Sewer vent odor

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
SpartanEpoxies
House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Toadfish

Toadfish

Active Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
38
Reaction score
4
Recently got a call to a recently replumbed home. The first 2 plumber's were let go because of shoddy work.

The homeowners were getting a foul odor in the basement and after a little searching I found a disconnect vent behind the wall. Problem solved so I thought.

The homeowner was still experiencing an odor. From who knows where. I opened a few more spots in the wall only to find nothing.

I've considered buying a small inspection camera to help in the search for other open vents.

Any suggestions on finding the open vents? Everything is freshly painted.
 
Yes. The homeowners told me they had one but it was removed afaik. It's now covered in concrete.
 
No toilets in the area of the smell, traps are wet. I will check the gas line.
Thx
 
In my opinion, there is a distinct difference in odor between methane and natural gas odorant.
will pressure testing the drain lines let you know if there are any further issues ?
Is this home on a crawl space foundation where perhaps a toilet is flushing to below the home ?
 
kok328 said:
In my opinion, there is a distinct difference in odor between methane and natural gas odorant.
will pressure testing the drain lines let you know if there are any further issues ?
Is this home on a crawl space foundation where perhaps a toilet is flushing to below the home ?
Click to expand...

I just said that to rule things out, sometime people get an idea in their heads and miss the obvious. If the plumbing was questionable it could also be a leak and the smell could be mildew or something.
 
nealtw said:
Poorly sealed toilet and dry traps? Make sure you can rule out nat. gas leak also.
Click to expand...
No gas at the home.
kok328 said:
In my opinion, there is a distinct difference in odor between methane and natural gas odorant.
will pressure testing the drain lines let you know if there are any further issues ?
Is this home on a crawl space foundation where perhaps a toilet is flushing to below the home ?
Click to expand...

The home is on a slab.
From all the issues the home owners has had with the previous plumbers there's no telling what's what. But after I connected the vent I no longer smelled anything besides the off gassing of a new plastic slop sink. She agreed the odor was from the sink.
She's since cleaned it with a multitude of cleaners. Time will tell if it subsides.

Pressure testing is an option, but I think she just may be overly sensitive to odors at this point.
 
nealtw said:
I just said that to rule things out, sometime people get an idea in their heads and miss the obvious. If the plumbing was questionable it could also be a leak and the smell could be mildew or something.
Click to expand...

The home is unoccupied at the moment, they are still moving in stuff and decorating. The laundry room where this all started is dry. From what I was told the house was gutted. No signs of moisture any where.

I went by today and she keeps the laundry room door closed. Upon entering I smelled nothing.

:confused:
 
if you had a basement id say it could be the lid to the sewage pump if the sewer line was hire then the basement
 
Is there a sink in the basement by any chance? Took me forever to figure out my toilet was first filling the sink down there, then slowly draining down where it was suppose to. Every so often I'd get a wiff through the upstairs bathroom sink...baffled me for awhile.

Just tossing ideas out there...
 
applebear said:
Is there a sink in the basement by any chance? Took me forever to figure out my toilet was first filling the sink down there, then slowly draining down where it was suppose to. Every so often I'd get a wiff through the upstairs bathroom sink...baffled me for awhile.

Just tossing ideas out there...
Click to expand...

Yes, the new slop sink didn't have the vent connected. The bath above is vented thru the roof. No drainage issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top