# Sewer smell



## 3KP (Jun 19, 2008)

I went to a customers house today. They called in for a sewer smell. I got there could smell the sewer gas. All P-traps had water in them. (sorry I'm not really to much into service work more remodeling and new construction. Any advise would be great!


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## uaplumber (Jun 16, 2008)

Is the washing machine hooked up? Hidden floor drain? New dishwasher hookup with out trap? Those are most common I see.


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## Marlin (Aug 14, 2008)

Clean out or house trap missing a cap? Are their galvanized pipes in the walls which could have rotted away? You're sure the traps are full? Give each one a sniff. Is it stronger in one spot then another?


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## Plasticman (Oct 14, 2008)

Usually when that happens in my area, it is either raining or was raining. I end up re-sealing the toilet, which makes the home owner feel like I done something to solve the problem. Like you, I am no service guy but after the toilet fix, they don't call back. Knock on wood. lol


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## Ron (Jun 12, 2008)

Crawl space, if there, check it.


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## pzmember (Sep 20, 2008)

those can be tough all the advice is good, hell 2 weeks ago i found one that had been bugging these people for 6 months. turned out it was a hole eaten away in the cast iron where pipe went into the san tee for the toilet, and they only noticed it on windy days. and i was the 5th plumber there for it, i was the only dummy who would open up the wall. good luck.


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## service guy (Jun 26, 2008)

I've been on a lot of these calls. The majority of them are from a bad seal under the toilet. That is the first thing I check, sniff around the base of the bowls, check if any are rocking.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

service guy said:


> I've been on a lot of these calls. The majority of them are from a bad seal under the toilet. That is the first thing I check, sniff around the base of the bowls, check if any are rocking.


Same here! Run some water in a remote location walk around and listen. Sound will show you a dry trap...

Make sure the toilets are sequre and if they are loose reset them.

Hairballs under lav pop-ups and in tub and shower drains can be pretty funky. Sometimes it may be a funky mud lined shower pan.

When you run out of the obvious I usually push for a smoke test.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2008)

I usually find a bad wax seal OR a cracked toilet flange . That one is a BI***H to find but will allow a bad sewer smell .

Cal


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## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

A tip for you service guys, a combustible gas detector will pick up sewer gas around the base of a toilet. I have a TIF Industries model 8800.


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## Proud Plumber (Sep 15, 2008)

This is along shot.... but I once had a sewer gas smell coming from a kitchen sink. I replaced , checked traps I did the whole check list. I finally opened up the wall and found three drywall screws and a small crack on the stack. I didn't think a minor little crack or a couple of screww holes could do it but it did.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

I once had a call for sewer stink in a 1st floor bathroom. In the attic I found a vent that was open and never connected through the roof.
There was no smell on the 2nd floor.
Go figure!

It was a modular home and they missed the conection.


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

everything that has been said is good. check cleanout caps that might be inside. i've seen them leak sewer gas. closet wax does a good job of sealing them up. guest bathrooms are notorious for dry traps. look under the washing machine for a floor drain.






paul


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## 3KP (Jun 19, 2008)

*Seal*

I thought about the wax ring not sealing up to. But in my little mind I figure it would leak when I flush the toilet. I remember back to my apprentice days. There was this custom home that the company I worked for did. Had a bad sewer smell we went there more times than I could count on fingers and toes. Come to find out the guy that installed the TP holder screwed right into a pipe.

I'm going back tomorrow around 5:30pm Hopefully I can find it and save the Day! LOL


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

wax rings can leak sewer gas and not water. they do it all the time. 

i would say that 8 times out of 10 when i go out on these calls there's no smell when i'm there. the homeowner can't smell it and neither can i, so i just go down the list of probably causes. wax seals and dry traps are high on the list. all sorts of wierd things could be going on though. i suppose even an airgap r/o faucet with the drain tied in before the trap could do it. i love these kinds of calls when they're solved and you have the answer. when you're scratching your noggin they can be frustrating as anything though. let us know what you find.





paul


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## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

Had one last year. HO thought it was his water heater, wound up being a busted drain under the house. A WHOLE lot of Bio-Clean saved the day. And of course fixing the break.


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## RHplumbing (Sep 23, 2008)

I agree with every one , and also plumberman , most of the time around here , if it is not the toilet , routed vent pipe , ect , it is usally a craked building drain under the basement floor , so get your cameria , , and jackhammer and make losts of money


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## kellybhutchings (Jul 29, 2008)

You should perform a smoke test.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2008)

I usually have a smoke AFTER finding the leak


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## CentralPlumbing (Jan 22, 2009)

*Drain Vents*

I have found on a couple of occasions that the vents on the roof were installed too low or too close to an evap cooler or a bathroom fan vent and the smell was being drawn back into the house that way.


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## smellslike$tome (Jun 16, 2008)

#1 cause is a dry trap and usually from an unused bathroom or wm floor drain.

#2 is a nail or screw in a pipe or holding a clean out cover on to the plug. It won't leak in the beginning because the pipe (if it's pvc) will seal around it. Over time it begins to rust and will allow sewer gas.

#3 (commercial) is a failed or missing trap primer resulting in a dry trap.

A couple of months ago I got called out for this problem. The house was 2 years old. The new con plumbing company had been called out several times. The first couple of times they just went straight to the toilet, pulled it and resealed it. Eventually when that didn't work they replaced the original crappy toilet with another crappy toilet and pronounced it fixed. It was not fixed. The next time, we got the call. They had been brain washed to believe it was associated with the toilet but there was no evidence to support it. It took a little time to make them understand that we needed to look elsewhere. Eventually they authorized the camera. I pulled the clean out plug under the double lav, ran the camera up about 5' and discovered the dry wall screw that the electrician had used to mount his light fixture box with sticking dead center of the pipe. Removed the light fixture, extracted the rusty screw, filled the hole and put it all back together. The odor has not returned (we've talked with these clients since then so I know that it is gone).

I hardly ever find it to be a toilet. If the seal is bad they will call you for the water all over the floor long before they notice an odor.

Now I know that everyone on this forum would have found the problem in a New York minute  but I have to say that there are few greater joys in my work than being able to show up all the "plumbers" who came before me and couldn't solve the problem. I have gotten absolutely clobbered on jobs before because I simply could not let them go until I found the answer. I wish I could say that I have never failed to deliver but I can't say that. At the risk of sounding immodest though, my average is pretty doggone good.

I love coming off looking like Superman!


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## M5Plumb (Oct 2, 2008)

Here's a unique one for you...Had to go into a restaurant, (women's room), had a strong sewage odor from that room only. Come to find out, and it took some serious searching over a long period, they did a remodel. When the hardware contractor came in to set the backing for the mirrors, he/she screwed right into a vent, the gases ate through the screw and was pushing positive pressure through the screw hole into the building. 

So, that said, can you isolate the odor to a part of the building?:thumbup:


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## express (Nov 22, 2008)

In my area will will find some floor drains under the blower for the heat and air. heating contractor was using a pump setup for the condensation water. drain was dry.


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