We have strangest issue going on, and a couple of local plumbers have not been able to get to the bottom of it:
Are home was newly constructed about five years ago. It's a flat roofed home with a deck on top...so a fair amount of studor mini-vents were used. Of course, it passed inspection, and does have a couple vent stacks on roof. The second floor 4-piece bathroom in question is all studors. One for the toilet and shower next door. One for the sink. And one for a stand alone tub. I believe all the plumbing is 2"...and leads to a brand new 4" main outside. The home is almost 5000SF, including the basement.
Some time after we moved in (over a year) we noticed a very strong methane like odor that was clearly coming from the studor shared by the toilet and the shower, and it's about 7 feet off the ground. Of course we just assumed the studor mini-vent failed so we replaced it....only to find the odor came right back. Importantly: if we cap that vent, the smell goes away...immediately. Of course, the toilet doesn't flush very well, and the toilet can on occasionally siphon the trap of the shower next door....but we can get by....and it doesn't smell. Anyway, we went through a few mini vents before just saying we'll leave it capped and live with the weak flush. And we have done that for the last couple years, but no more. We really want to solve this issue.
The most recent plumber had me take the cap off of the clean out in the front yard....we put a screen on to keep out critters, and hoped that "better breathing" 4 inch would help the struggling mini-vent. No such luck. The smell came back minutes after putting the mini-vent back on. (Others have recommended smoke bombing the system...but we know exactly where it's coming from, so I haven't been keen to do that.)
Here is a picture of the plumbing before drywall:
The toilet is closest (in the foreground), the vent is in the middle, and the shower on the far end.
A couple random notes in the event it helps: The basement does have an ejector pit....which is also on a studor. Studor has a spec for doing this (putting a mini-vent on an ejector pit), and while it appears my job was NOT done according to spec, the ejector has worked fine, so I don't think that is part of the problem. Also, our Bosch dishwasher can leave the dishes smelling bad pretty darn frequently, and the usual suspects have been crossed off the list: it's not a dirty trap, and the stand-pipe and discharge line are at a proper height and relation.
THANKS FOR ANY IDEAS OR ADVICE!!! (I can't really just go to the sky by popping a vent through the roof right there.)
Are home was newly constructed about five years ago. It's a flat roofed home with a deck on top...so a fair amount of studor mini-vents were used. Of course, it passed inspection, and does have a couple vent stacks on roof. The second floor 4-piece bathroom in question is all studors. One for the toilet and shower next door. One for the sink. And one for a stand alone tub. I believe all the plumbing is 2"...and leads to a brand new 4" main outside. The home is almost 5000SF, including the basement.
Some time after we moved in (over a year) we noticed a very strong methane like odor that was clearly coming from the studor shared by the toilet and the shower, and it's about 7 feet off the ground. Of course we just assumed the studor mini-vent failed so we replaced it....only to find the odor came right back. Importantly: if we cap that vent, the smell goes away...immediately. Of course, the toilet doesn't flush very well, and the toilet can on occasionally siphon the trap of the shower next door....but we can get by....and it doesn't smell. Anyway, we went through a few mini vents before just saying we'll leave it capped and live with the weak flush. And we have done that for the last couple years, but no more. We really want to solve this issue.
The most recent plumber had me take the cap off of the clean out in the front yard....we put a screen on to keep out critters, and hoped that "better breathing" 4 inch would help the struggling mini-vent. No such luck. The smell came back minutes after putting the mini-vent back on. (Others have recommended smoke bombing the system...but we know exactly where it's coming from, so I haven't been keen to do that.)
Here is a picture of the plumbing before drywall:
The toilet is closest (in the foreground), the vent is in the middle, and the shower on the far end.
A couple random notes in the event it helps: The basement does have an ejector pit....which is also on a studor. Studor has a spec for doing this (putting a mini-vent on an ejector pit), and while it appears my job was NOT done according to spec, the ejector has worked fine, so I don't think that is part of the problem. Also, our Bosch dishwasher can leave the dishes smelling bad pretty darn frequently, and the usual suspects have been crossed off the list: it's not a dirty trap, and the stand-pipe and discharge line are at a proper height and relation.
THANKS FOR ANY IDEAS OR ADVICE!!! (I can't really just go to the sky by popping a vent through the roof right there.)
