reduced in toilet ! thanks Sean

I have a swer smell in the main bath room. I dont smeell it downstairs in the half bath just up stairs in the full. smell seems to come out of sink drain. I looked at plumbing and there is no vent exsiting the roof. instead they have it with a 90 elbowgoint into wall.

I've notice when I walk out my front door I have a slight gas smell only when wind blowing certain way but no smellinside.
The sewer line with cap is in my front yard.
Had my condo built about nine years ago.
Not sure who/what to call.
Thanks for any information.

Hello;

I read your articles on this site about sewer smell and I wanted to thank you for providing such helpful information! In the last few months we�ve been having a problem with a sewer smell. We�re cleaned the drains with Oxygen Bleach as you described, and checked the vent pipe for clogs. The odor in the house has improved, but sadly, outside the sewer smell is just as strong. The smell is strongest around the foundation on two sides of the house and when the door to our crawl space is opened. We have a problem with ground water collecting under the house, but when that water is pumped out it doesn�t smell like sewer. When we have a rainstorm or strong winds, the smell comes into the house. We�re desperate to find a solution. Can you help us? Thank you!

Greenhouse gases destroy our Earths Ecosystem. High levels of CO2 gas (carbon dioxide) are also a major cause of Global Warming. Although buildings produce nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions, a survey released by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) shows that 40 percent of voters believe cars and trucks are the highest contributors, compared to just seven percent who accurately identified buildings as the top cause of emissions. Studies show that buildings produce 48 percent of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change, and that they consume 71 percent of electricity produced at U.S. power plants. Other major contributors of building greenhouse gases are fully vented septic systems and landfills. Both of these sources of greenhouse gases can be reduced by using zeocarbon based septic vent pipe filters which as anadded benefit also remove odors. The zeocarbon inside these filters can then be recycled every few years as a nitrogen rich, ornamental garden fertilizer. It takes up to one year for one tree to fix the CO2 in the equivalent of 3 litres of gas. Septic vent pipe filters can do the same thing in one day, every day, for years before the zeocarbon must be recycled back to the earth.

In need of help

I am having a severe problem in my house with sewer gas smell. It started several months ago when I replaced two toilets. One downstairs, one upstairs. The toilets were a high flush capacity and I thought this may be the problem. I replaced the toilets a couple of weeks ago with regular flush toilets, but the problem remains. There are no leaks in the toilets and all of the traps appear to be filled with water and working properly. The house is older, with cast iron waste pipes. When replacing the toilets the other day, I noticed that all of the sink drains and the tub drain, drain into the toilet line, approx 1" below the floor. I can see a vent pipe on the roof, but cannot find it inside the house. The smell is present with the A/C on, but it is really bad when the attic fan is on. I have sealed all joints in the system I can get to with plumbers putty, and have foam sealed the floor where the pipes come through. I have run out of ideas and still have the problem. Any help would be appreciated.

Hello,

I have a metallic like smell that comes out of my vents. I used to only smell it when the air condtioning was on. Now, i smell it all the time.

Any thoughts?

thanks

Sweetfilters end septic vent pipe odors overnight and can last 5 years or more. At that time the zeocarbon odor control media is simply recycled back to the earth and replaced with new media.

We live in a 1958 ranch style home with a walk out finished basement, we have been having problems with roots stopping up our sewer lines. Recently I put Draino down the lines and let it set for a few hours and when we got home we had terrible sewer gas smells.
Any reason why? Please help!!!

The roof vent pipe is known to roofers as the "stink pipe," because the smell will gag a magot. They often stuff painters rags into it while they go about thie job.

Anytime you use the plumbing gas comes out the "stink pipe."

The only solution is a vent pipe filter.

The vent stack for my plumbing runs from the ceiling joists to the roof through a 15 foot vertical space that is unheated. In the winter the temperature is comparable to the outside temperature which can fall to 15 degrees below zero.

I want to wrap my vent stack PVC piping in the unheated area with standard insulation with a paper or foil backing.

When I wrap the PVC piping which side of the insulation should touch the PVC piping: the paper side or the batting side?

We also have a chronic sewer odor problem in our house. But we only smell it when the air conditioning is on, not when the furnace is on. We've tried pouring water and pine sol down our drain that sits next to the water heater but that is only minimal help. We are calling a plumber to come out this week, but we still don't know why we smell it only with the AC and not the furnace. What do you think is the problem?

We have recently (the last 2 weeks) noticed a terrible smell in our master bathroom. At first we thought it might be coming from the tub or shower drain. We used Liquid Plumber on both which did not eliminate the odor. We have noticed that the smell seems to be coming from the toilet area...the water level is normal in the toilet. My husband went up into the attic and onto the roof to make sure there wasn't any debris obstructing any vents. We caulked around the toilet, but still the smell is awful. Any suggestions?

We were having a sewer gas problem and I started reading your articles. I called my wife and had her flood the drains in the basement bathroom-stool and shower and she could begin to tell a difference in a matter of minutes. Thanks very much for the help

we had a problem with an strong oder and found out it was co2 seping out of the ground,,this is common went a house is built on an old strip mine.

I had a new roof put on my house a few years ago. Every once in awhile we have the smell of sewer gas in the basement when the washing machine is running. A plumber indicated everything was vented correctly in the house. I went into the attic and noticed the vent pipe is only vented into the attic and not through the garage roof into the open air. Could this be the cause of the sewer gas smell.
Thanks

I run a small restaurant and I notice a very bad sewer gas smell at random times during the day. The smell is strongest right under the main sink and the dishwasher. It is so bad sometimes that my eyes burn and we all get severe headaches. I had a plumber install a cheater valve but it did not seem to help. Since we are located in a small town it is very difficult to get anyone out to look at it. There is no basement and there is about 1 foot of clearance between the floor and the ground. It has me baffled because I don't smell it all the time. Sometimes it will happen after the dishwasher has run but other times it doesn't. I am concerned for our health and the health of our employees.
Thank You,
Kurt Neis

We live in an 1928 house in Des Moines, IA. Our neighborhood is notorious for flooded basements.
Our basement flooded this spring (April 08) with about 6 inches of rainwater. We do not have sump pump. We do, however, have a floor drain that looks rather murky.
The floor drain was not draining the standing water in our basement, causing us to bail in to the shower drain. Kitty litter flooded and distributed in the water throughout the basement.

After all was dry, we cleaned with bleach and the pine-sol. However, ever since the flood there has been a horrible stench that smells part rotten and part like sewage. We've tried to fill the floor drain with water and top with vegetable oil to reseal - still smells.

We don't know who to call or what the problem is related to. We have a baby coming and need to sell the house immediately, but can't go on the market with this smell.

Any thoughts?

We paid over $20k to have all the pipes from the utility room to the sewage line replaced and rehung and the trap repaired. A very reputable plumber insisted that that was the problem. A month later the problem is back. they said they checked the vents. the odor occurs in the utility room after we wash clothes--what do we do next?

We have this terrible odor in our basement when we run the washing machine or dishwasher. Basically anytime water is flowing through the pipes in the basement there is an awful smell (like a sewer smell). What can we do to fix this? Is something clogged up in the pipes? Does the city need to flush out the sewer lines? We do have a sub pump. Please help with suggestions. Thank you!

ps, our house is in WI if that is crucial info or not.

We have a sewer gas smell in one of our lower bathrooms around 1 to 2 times a week. The smell only last for a couple of minutes, then it is gone. It always happens at night when there is activity in the bathroom. The house is only one year old. The plumber has done the smoke test, replaced the toilet seal and removed the cap to the PVC sewer line outside the house. His thought, if it was sewer gas taking the cap off when not allow the gas to get back into the house (He also covered the hole with a bucket, so I’m not sure about that theory). In any case, nothing has worked. If you could shed some light on this problem, you may save my marriage. Thanks!

I read your articles about sewer gas. We need help finding a plumber to solve this problem. We have been unsuccessful in finding a problem to solve this. We live within 15 minutes of Charleston WV. Do you know how we might find a good plumber to solve and fix this? Thanks.

I have an odor particularly downstairs in one room. Sewage lines from a bathroom overhead comes down in closet in this room and cast iron line is visible and goes into floor. Concrete floor. Unsure where other upstairs bath and downstairs comode (which merge in the downstairs bathroom) go since disappear into floor. Can not see anything in the cast iron line in the closet where upstairs bath comes down. Gas fed boiler heat requires no duct work. Seems worse when heat is on though. If blockage or leak is below the floor how does odor get back into the room? House 30 years old.

How do I find a plumber that has a smoke machine and how expensive is it on an average? Thanks!

I just had new sewage lines put in changing from septic tank to the new sewer system. We combined the gray water line with the sewer line near the base of the house. and now we are getting a sewage smell in the bathroom near the new lines..what should we do

if you smoke test the sewer system after capping off vents and main drain line, how will you tell if there is a crack in the pipe if its behind drywall or under a floor slab?

This is going to take a bit of detail explaining.

Four years ago we built a vacation house in upper Michigan. It’s a chalet style. The lower level has a large “L” shaped garage and a game room. The bathroom and laundry are up on the main level.

The following year we had our builder install a bathroom on the lower level just off the game room. We originally thought we would have to have a holding tank and pump for this bathroom. However, the builder said there was plenty of fall to the septic field so he plumbed it into the existing line running a long the side of the house.

The bathroom consists of a shower, toilet, sink, and on the backside of the bathroom wall in the garage is a slop sink. My son immediately placed wonder board on top of the sub floor and installed ceramic tile.

We noticed right from the beginning a sewer odor. The builder had placed one of those spring-loaded vents off the trap under the sink in the cupboard. He thought that the unit was not functioning correctly so he capped it off and ran a vent from the slop sink to the outside rear wall. The odor continued. Let me say that you can always smell it a little bit but some times it is so strong that it smells all the way up the stairs and into the living room.

The next thing the builder did was to dig down to the sewer line running on the outside wall and place a “vent” in it. The odor continued. Then I realized that the “vent” was really just a clean out as the line was capped at ground level. I then uncapped that line and ran it up to the roof line along with the vent coming from the slop sink. This greatly reduced the odor but did not illuminate it. And unfortunately on some weekends it is still just as bad as ever.

I remember before the job began the builder saying he would bust out the cement floor were the shower drain/trap would go to allow room. However, he did not. I notice that the floor in the shower is just a bit flexible.

I replaced the donut on the toilet and there is no leakage or odor there. The traps are full of water and never dry. The vents are clear. You can NOT detect the odor coming from any trap or drain. It appears that it’s under the floor which is elevated about ten inches. There is NO water or sewer leakage detected.

Any thoughts at all on what the cause / correction might be? Could we have screwed the wonder board into a pipe and cracked or broke out a piece? Could the shower drain have a crack on the top after the trap? HELP – it’s disgusting and the builder nor his plumber have any idea. Whatever needs to be done, I will be doing myself.

I have noticed sewer gas in my bathroom. Some days it's there somedays it's not. I have replaced the wax ring and caulked around the toilet base. no help. I noticed sewer smell comming from around the cracked coller where the black plastic sewer pipe goes into the floor in the basement so I caulked around it yesterday and no smell today. but the bathroom upstairs still smells. the house was built in 1905 and the black pipe goes into tarracota which is under the concrete floor. I have no vent pipe on my roof and do not see any pipe on the inside that might be one. any help is greatly appreciated.

We have a sewer gas smell in our bedroom ONLY. It is a ranch house with a basement. The basement doesn't really smell, only faintly at times. The floor drain in the basement was leaking gas, so it has been plugged up. The bathroom p trap was leaking, that has been repaired. The smell in the bedroom seems to be worse and we cannot figure out WHY or where it is coming from! The vent pipe does go through the outside wall of the bedroom into the crawlspace above, and out the roof. Our landlord doesn't smell it because it tends to be worse at night and he's only been here during the day, so he won't do anything about it. We've had the fire department here and they didn't detect dangerous levels of gas but they smelled it too. What's our next step? We can't afford to pay a plumber to tear out the wall, nor should we because we rent. Thanks!

my home is connected to the city water sewage system. i have owned it for 6 yrs. in the last 3 yrs, the highway in front of my house has been widened with a large amount of construction and moving of water/sewage lines. for the last 2 years, my 2 neighbors and i have a heavy sewage smell in our homes that only happens over the weekend, immediately after the construction crews quit. it doesn't happen through the week at all. we have only recently found out that we all have this problem as we have each thought we had an individual problem.

is this connected with the construction? my ex husband said its something to do with "capping" the sewage line when the crews are done.

this company and the city have not been helpful with any of the many complaints we've issued on the various problems that have happened over the last 3 yrs.

HELP! Moved into a brand new house and have lived in it for 9mths. (sat on the market for about 8mths brand new). Shortly after we moved in, we smelled what seems to be sewage from the guest bathroom and the utility room, but both smells are intermittent (every other day or throughout the day)! 4 plumbers have come out to check it out. The first resealed the toilet and told us to run water often (although the bathroom does get used often). That didn't help. Next, to trouble shoot the smell in the guest bathroom, they cut a hole on the other side of the bathroom, which is the master closet, to check the pipes. When they cut out the wall we smelled something but it came and went. Although they did not find a crack in pipe, they replaced a part of the pipe, 'just in case". We left the hole open for a few days to make sure the smell was gone, which it seemed it was. When they sealed the wall the smell came back immediately. I can't pinpoint where this smell is coming from, although the base of the middle cabinet seems to absorb a lot of the odor when the smell is the strongest. If I open up the cabinet, it is stronger in that area (they couldn't cut the cabinet, that is why they cut the wall in the Master closet side). In the utility room, I can smell it in the wall above the sink (not at the sink). I can smell it only on a distictive part of the wall, mainly in a vertical line.

There is no pattern as to when the smells occur. Sometimes neither smell, sometimes one area smells and other times both. I have tried bleach, pine sol (I am a clean freak) to no avail. We had a smoke test done and it came back negative!!! Smoke techs suggested cutting out the walls and repeating the test!!!??? They said a camera wouldn't be a good option because the builder interconneted a lot of the vent/pipes so we wouldn't have so many vents coming out of the roof and the camera couldn't zigzag that well thru them. PLEASE HELP! ANY SUGGESTIONS???! We are devastated as spent our life saving on this home and are petrified we won't be able to find an answer.
:(. Any suggestions?????

Hi, We have a sewer smell in one section of our home mainly at night. It's near a laundry room and seems to come up through the hvac vents.
We do have a finished basement and all toilets wax seals have been changed. Please advise

We have sewer gas that enters our washing machine every time we use it. House is 3 yrs old . washer on 1st floor with p trap in wall we took pic as house was built.clothes are always clean and do not smell but odor is strong. sometimes smell comes out of overflow in sink in a bath that shares the vent pipe sink sits directly above washer. No smell in bath tubs or toilets even ones that share the bath above washer. Please help we need to sell house and buy or rent with a downstairs bedroom for 84 yr old mum this spring

Sabarras,

Is there a floor drain in the basement that does not get water into it on a regular basis? If it dries out, fumes might be coming from the drain. If you have one, pour some water in it and see if it helps.

We just finished a new home in a rural area of Los angeles. We are on a septic tank system. the system is brand new. there are no leach fields, rather the treated sewage from the tank goes into a very deep and large seepage pit. The septic system has some sort of electric motor inside that stirs the contents and certain intervals. If there is a problem with it,(by code here for new construction,) the system automatically calls the septic contractor. The system is probably 50 feet from the house. The Problem: On the outside of the house we can smell sewer odor after running water inside. there is no odor inside. My guess is that the odor is coming from the vent pipes. the septic guy cam out and sealed the vents on the spetic tank, but the problem isn't there. I'm sure it is the vents as when you come down stairs from the garage outside (above the roofline) you smell it the most. Is there something missing in our drain lines that go to the septic tank that is supposed to stop the gas from exiting the vent pipes? are there caps for vent pipes that block gas that one can by? Your help would be appreciated.

We have a sewer-type smell emanating from our sump crock. It gets overpowering. We have added clorox but that just masks the odor. If we add 5 gallons of water, the smell disipates for an hour then returns.
The smell gets drawn up through the first floor when the heat is on, so the smell is more than annoying. I am worried it is dangerous sewer gas, so I keep the heat set very low, which in turn keeps the draw down on the sump crock where the smell is coming from. Please help! We have had the line snaked and camera'd. There is nothing noticeably wrong in the sewer lines. All traps have water. We have not had any sewer back up. We are on septic and public water. The problem began last winter. It goes away/is bearable when we have the A/c on because it cleans the basement air-on heat pump. The plumbers don't know what to do next except dig up yhe sewer lines or line them with the new liner system. We would not mind doing the liner, but the liner company doesnt want to line because we cant say for sure if that's the problem. Have you heard of this? Help! Thanks!

For years, about 8 this smell comes and goes, it's back and I called the Water and Sewer from the city.
This man comes over and locates the smell, a smell he's never smelled, it smells like a cooked ham, it's not offensive, but there's nothing cooking! He found it coming from the back outside wall of the 1/2 basement wall from the vent to turn off the outside tap. The drain for the kitchen above is here also, but there is no smell under the kitchen sink in the cupboard. It's a mystery a hammy one too. I don't want to tear out all the dry wall to look. The house and basement are very dry, no musty smells and no water leaking. I could really use some advise. Could the house builders have forgotten to make a vent for this kitchen pipe. But there is zero odor from the kitchen sink or dishwasher.

I've recently purchased an older home. For the past five days I have noticed a strong sewer odor coming from the vents in the living room. What can I do, and am I looking at a large expense.

Thank you,
Margie

I have a sewer smell that comes from the crawl space when there is a heavy rain that is the only time when it happens. Any suggestions? I am on a septic. Thanks

Smell always happens after it rains. I have a full celler I have a wood stove and every time it rains it smells I do have an elbow right above the wood stove.Which is right above the major bathroom in the house.I would like any feedback as the smell is bad . Mostly comes from the shower area.

PLEASE HELP! We have a newlyl constructed home w/a septic system. We have had numerous plumbers at our house due to when there was a heavy rainfall we would have a AWFUL sewer smell from master and hall bath (no backup waste just smell). Well it came down to having all plumbing cut and replaced. Here recently when we get a heavy rainfall that sewer gas smell is coming from my hall bath and no where else?? It doesnt last long but boy it does stink. We are so tired of spening the money on plumbers for no help, any advice would be greatly appreciatedQ

Do not have smell from vent pipe, but when flushing toliet hear gurggling. Forced water down the vent pipe - no resolution.
Please advise.

We had a similar problem last year, only in the winter during a cold snap and thought the bathroom pipe was blocked with condensed ice. The whole house smelled of sulphur/sewer unknown odour, strongest in the upstairs bedroom but house was unliveable. Problem disappeared on its own but was back tonight, again after a cold snap. Turned out our battery charger in the garage that was in my stored beetle was causing the smell.

Last year I removed grout/caulking from my shower where the wall joins the shower floor. My walls are tiled, the floor is solid surface. Water leaked through the joint prior to replacing the grout, and I'm left with a "spongy " sounding floor. And I also have septic gas smell from the drain after showering. Shouldn't any water have drained out between the pan and the floor? I've cleaned the drain area thoroughly too. I'm just about ready to rip it all out! Help!

We have had an odor (think it is sewer gas) that comes from the wet wall between our bathroom and our kitchen. Originally we thought it was a musty smell from a drain pipe becoming dislodged under our sink a couple of years ago and flooding out our kitchen. Recently I had to repair some things in the bathroom and removed the medicine cabinet. The odor seeps from that opening (same wall) now and is stronger from the side toward the toilet (which shares the same wall). I have looked at all pipes visible but there is a vent pipe that runs behind a stud behind the toilet that I can not visualize without ripping my tiled wall out. The pipes I do see look fine and are cast iron. Also, the smell is only really present when we use the bath fan and create a negative pressure in the room. Any suggestions???? And you mention the smoke test. Any idea what the cost is. I live in Chicago. Thanks....Jason

We have a sewer gas smell in our house in one area only that is constant. None of the bathrooms or drains seem to be the origin. The other problem is our washing machine. It drains like it supposed to through the pipe where the hose goes in but behind the machine,near the garage floor, there is some sort of outlet pipe that a moderate amount of water comes back out during the draining cycle. We are on a slab foundation connected to city sewer. Are these problems related? What could be the problem?

when we take showers or run the washmachine there is a stong sewer smell coming out of our vents out side.it does not matter if it is sumer or winter it just smells nasty outside (we had our septic tank pumped three years ago)any ideas?

I have a strong smell of sewer when Im using my dishwasher and/or my washing maching. These two items are using the same drain lines and we have used liquid drain cleaner and still nothing, my husband has even snaked the pipes as well and still nothing with the exception of smelly rutsy looking mud. Do you have any ideas of what we could do.
Thank you
Debi

I have under a built-in desk in my basement office a sewer access pipe with a cover plate having a central screw that holds the plate in place. But there is a carpet with a hole cut roughly to the inside diameter of the pipe, so that the cover plate rests on this. From time-to-time there is a noxious odor in this area and I am concerned about the health issue. I suspect that even though the plate is screwed tightly in place the seal is imperfect and sewer odors enter the room. How can the seal be improved to prevent this gas leakage? I shall appreciate some guidance to eliminate this altogether. Thanks.

We have a very strong smell in our kitchen and wonder if it could be the drains.The source of the smell is on the opposite wall to the sink and no obvious smell comes from any sink/tiolet in the house.Could the drains be the problem even if the smell is not coming from the sinks?I read your information on blocked vent pipes and the smoke test.A plumber has offered to put a camera down the drains to check the water level, would this be sufficient to show the problem?Dont want to pay the call out fee if it's the wrong way to go.

Hi, I have the problem described by Dave B., Dyersville. We moved ointo a house about a year ago and right away, we had to repair a broken sewer pipe right outside the house. We have a sump pump in the basement and the sewer pipe was broken for probably 2 years and the previous owners didn't realize that. When it rains, or snow melts, dirty water goes to the sump, odor is in basement, return air to the furnace distributes odor throughout house. The sewer pipe is repaired, the drain tiles are cleaned up and some of the contaminated dirt is removed. But the smell is not gone, especially when the heating is on, the smell is unbearable. What can we do? We want our house back. Thanks.

Hi Tim,

I recently moved into a brand new 2 bedroom, 2 bath room apartment. It sits on the third floor of a four floor unit. When it gets cold and the heat kicks on, an awful sewage gas smell permeates the apartment (it woke me up two nights in a row). But the smell is not constant (e.g., during the day when the heat is not blasting).

I stuck my nose in every plumbing fixture in the house and cannot find any indication that the seals or traps are bad . . . Could it be another apartment (e.g., if the water has evaporated from toilets in an unoccupied apartment near us?).

Help!

Hello,

I have a ranch style home built on a slab. 3bed 2bath. It is all electric, no gas at all.

I smell a rotten egg smell out of the aircond/heat vent located on the ceiling in the kitchen when the heat or a/c is on.

The smell is really pronounced when the kitchen sink is running and 30-40 min after the sink has been turned off.

In our small bathroom we have a sewer smell every now and then. I thought maybe the wax ring has gone bad.

I havent called a plumber yet but really want to find out about the egg smell.

I have read all the posts here and was wondering if my situation rings any bells with you.

Thanks for any advice.

live on the river; recently had a new sewer system installed; after installation, vent stack emitted STRONG septic odor...after many, MANY trips back by the installer, he capped the aerator pipe in the septic tank and the odor stopped; i also am treating with bacteria as the tank may be imbalanced and giving off more odor....any suggestions? does anyone think that by capping off aerator pipe in septic will be a future problem?

Our shower has a sewer smell and a few sewer flys. Several plumbers have checked it to no avail. The smell is only apparent when the shower is in use or shortly after use. The system was smoked and did not show any leaks, but it was not smoked with the water running in the shower,the shower is all tile and it's in excellent condition, and it's obvious that the smell is isolated to the shower.
Hope you can help, many thanks!

i had the same problem with sewer smell from the air ducts whether it was heating or air conditioning. I poured three gallons of clorox bleach in my washing machine, ran a little water, and then the spin cycle, and the smell is gone.... maintenance a gallon of clorox a week and i have had no problems since.

My daughter put in a new didhwasher and a very foul smell ( we think is sewer gas) fills the dishwasher and the kitchen every time she uses it. Someone told us to make use the drain line is is looped above the trapunder the sink. Is this true ?

Hi Tim,
For several months I have complained to my management company (I manage an apartment complex) about the horrible sewer smell in our office. The President of the company came down and he felt it was a gas leak (we use natural gas for our dryers). My service tech. had a friend who works for SC Electric and Gas to check for leaks, he found none. I reported this to my management company, which they did nothing. Again today I requested that something be done about the smell because I get sick to my stomach every day, I was told again that the President of the company was convinced it was a gas leak. I called our gas provider and they immediately sent a tech out to check for gas leaks, again none were found. He went into the bathrooms and detected methaine gas coming from the toilets. I advised management company of his findings and was told that they would have to think about it that they did not think anything could be done about the methaine leak. I previously advised them that the gas is toxic, their response was "I'm not so sure about that".
I know that the gas is toxic and can make you sick and this has been going on for about 4 months. If they management co. does nothing about it what are my options in getting the problem taken care of.

Thanks,
Gail Parrott
Florence, SC

Dear Tim
Have you tried the Proset's "Trap-Guard" yourself? http://www.trapguard.com/Index.htm
I have a client experiencing some of the same problems your readers are describing here and I found this product in the net.
Installation seems pretty easy and I imagine product must work very well until rubber looses its bouncing capacity.
This seems to be a very cost-efficient solution. Don't you think so?

Could you please tell me the dangers and or symptoms of illness from regular exposure to sewer gases.

Thank you very much,


Sue Greb

PS or perhaps tell me where to look.

Srong sewer smell backing up into restuarant. Seems to be most profound in ladies lavatory and the storage area which are not connected, but smell is noticed throughout store. Took out the wetwall in the lavatory and inspected the pipes with no noticable problems. Multitude of Floor drains throughout are wet also. But noticed that the grease trap inlet pipe does not have a tee, so the FOD despenses directly into the trap and will flow backwards into inlet pipe when level is high. Could this be the problem? We have hired several Plumbing companies to figure out the origin and none have been successful. Please help.

please help us we rent a townhouse last sep we had a sewer pipe break under our apt it is a dirt floor it smells BADthe landlord put lime on it but that is it our little girl as never been this sick the smell is all the time and really bad when it rains we are looking for a new place to rent but our lease is not up till sept the sewer is still on the floor really bad what can we do i hope to hear back from you please thank you

For Sue Greb and other people having this problem.
Symptoms of Exposure are various and depend on concentration of hydrogen sulfide and other organosulfur compounds, affected person's age and health, in general prolonged exposure can lead to: Apnea; coma; convulsions; irritate eyes; conjunctivitis pain; lacrimation; photophobia; corneal vesiculation; respiratory irritation; dizziness; headaches; fatigue and insominia.
Check: http://www.drthrasher.org/toxicology_of_hydrogen_sulfide.html or http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/Air/fs/SewerGas.htm
In addition to this people exposed over long terms to H2S gas loose their hability to smell it after some exposition...
This is serious.

Two of the writers of questions mention a connection between sewer gas smell and wind. This is true for us. We get a sewer gas odor only in cold (not necessarily freezing) weather and it is particularly apparent on windy days. What's the connection?

Heres one for ya, I am a plumber and I have been trying for two months to find the smell in four different homes in the same subdivision, i have smoke tested, peppermint tested, pressured tested, replaced mechanical vents, (theres only one) replaced wax rings, inspected with cameras, you name it, ive done it. I have billed over twenty hours in one home alone, and still smells, and it gets worse when it rains. They are slab homes, with septic systems, all but one which is a crawlspace. Got any suggestions? I have just about exhausted all my resources, and my local governing bodies "experts" aren't very eager to help either.

I'm having this weird smell coming from my laundry room. It has gasoline/evostic glue/toxic bleach smell; almost like a petroleum bi-product smell. I have called the fire dept that confirmed that it is not a natural gas smell, so I am curious to know whether this is what is being referred to as sewer gas? can you tell me exactly what sewer gas smells and what could this smell be if it is not sewer gas and not natural gas.

I've read the previous posts regarding sewer odor and leaks. We have a sewer odor in one bathroom used daily. I have had two plumbers come out to see it, and they have found no cause for the problem. This odor is ONLY present when the outdoor temperature is above 80 degrees. The odor can actually come and go on a daily basis dependent upon the temperature outside. Why is it affected by this?

Dear Tim,

We have recently completed a substantial renovation to the whole of our house. Two rooms in the lower level (partially cut into a hill, a slab floor), which are entirely new, have a sour smell (not a rotten one). The smell migrates: sometimes in one room, sometimes in another, sometimes in both and sometimes in neither. The smell also appears (as a weaker presence) in lower-level open common areas, but not in closed walk-in closets that are adjacent to (or attached to) the two rooms in question. No smell is found in the bathroom or laundry room on this level. The sour smell seems strongest close to the windows but, again, it "migrates". The smell is normally isolated to the lower level. On occasion, when we have been away and the house has been closed, we can detect the smell on the upper level of the house. There is no consistent pattern to the smell being detected on this level (at least, not consistent so far as we can determine).It is weaker than what we smell at the lower level.

We have found no discernible pattern pertaining to smell intensity; however, it seemed stronger in the warm months we experienced last summer and fall, weaker in the winter, and now stronger again in the spring.

Studs, drywall, sound insulation board, carpeting, windows, outside Hardiboard cladding and paint are all new in these rooms and throughout much of the house. Same goes for much of the plumbing (Pex), and a substantial part of the duct work to the HVAC system.

We have cleaned the new carpeting, cleaned Oriental area rugs, and sprayed for bugs. The house is thoroughly cleaned by a crew every two weeks, and more frequently in selected areas. We have had the furnace and ductwork cleaned. When possible we open the windows to these rooms, as we do for much of the house. We have had site inspections and consultations with our contractor, the HVAC installers, and contracted an experienced residential property inspector to see if he could find the problem. Although in the Pacific NW, the property inspector found no moisture and indicated that the smell was neither what he would expect from imported drywall or mold.

Do you have any informed guesses? What type of scientific expertise should I be looking for to investigate this type of air quality issue?

I have a sewer gas odor coming from the sink in the main story bathroom. It is the only location with the smell and I have had two plumbers check it out with no luck (but steep costs!). The plumbers added an undersink vent even though the sink drains without gurgling, they also put in a larger diameter (3") drain line under the sink as well. This helped for a while but the smell is back. Any thoughts on fixing the problem? I'm getting tired of smelling this stuff! Thanks.

We had new tile floor and shower installed several months ago and have had sewer smell since. There was no smell before tile was replaced. The plumber replaced the wax ring 4 times and could not stop the smell. I had another plumber out who installed was rings twice to no avail. They have tried using 2 rings etc. The vent pipe was pressure tested by cutting in the crawlspace and sealing then cutting in the attic and pressurizing. No leak. I installed a Waxless ring myself and no success. I did note that when the toilet was removed there was no odor even up close to the drain line. The only solution I see at this time is to replace the vent pipe. Does anyone have any other ideas?

I purchased a new home built during the winter (2008-09)in a Northern state. After moving in we waited approximately 4 days before using the master bedroom shower to allow the tile sealer to completely dry. After using the shower the first time, a strong sewer gas smell began to emit from somewhere in the bathroom, and is persistent. We have a toilet and a bathtub, both of which are used regularly. After a 4-day weekend vacation away from the house, we returned to find that the master bath smelled like a sewage treatment plant (the bathroom is kept very clean!). The smell only resides within the confines of the master bath. The builder sent their plumber out to see what he could find, and of course found nothing. He checked the pipes and the vents. The builder said that we should make sure that the basement drain always has water, which we fill regulary, but to no avail. What else should I do?

We don't get any smell in our house however the yard frequently has an overpowering sewer smell. Sometimes its in front of the house, around the back, on the deck - it varies. We have had a snake put down to clear any blockages but can not get rid of the odor. We have not seen any water leakage anywhere. Is this a vent pipe problem? Can you suggest a solution. Thanks

I have a very old home and one day last week the city workers were doing something in the sewers on my street that caused bubble bursts in my toilet. since that day every once in awhile (more when it rains) we smell a sewer gas. Do you think i need to contact the city or should i remove the toilet and investigate (i'm not the most handy man on the planet and currently without income).

RAN A SNAKE auger THROUGH MY WAHSER DRAIN , NOTHING Everything WORKS GREAT FLUSHNG AND draining, ON SPIN CYCLE MY WASHER gurgles MY TOILET BOWL ,WHATS THE PROBLEM? ANY IDEAS?

If there is a leak in your vent pipe will you get a sewer smell into the bathroom? My vent pipe through the roof is PVC which is connected to cast iron using a rubber coupling. When I rain water down ny vent pipe it leaked at the joint. Could this be my problem?

Tim - Awesome article.
This has helped me resolve the mystery of foul smell from the p-trap under my washer-dryer. Every few months when the AC or furnace kicks in for longer time, sewer smell would come for several hours and then go away. Builder and plumber could not explain the reason. But your article gave me the insight into the scientific reasoning for the smell. The trap was totally dried. I have added water and mineral oil (baby oil) and the odor disappeared immediately. What a relief. Resolved the mystery with $1 mineral oil.
Great Service Tim.

When i am outside my home, right beside the air condenser units, I smell a foul odor (to me, it smells like a dirty diaper). Could it be sewer gas?
Our home is fairly new (6 years) and we have these white pipes that come up thru the ground several places in the yard. Are these vent pipes? Could they be the cause?
Thanks.

When we bought our house the basement is unfinished but thier are pipes in the floor I guess for future bathroom. do I need to seal this off in the meantime. How do you do this, just stuff a rag in the hole or duct tape because that is what is there right now. Thanks for your answer.

Hello Tim I am having sewer odor coming from what I believe to be the kitchen sink but then the smell spread through the first floor of my house. Then I cant find the source of the smell anymore. Any suggestions???
P.S the sewer gas smell is strongest in the kitchen.

Our house is almost 5 years old. When it was built there was a rough in for a bathroom in the basement. Now that it's finished and being used, we get a sewer smell from the shower drain. The strength of the smell depends on the usage of the bathroom. We've never had any sewer issues before this. Any thoughts?

Thanks.
E

I purchased a mobile home in a park 3 years ago and recently after a rain the smell of sewer is terrible do you have any idea's what this could be?Any help would be greatly appreciated Thank You

My basement smells of rotten eggs and a pipe is busted in the basement. Anytime i run the sink, shower, and washing machine you can hear the water going straight in the basement. I let my landlord know and he never fixed the problem. The problem has persisted for over a month now. Should that pose health concerns?

Since moving into this house I bought I have not felt well. One problem has been solved. I had a new ac/furnace put in since the old unit was seriously needin replacing. The problem now is Im dizzy, headaches, shaky, decreased urine out put so I contacted the ac guy and he came out and inspected the unit. He said that the drain trap in the garage which dumps the hot/cold water, hot water tank, and ac looked like it was clogged or stopped up and he noticed an odor. He suggested calling my home warranty place and getting a plumber out here. He said it needed to have one main hose all those dumped into and he felt that possibly the problems Im having are associated with sewer gas. Im desperate. Plumber is coming today so Im anxious to see what he has to say. If not Im dipping into savings and moving. I cannot stay this sick, loose sleep, drs bills, etc. Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much Linda.

Any chance the sewer gas in my home could be from a toilet that was not set correctly? We had North winds yesterday and the smell in one of our bathrooms was unbelievable! We use this bathroom daily ... and our home is just 6 months old!

I have just discovered what we think is a sewer gas problem. We don't have it all the time. We have just remodeled our bathroom and moved the washer and dryer into that room. The gas smell seems to be coming from the drain on the washer which we have not purchased yet for the room isn't completely finshed. We connected the new line to the old in the basement. We are capping off the old one once the new washer has been installed. Is this why we are having this problem because of no water running through the lines. I'm confused.

We had our upstairs AC unit changed and since that time my wife feels sick in the house to the point that we have had to move out. I had the AC company check for leaks ( N2 test of lines) and they say there are not leaks. I have actually removed all of the R410A from the system and aired the house out for a week. When it is shut up again and my wife goes in she gets sick still. Had the gas company check for gas leaks..none, had the fire dept check for CO.. none. the attic where my furnaces and water heaters are so bad for my wife that she can't even stand to poke her head up there. The only thing that I can smell is a sweet odor in the attic that seems different than my neighbor's attic. Any ideas? Could this be a non smelling sewer gas leak? I have run out of ideas.

Thanks

We have a horrible sewer gas problem in our home. The main problem we have here is getting a plumber to come out and fix it. The local guys don't want to seem to be bothered. Would it be better to pay the extra for an out of town plumber?

We have two bathrooms, one is the master bathroom. We did have some digging on our street a few days ago about 500 ft. away from our home. Now we have a very bad odor coming out of bathroom. Husband checked crawl space for any leaks, no signs of any accept for around the toilet, the wood is black under the toilet in the crawl space. Could the seal be bad under that toilet?
That is the only place where the smell is the master bathroom. do you have any ideas or thught. Thanks

We have a foul smell that comes from the floor drain in our ensuite.
The ensuite was not used for several months and I assumed that the water had dried up in the U bned in the pipes thus allowing the gas back .
We used the shower in the ensuite for 2 weeks , poured backets of water down the floor drain, put draino downit, put Bleach down it but to no avail.
House is on a slab .
Have also put the hose down the Ventalition pipe in case it was blocked but it wasn't
Any suggestions

Hello Tim,

Reading your previous posts led me to believe that I have a sewer gas problem. However, when I called a plumber to take a look, he didn't use the smoke machine or anything. He just flushed all of my toilets (3 in all) lifted the lids to look at the water in the tanks, and told me that I probably just needed a pipe cleaner. He believed that the smell was caused by a build-up of bacteria and waste in the pipes. So, I bought a "pipe shield" product to pour down all of my drains tonight. He told me that I should use it once a month for drain maintenance, but that I might want to use it more frequently this first month to get the odor under control.

My question is, how do I know for sure that it is a sewer gas leak? (If the stuff doesn't work and I need to call the plumber again).

The smell seems strongest in and around my attached garage, which is part of the lowest level of my 3-level townhouse and in my bathrooms (which are located on the 2nd and 3rd levels). The smell is not consistent, some days it is stronger than others, some days I don't smell it at all, and some days it seems to just waft through the whole house - though I can't really tell if it's coming through the a.c./heating vents.

If the smell remains after I let the "pipe shield" sit overnight, should I just force a plumber to come use the smoke machine you mentioned? I suggested this to the plumber who came, but he said that I didn't need it.

Tim, My question also pertains to sewer gas odor but the odor is only outside near the roof vent pipe. No odor in the house and I have checked all traps to ensure they are with water. I am on a septic system and recently had a new leach field installed. Any ideas?

Thanks

I bought my house 4 years ago and right after I moved in I started smelling sewer gas on the out side of my house, it is not all of the time but it comes and goes it always starts out week and ends up real strong and goes a way I have tried to get a plumber out and when they show up there is no smell so nothing can be found. It seems to be worst when the humidity is high out side. I have 4 neighbors and I know that none of there houses are giving off the smell because at one time all the homes were empty and I still smelled it. If you have any thoughts or ideas I would be grateful in hearing them.

AT ONE END OF THE HOUSE, BASEMENT LEVEL, IS THE SEWER. WHEN WE HAVE EXTREMELY HEAVY RAINS, WE GET THE SEWER SMELL AT THE OTHER END OF THE BASEMENT. WE HAVE 2 BEDROOMS WITH SHOWER AND JACK & JILL TOILETS. CAN YOU HELP? THANKS.

I have been having sewer back up in my basement off & on for years.I moved washer & dryer upstairs, since I'm not supposed to use stairs. I recently braved going down there to change furnace filter & check a sewer smell.My basement was flooded, with human waste floating everywhere!!! Also all my sheetrock molding & my familyroom furniture. I,ve had plumbers out & they say its from a rental house tree roots.I'm disabled & can't afford a plumber every few months.Now who pays for mold removal?I can't use my furnace because of the smell carrying through it!! I need HELP!!! My city just ignores this.I've heard there should be a back flow protection in place.How do I find out?

had a new toilet installed a few years ago. 6 months ago started smelling an odor in the bathroom. Plumber came snaked out the toilet, waste water came up,flushed a couple of times, odor gone. Now it's back. Why is this happening again and what can I do about it?
Thank you for your help.

7yrs.ago new toilet. (Top floor of a 2 fl.condo.) 9 months ago, sewer smell. Lived with it. Then toilet backed up. Plumber snaked toilet. Waste water appeared. Both problems solved until last week, now I'm smelling that smell again.
What could these problems be? I don't want to wait till the toilet backs up again and I hate to keep calling a plumber.
Thanks so much.

I have a crack in my cast iron vent pipe for my toilet. Can I seal the crack with JB Weld or should I go through the expense of replacing the vent pipe? The crack is not very big and I have not inspected the entire length of pipe.

recently i have a problem with septic gas, it only come when i turn on the cold water, especially in the kitchen sink. I have not always have this problem,we had a plumber fix a crack pipe and ever since he did the repair i've had this problem. Please help the smell is unbearable.

Before you start your search for a sewer gas problem, check to see if you have any lead-acid batteries in the area, such as a sump pump with battery back up or simply a battery on a charger. I learned this the hard way!!!
Richzab

Tim, Here is a new one for you. We had sewer gas smell off and on for 4 years. It finally got to us and we went through all checks with traps and vent pipes. Turns out the plumber had not capped a clean out tee that was in a vent pipe and the dry wall was installed over the open pipe. It drove us crazy until we cut into the wall and found the problem. I can send you a picture of the travesty.

i recently put a second bathroom in master bedroom myself did the plumbing ect. it all works fine, flushes the drains work but the only problem i have is when i flush the toilet sewer gas comes up from the sink. The main bathroom has no odors just the new bathroom if i dont flush for a while we dont smell anything but only when flushed like i said it comes from the sink and i dont have the slightest clue to whats causing it because when the shower is being used no odor only when toilets been flushed so i hope you might have solution for me. Thank you

Hi we moved into this old house and the landlord wont do nothing but we have got a bad sewer gas smell and don't know where its coming from all i know is its the toilet can you please help we do have a septic tank but don't know where it is but we don't have the money for a plummer to come fix it or check the septic tank and we cant move do to not having the money can you please help

We have a 70 year old house. We have have had a slight smell of sewer gas in the past , when we did not use our basement bathroom and shower for a long period of time. But now we have a very strong pungent smell downstairs. My husband has sealed off drains with tape, trying to find the source of the gas. It only seems to be worse. Any suggestions? Thanks so much.

I have a house in detroit. There is a sump pump. For some reason lately when I flush the upstair toilet the basement one empties out and I got water comming out of a floor drain by the washer. If I leave the sump pump off for a few days then water comes up out of BOTH floor drains. But with normal on of the sump then the one by washer still floods and is followed by a black gunk. If I put toilett paper or waist and flush I dont see it, and the water comming up apears to be clean. What is wrong? Also there is 2 cleanouts under the basement steps would this be for both sanatary and waiste lines? why would the sump effect BOTH floor drains when its off? can someone please give me some insight?

I have a similar problem and would like to know what I need to ask a plumber to ensure he has either the right equipment or experience? I had a plumber come today who auger'd my toilet but the smell is still there. He said he couldn't access all the pipes in my crawl space... Any recommendations?

We recently discovered a sewer odor smell in our house after we do various things. They range from taking a shower, to washing clothes, to running the faucets. The odor seems to get stronger when the heat is running. Traps are fine. We've fixed any visible problems ourselves. Have not contacted a plumber yet. Do I need to get my septic pumped out? Any idea how to solve this problem? HELP!

my comment is gone.. I have a sump. For some reason my floor drains in basement back up with black gunk when a toilette is flushed, or washer empties. One goes down almost immediately, while the other sits for hours. if the sump is unplugged it flood bad.. Turn it on and all eventually goes down. There is a sewer smell. As the water comes up it looks clear and clean, but leaves a black tar like residual behind. Whats the sum have to do with sanatary drains, and whats the problem. if I flush poop or toilette paper I dont see that come up, but the water slowly rises from floor drain! help me resolve this! Also basement toilette wont flush, and when it does it too comes back up (water) sump pit smells bad as welll, but water is clear!

our house smells like sewage only during winter time. we have a 2004 house that we bought 3-yrs ago. the first year it didn't smell at all, but these last two winters the house smells like sewage, particularly in the morning.
i read i have to check the roof vent. our roof is more than 20-ft high (3-floors high). is this a plumber's job? if so, how do i explain this to a plumber so i am not taken advantage of and approximately how much will this cost me. finally, if i don't do anything... am i doing more damage to my house.
thanks so much for your help.

I live on the main floor of a 3 story apartment building and ever since a new boiler was put in
last year during the heating months we hear this loud clanking or knocking sound in our hallway ceiling. It seems to happen after a water gushing sound and at all hours. I asked a friend who use to be a plumber and he said it sounded like 'the jackhammer effect' I told the landlord and he said his plumber said it would go away eventually. It did that year but this year it is back and the noise has stayed. It takes a week off but only to return. People on the 3rd floor have complained of sewer smell too. Could you give me your opinion so I can share that with my landlord.
ps I read through all the previous posts and wondered just how explosive sewer gas is cause the 3rd floor is home to several smokers.

Hi Tim,
We built a new house and just moved in December 1st. We have a floor drain underneath the washer in case there is ever a water leak or over flow. Our plumber filled the trap on the floor drain with vegetable oil to prevent sewer gases from coming back through a dry trap. But we are still experiencing sewer gas odor in the utility room.
What are your suggestions?

Hi we have a sewer gas smell in our bathroom when it gets below zero the out side vent gets iced up is this the problem ? and how can this be resolved ?

We had the septic pumped, we also have freezing cold weather right now. About 4 days ago, our attic started smelling really really bad. It leaks into our sons room and we went up and sealed the vent pipe in the attic where it joins the roof. It has no cap on it, just the pipe. It seems the smell is not as bad, but still present and we do not know why. Its too icy to hop onto our steep roof and check for blockage. Any other way to check ourselves? We do not have a ton of $$ to send a plumber in blind.

Sometimes the water coming into my washing machine smells like sewer, usually after it's been sitting used for a few days. My daughter said recently when we visited that our jackets smell like a barn. Could sewer water back up into the water pipes? What can we do? Should we call the town's Water & Sewer department? Thank you.

I live in an 11 year old home. We have had sewer gas in our home occasionally since we built the house. It has gotten worse the last two or three years. We have most of the sewer gas smell on days below zero although it has happened mid summer.
The sewer smell shows up first in the bathroom/laundry room. The bathroom/laundry has a total of two sinks, one shower, one toilet and one washing machine. All are venting through a 3" roof pipe. We recently noticed the toilet bubbles occasionally during washing machine operation, not necessarily resulting in odor.
We read the related articles but have seen nothing that will give us the guidance we need. If we missed an article that will help us, please let us know the article name or add a link to the article. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

We have a septic system in our home. When it gets to subzero temps outside the sewer gas is terrible. What can I do to relieve the smell or even the gas.

we had that horrible gas smell also then we realized it was from the toilet being empty due to our dogs drinking it empty...the smell leaves after a short period of time,but it's horrible.

I have had a foul sewer gas smell comming from my bedroom.
I livein a very old wooden building, 1904,in Santa monica, California.
The property has 16 units, and two floors. I have had a bad foul sewer odor for the past three years, it has become worse to the point wher I wake up in the morning with severe headaches, and my eyes always hurt!
Behind my bed is a air duct where a sewer pipe runs up to the roof, thelandlord already had the plummer extend the pipe higher, and the smell stil exists. I have the window behind my bed sealed, and the smell still exists. next to my bed is a small closet and behind that wall is the neighbors toliet.
Do you think the smell could go thru the walls? I have removed everything from the bedroom, sealed the baseboards, and still the horrible smell exists. I do not know what else to do. Would a proffessional be able to do the smoke test in a building this large?
I need help!

Sewer Gas smell in kitchen replaced pipe under sink to ceramic pipe and still smells. Not sure why. No leaks. Gonna call plumber for smoke test soon. Puzzled that there are no cracks indoors as far as I can see but air is flowing from the sewer pipe like its being blown in. The pipe is underground so if there were a leak underground how is there air coming in? This is a city sewer system.

I have a rotten egg smell coming directly from the floor drain in the basement laundry room. It isn't always present but I can't put my finger on what circumstances exist when the smell is less. We had a plugged line last fall that was cleared by some heavy duty snake. Is it possible that this had something to do with te smell?

Help. Horrible smell back. We had a basement drainage system put in around the perimeter of our basement a year ago and ever since then when it is wet and rainy out we get a sewer smell in the basement. The smell is strongest in a room in the basement that is on the otherside of the house away from our septic tank and bathrooms and laundry. The smell is so strong the entire house smells like a sewer. Any ideas. We don't think it is coming from any pipes in our sewer since there are no draines in that room that the smell is strongest.

Dear Tim,

I've been noticing sewer gas coming from my sinks - bathroom and kitchen-occasionally, not all hours, since I moved into this ground floor apt. The times I notice it are when I think the system is in greatest use. I'm wondering if it has to do with inadequate venting due to a backflow valve closing on part of my system due to a constriction or blockage beyond. Since it isn't happening all the time my apt management hasn't taken the problem seriously. They have said they've checked the roof vents and there are no obstructions. Your thoughts? Thanks.

I own a bungalow duplex built in 1922. The renters on the second floor have complained of an order that comes from under their bathroom sink. They open the sink cabinet - and the ordor wafts out. I've had plumbers out twice - and they can't figure out what would cause the odor. The renter thinks that the odor happens after they do dishes in the sink - and have run water down the kitchen sink. The odor happens occasionally. The kitchen sink and bathroom plumbing are not on the same walls. No complaints of odors on the lower level or basement. Everthing drains fine in the house. Could it be a vent pipe crack? My plumber said the only way he could check would be to open the walls! Your comments are appreciated.

I remodeled my bathroom a few months ago and moved the sink and toilet. They both drain into the same pipe but now the sink drains downstream of the toilet and both vent through the same stack. I now have sewer gas smell coming through the sink even if the trap is full of water. I can see the trap water from above (plug obsviously removed). When the toilet flushes the water in the sink trap moves a little but does not get pulled through the trap. Could that little bit of water movement be creating an air leak through the trap? Incidentally, this was not occuring for the first several months after installation. I have snaked and flushed the vent stack. Any thoughts?

My friend has male and female restrooms side by side. Both have a floor drain. In the woman's area there is a pronounced sewer gas odor and none in the men's area. We first ran water in the drain and then put cleaner in the drain. Neither have worked. I can see the water level in the drain do not smell the odor when I first put in water but it comes back in about two hours. Think it might be a crack in the pipe? I thought about cacuking the toilet which is about a foot away. Any ideas before I go the plumber route. Love your columns.

How do I keep my bathroom vent pipes from freezing or getting snow in them in the winter. I read the post about making the pipes black to draw more heat from the sun, but is there anything else I can do.
Thanks

About a month ago the city did some sewer work about 50 yards down the street from my house. Since then there has been a "breeze" coming thru the floor drains inmy basement. Needless to say the sewer gas odor is there, too. My house was built in 1920, but the plumbing is much younger, bein PVC pipe. I've tried pouring water down the drains, but it seems to have little effect short of bubbling out air as the water goes down. I can't find a vent pipe anywhere on my roof that I recognize as such, so I can't check that. Is it possible that during the plumbing update they neglected to install a vent? If I were to install one, where would I connect it to the sewer system?
I'm open to all ideas and suggestions.
Thanks in advance.

I have a older apartment building and 3 apartments on the top floor have drain problems . One is slow while the other two lose water in the toilet or tub when the other apartments flush their toilets .The losing water from the traps doesn't present in the slow draining apt .
It seems like a vent problem to me but I cannot find any vent on the roof ?

HI, I have a question my husband took the toilet off and he never replaced it until now he did stuff some rag in the flange opening he said it's alright but I don't think it is I think its dangerous. You think you have some info on the health hazard on this one so I can slap it in his face?

Nice article

We have asewer smell coming from the vents only upstairs. Our second heating unit is located in the attic on a tray and there is a pipe leadin out the side of the house for overflow. There is also a drip pipe that allows condensation to drip into the vent pipe. Could this be the cause of the smell. Is this a legal connection with the pipes?

I had a sewer dain pipe break in my home. I'm guessing there was about a 5' radius area of waste on the basement floor. The pipe has been repaired and the mess cleaned up. I removed all the waste with speedy dry, tried bleach but still have a lingering odor. BTW this is a dirt floor. How can I get rid of the smell?

We had a really bad sewer odor at my work for several days in a row. A few people had bad headaches at night after they went home. My boss acted like it was no big deal and over the weekend he sealed off the drain in the bathroom floor where the odor was coming from. He glued a piece of plastic inside the drain and assumes this will keep the odor out. This is not fixing the problem which is probably a broken trap or pipe in the ground. Is this dangerous to seal this drain up like this? Will this trap the sewer gases in the ground under the building? I just think that this problem was handled the wrong way and want to confront him about it but I want to get a little education about this kind of problem before talking to him. Thank you for your help!

There was a gasoline spill some years ago. The fire department had to wash the gas down the sewer to clean it up. But we are still smelling the gas odors. We have the Department Of Eviroment. They said the odor are not harmful. We have poured bleach and water down the drain in the house and the odor may leave for awhile. But sometimes come back when they fill up the tanks at the gas station. Is there anything we can do to get rid of the odor for good.

We had a brand new septic system put in last spring with a new tank and all those plastic things in the ground for a leach field and a pipe coming out of the ground at the far end of the mound. Ever since this installation the smell of septic drifts across our front yard and driveway, apparently coming from the roof vent. It appears that air is blowing in the leach field pipe and carrying the odors through the system and out the roof vent. I guess the gas is heavier than air since it floats down to ground level. Anything I can do? It stinks.

My odor is only present in a main floor bathroom and 2nd story bathroom on the opposite side of the house. Occasionally it is outside sometimes too. It just started about 3 weeks ago on the main floor bath and today started in the 2nd floor bath and is always present but to varying degrees. Very few people notice it other than me but it's driving me crazy.

The smell is coming from my bathtub in my house. I bought the house 5 months ago and have been doing a reno - this bathroom was unused all that time. I think the trap has gone dry as you suggested. What is the solution? Thanks.

What about gasoline odor. I'm smelling gas that you put in your car. There is a gas station by my house and one year they had a gas spill. And the fire department swept it down the sewer. And now we smell gasoline ordor. When it rain. It is not sewer gas. It is gasoline odor. Is it safe to breath in.

Basement sewer trap dry, poored one gallon of water, appears full then drops, poured some more and didn't drop quickly but i see real little air bubbles,about one per every 3 - 4 seconds, does this mean there is a crack? How long should it take or how much water to equalize before i think it is cracked and how much to repair?