Sewers

sewer smells i asked this?

question once but not sure i explained it well and i tried all the simple stuff like cleaning the drains. I only get sewer gas smells when i drain the tub, not when i run water or flush the toilet. the tub 1/2 full and drain my whole 1st story and the basement smells like sewer. I can't see any leaks anywhere my septic was cleaned 3 months ago and i had a new wax for the toilet put in. If the vent was plugged wouldn't the toilet not flush right and what else could it be?

Public Comments

1. you had the septic cleaned right so thats the reason ... need to put in the stuff that acts like a germ eater you can get it at most home improvement stores if they dont sell it go to a motor home repair shop and buy some there have fun and good luck
2. P trap might have not been provided , it act as gas leak inside also possibility that vent pipe may be missing or not provided properly ask plumber to check it, if missing should be fixed.
3. Hey Ms A. It hard to just guess was is "open" and allowing sewer gas to come into your home but I hope the following will help you locate it. You need to test your drain lines and the easiest way is to put " Peppermint Oil" in your vent to test it. The way it works is have someone pour the peppermint oil in the vent pipe's on your roof. Do not let them come into the home while your looking for the smell of the peppermint. Have all doors and windows closed. I suggest you drain the tub and try to make it open then add the oil. After the oil in put in just walk around your bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, if you have floor drains try to smell the pepermint. Do you have a lift pump in your basement? In short your smelling for the peppermint to find where its comming from and that will be the source of the sewer gas. Let me know what you find and we can go from there to repair it. I get the oil at a health food store / Natural vitimins store. its an old test and have used it for years. Remember,,,, dont open the doors, windows and dont open the bottle till your about to pour in vent. Get 2 or 3 bottles.
4. what is supposed to keep sewer gas out of the house is; traps in the drains, and the drain system hooked up to the vent pipe. the trap in the drain pipe holds enough water in the bend, to prevent the gas from entering you house. and, at some point after the trap, the drain pipe should be connected to the vent stack, and vent through the roof of the house. in some instances, where the drain pipe is in very close proximity to the stack pipe, there may not be a vent connection to the drain pipe,(this is called a wet vent). the reason for this is because there isn't enough pipe after the trap to need it's having a separate vent, since it's so close to the stack already. from what you have provided for details in your question, i can't guess where your problem is, if the stack pipe isn't blocked. if the stack is blocked above the 2nd floor, the water from the tub rushing down the drain pipe could push the gas out of a sink drain on the first floor, or in the basement. or the washing machine drain pipe, too, since it can't escape out the pipe to the roof, ahead of the rush of water. it would help for anyone looking to answer you, to know what you have for plumbing in the house on a floor by floor basis, and where the laundry is. it is possible for an animal to have crawled or fallen into the vent pipe on the roof, or for bees or wasps to have built a nest, and blocked the vent pipe. since the drain and vent system are separate, but connected, and a lot of the of the pipes are buried in the walls and ceiling space, you may have to call a plumber to track down exactly where the problem is. i hope this helped explain how your drains work, and gave you some ideas on what and where to look. good luck, car dude.