Hello Everyone,
Today I unearthed the source of our great basement smell. When we purchased our house the basement had nasty carpet from 1989 (Year house was built) that looked like it was from the early 70s. Upon removal we found a 2nd hole in our basement. When we replaced the carpet we were told it would be fine to just cover it back up...
We used padding and a thicker carpet, which I imagine is a contributing factor to our problem. After 2-3 years in the summer it would smell and occasionally in the winter but not very often. Today was one of those smelly days so I ripped up the carpet as I'd had enough. I took pictures which I posted here.
I' m not certain but I think this is the main drain pipe to the city sewer and that square thing that's all rusted could be a check valve. It could also be a radon pit but I think that's less likely. This is merely a SWAG... I think my sewer must have a check valve as my neighbors bi-levels flooded while my full basement at what I was told is the lowest point in the sewer return on the street received not a drop of sewer backup, 2 or so years ago. You'll notice at the floor level WAY above that is another ominous sealed pipe. If that's a check valve in the pit, could that be the main sewer cleanout?
So now I'm left with the real question of what to do to get rid of the smell forever.!. The top of the hole appears to have been propped up with some wood for stabilization. That was pretty discolored and smelled quite rank. The bottom also exposes the rock underlayment for the drain tile I think is there.
While the thought of diggin in that hole and opening that cover turns my stomach it's probably the right thing to do, maybe? If it ain't broke should I leave it alone? My favorite idea so far is just pouring concrete in the damn hole... while I'm sure that's wrong that would be very satisfying. Perhaps I could just fill it with expansion foam so it could be dug out later? What would you do with a smelly hole? I'm open to all suggestions.
Today I unearthed the source of our great basement smell. When we purchased our house the basement had nasty carpet from 1989 (Year house was built) that looked like it was from the early 70s. Upon removal we found a 2nd hole in our basement. When we replaced the carpet we were told it would be fine to just cover it back up...
We used padding and a thicker carpet, which I imagine is a contributing factor to our problem. After 2-3 years in the summer it would smell and occasionally in the winter but not very often. Today was one of those smelly days so I ripped up the carpet as I'd had enough. I took pictures which I posted here.
I' m not certain but I think this is the main drain pipe to the city sewer and that square thing that's all rusted could be a check valve. It could also be a radon pit but I think that's less likely. This is merely a SWAG... I think my sewer must have a check valve as my neighbors bi-levels flooded while my full basement at what I was told is the lowest point in the sewer return on the street received not a drop of sewer backup, 2 or so years ago. You'll notice at the floor level WAY above that is another ominous sealed pipe. If that's a check valve in the pit, could that be the main sewer cleanout?
So now I'm left with the real question of what to do to get rid of the smell forever.!. The top of the hole appears to have been propped up with some wood for stabilization. That was pretty discolored and smelled quite rank. The bottom also exposes the rock underlayment for the drain tile I think is there.
While the thought of diggin in that hole and opening that cover turns my stomach it's probably the right thing to do, maybe? If it ain't broke should I leave it alone? My favorite idea so far is just pouring concrete in the damn hole... while I'm sure that's wrong that would be very satisfying. Perhaps I could just fill it with expansion foam so it could be dug out later? What would you do with a smelly hole? I'm open to all suggestions.