Sewers
Clogged basement shower, and sewer smell upstairs?
I have a house from 1964, and my basement shower drain is plugged, again. I have snaked it out in the past like today, and flood has gone away for a couple months. Like usual, I dig out the crap that I can see, and then I snake the bypass (which is capped) and get a big smelly mess out of there. Then I usually snake down the line get little to nothing and then its fine for several months. Well after doing it for a while, I just gave up, because using the drainage snake is tiring. Any ideas, what is wrong possibly. Also we get the smell of sewer constantly in our upstairs bathroom. So bad sometimes, we pour lysol down the drain and open our window. Any ideas on that too?
Public Comments
- Have you had the main drainline snaked ? it sounds like your getting to some of the clog in basement but need to go from street back into house- just a thought
- I would snake out the main line, you should have a main trap with a cap on it in your basement, that everything connects to. I would also keep putting professional strenght drain opener in your drains, especially the shower that keeps getting clogged. Use the normal kind, plus get a cleaner that's meant for soap scum (many drain cleaners don't break up soap deposits). Another thing to ask yourself: do you have a pump in you basement bathroom, that pumps up to the street level? If so, maybe the pump isn't working right, and not fully pumping waste water up to the main line? You can also try running a bunch of water in the shower, fast enough so it begins to back up. Then use a toilet plunger right over the shower drain. Pump up and down really fast for a minute straight. The drain must be filled with water for this to get a good suction action. This works really well at clearing drains too.
- The other suggstions of making sure your sewer lateral is clear are good suggestions. A "roto-rooter" type business will be able to this for less than $100( i dont recommend roto-rooter as they are so lazy and quickly misdiagnos a collapsed main all the time for me.) The other thing to make sure: make sure the vent at the top of your roof is open. Sometimes squirrels make nests blocking the air flow and this will not allow the sewer gas to escape causing it to com out of your sink or tub drains on the higer levels. Its like holding a glas of water upside down in dishwater..... it wont escape because of the suction formed and the vent is what allows the suction to escape. Best wishes and hopefully one of those items cures your problem.
