sewer smell inside house

[alexander]

here is one for the experts!! on occassion we get a strong sewer smell in ome room of our house. there is a toilet adjourning this room but no smell in the toilet and no flush problems. the smell goes away after a couple of hours and may not happen again for several days.no smell outside and no back up at main sewer line outside. any help solving this problem would be appreciated!!

[ApplianceTech2]

Alexander

Does the home have a raised foundation? If so, crawl under it and look for wet spots, etc. Any found indicates a sewage line leaks.

May also find any leaks caused by any water line leak.
Never know until an inspection is done.

Another possibility may be found with slab floors. Any wet or moist areas indicates leakage. May be a sewage line or any leaking water pipe. Foor coverings of any type hide and or mask the signs of leakage. Carpet removal may be required.

Tile, vinyl and or linoleum flooring may indicate leakage exists by discolorations, moistures, lifting, bubbling, cracking, etc. Removal of the covering is than required.

Any type of sewage pipe leakage in a cement slab flooring requires extensive work. Jack hammering up the slab to access the leakage location to make repairs. Not cheap and very messy affair.

Hope this is not the case in your issue. More info would help to better define the situation you have. Post more details.

I'm not a plumber. Just trying to help. Been there in that situation and done that.

Helping You Too.
Good Luck.
ApplianceTech2
Natural & Propane Gas Appliance Service Rep.
Use Logic and Common Sense When All Else Fails

[LazyPup]

I would agree with what Appliance tech stated in his post, but there are other possibilites that often go unseen. You say the smell is present in one room but not in the toilet, and i assume bathroom area. Go outside the house examine where the vent stack goes through the roof. Is is close to a window in the effected room? Sometimes during periods of high barometric pressure the exiting sewer gases, which are normally heavier than air, fall downward and come in through an open window. This may be especially noticable if you have a fan running in that window.
another possibility is that the sewer gases are entering the house through a basement floor drain, then going up through the pipe chase to the floor above. The problem with floor drains is that they do not get water often so the water in the trap tends to evaporate out. In new construction floor drains have a trap primer line that continually adds a bit of water to the traps, but trap primers were not common in older construction. One trick to reduce evaporation in floor drains is to pour a half gallon of water then about a cup of common vegetable cooking oil into the trap. The water will fill the trap then the cooking oil will float on top of the water and prevent evaporation.

[imeduc]

like said look at att the traps you do have in the home. If you have AC running there it will dry out the traps if they are not used.


ED[B)]

My mistakes dont define me they inform me.