David Ko
New Member
Hello,
I’ve had a sewer smell in my basement for some time, and I’ve read dozens of articles on it, but would be very grateful for the opinion of someone more experienced.
The most perplexing problem is that the odor doesn’t seem to come from any particular part of the basement. It comes randomly (maybe once every few days), is sometimes overwhelmingly strong, and is usually gone within an hour or two. This makes me think that it’s not a sewer line leak… I assume that would be a more slow and steady smell. Is that right?
There’s a basement bathroom, which is used daily. All of the drains are used frequently. The sump pump looks fine, and I tried pouring some water in to make sure that it’s functioning properly; it is. AC hasn’t been running. The smell doesn’t seem to be coming from any of the obvious sources: the bathroom, the sump pump, the washer/dryer, HVAC, water heater. When I smell it, I walk around the basement, and I’m pretty confident that it’s not coming from any of those sources.
I’ve examined the floor, walls, and ceiling (basement is finished), and there are no signs of damp anywhere.
The one thing I haven’t done is open up the ejector pit. But it looks sealed and it clearly works (I can hear it run), and the smell doesn’t seem to come from that area.
My current hypothesis is that blocked sewer vents are forcing air from the sewer lines into the basement somewhere. There is a main-floor sink (directly above basement bathroom) that drains slowly (even after Draino), although we don’t get the gurgling sound that seems characteristic of blocked vents, and no other drains are slow. Does that seem right? The odor is always "sewery" but not always exactly the same smell.
I know, I should just get a real plumber out here, but it’s a rental and our landlady is not very responsive about these things
I may have to, though, because our roof is very pitched and I'm not comfortable climbing up there to look at the vents.
Thank you in advance!
I’ve had a sewer smell in my basement for some time, and I’ve read dozens of articles on it, but would be very grateful for the opinion of someone more experienced.
The most perplexing problem is that the odor doesn’t seem to come from any particular part of the basement. It comes randomly (maybe once every few days), is sometimes overwhelmingly strong, and is usually gone within an hour or two. This makes me think that it’s not a sewer line leak… I assume that would be a more slow and steady smell. Is that right?
There’s a basement bathroom, which is used daily. All of the drains are used frequently. The sump pump looks fine, and I tried pouring some water in to make sure that it’s functioning properly; it is. AC hasn’t been running. The smell doesn’t seem to be coming from any of the obvious sources: the bathroom, the sump pump, the washer/dryer, HVAC, water heater. When I smell it, I walk around the basement, and I’m pretty confident that it’s not coming from any of those sources.
I’ve examined the floor, walls, and ceiling (basement is finished), and there are no signs of damp anywhere.
The one thing I haven’t done is open up the ejector pit. But it looks sealed and it clearly works (I can hear it run), and the smell doesn’t seem to come from that area.
My current hypothesis is that blocked sewer vents are forcing air from the sewer lines into the basement somewhere. There is a main-floor sink (directly above basement bathroom) that drains slowly (even after Draino), although we don’t get the gurgling sound that seems characteristic of blocked vents, and no other drains are slow. Does that seem right? The odor is always "sewery" but not always exactly the same smell.
I know, I should just get a real plumber out here, but it’s a rental and our landlady is not very responsive about these things
I may have to, though, because our roof is very pitched and I'm not comfortable climbing up there to look at the vents.Thank you in advance!
