Sewers

Can installing a sewer vent in the line outside the home relieve gas smell?

We live in Central America where most homes are built with concrete, brick or cinder block, and mortar. It is not a custom to install vent lines in homes and most homes have a sewer smell in them due this fact. We tie into the city's sewage system, as with most homes here. We don't have the plans detailing the drainage system within the home and the builder is no where to be found. We would have to break tile, rip a line in the brick wall inside the upstairs bathrooms to install a vent line directly near the two toilets and tubs upstairs since that is where most of the drains are located. We have a half bath downstairs and the kitchen sink with an outer maids quarters (full bath) located near by. I would hate to destroy the tile work looking for the lines to tap in a vent line and even then, it would be nearly impossible to determine which trap is downstream from the others. Would installing a vent on the sewege pipe going to the city system, or anything else, help at all?

Public Comments

1. All houses have vent tube running up to or through the roof. There needs to be a vent tube so your drains will flow properly...otherwise they will clug like a bottle of water when you empty it. Putting a vent in the cities sewer line will only expose you and your neighbors to all the sewer smells from everyones homes. Don't do that !!!! You might want to install a drain 'trap' so the sewer gases don't come back into the house. It's just like the water 'P' trap below a sink...except it's bigger.
2. The vents need to be within the house and vented through there. Also the P trap will help with this as the water will sit in it and act a plug keeping gasses from backing up into the house.