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Sewer smell


nurkvinny

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Looking for ideas / advise here.

 

We woke up this morning to a strong smell in the house. It was bad enough that I though it was natural gas. We had the fire dept come by and they ruled that out.

 

Both firemen immediately said sewage when they walked in.

 

I've checked that all sink, shower, tub, and toilets drain well. No toilet wax seals seem to be loose. Can't find any obvious leaks anywhere.

 

Waiting to hear back from a plumber. Looking for ideas I might have skipped over...

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I know my house also has vents in the house like under the sinks, I would check there... if a vent on your roof was backed up, you wouldn't smell sewer but would just have draining issues.

 

is the smell only in your house or also outside?

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Look for a drain that hasn't been used in a long time, the water in the trap evaporates and allows the smell into your home. It's not a leak, the water in a trap keeps the smell out.

 

Yep, checked that off the list first. There's really no drain that goes more than a day or two here without being used. Filled everything with water and drained just to try earlier. And the fact that everything drains fast points me to the roof vent being clear (I think).

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Check dishwasher so that it doesn't have dirty dishes in it that has rotting food?

 

Nope, good there.

 

If I go outside for 5 minutes and walk back in, the smell really smacks you in the face. I've had the house opened up for about 30 minutes at this point. Ran more water to make sure all traps are full. Going to close the house back up, go outside for a while and see what it smells like then. Getting hard to tell what smell is actually left after being in it all morning :(

 

This is more pressing than usual since there's a pregnant wife and 2 small kids in the mix. They're away until I figure this out.

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You aren't missing a floor drain in the basement somewhere possibly? Drain for the A/C condenser, or near the hot water tank, or possibly covered up in a finished room?

 

Nope. Only hole in the basement in the sump pump. The A/C drains into the sump. I have a tankless water heater.

 

I climbed up in the attic and smacked the vent tube around with a Mag light hoping to hear ice or some other debris loosen up, but nothing.

 

The sump hole does smell bad, but I don't think it smells "sewer" bad.

 

I have a family plumber friend swinging over to give his opinion. After that, I guess I'll call septic folks.

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I just packed a plastic bag between the hose and the drain hole for mine.

 

 

where is the order the strongest at in the house?

 

Turns out there is a trap for our's.

 

I wish I could pinpoint the strongest smell area. I can't. The firemen couldn't. The plumber couldn't.

 

Been on roof, roof vents are all good.

Edited by nurkvinny
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I'd check the crawl spaces if you have any

 

Nope, no crawl space.

 

I aired the place out again, left for an hour and ate lunch. Came back, and things smell fine. :confused::confused::confused:

 

This is like an engine knocking, taking it to the shop, and having the noise stop. I want to figure this out.

 

maybe a critter died somewhere and it has a misleading sewage smell?

 

Similar, but 5 adults so far today had an immediate "sewer" response.

Edited by nurkvinny
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where theres your problem...

maybe a critter died somewhere and it has a misleading sewage smell?

 

exactly what i was thinking. when i lived out closer to delaware, there were raccoons everywhere. we had an issue one time where a raccoon died because it got in thru our cellar, and got stuck under our bathroom floor. the house smelled so bad, and it took a few days before we finally found the issue. IMO start checking for a point of entry.

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Did anyone check to make sure the septic system was operating correctly? Make sure the level in the tank is where it should be. I had one that was in the beginning stage of failure a few years ago due to the previous home owner never cleaning out the system. During the winter was the worst.
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