Sewer Smell in House

[Phillbo]

Hello, on occasions I get a sewer smell in my house. It appears to be coming from the guest bath that does not get a lot of use. My thought was that the water in the tub trap would evaporate over time and allow gas to back up into the bath so I got in the habit of running water in the tub once a week or so to insure the trap is full. No luck ... today the smell has returned.

It does not smell all the time but comes and goes.

Any suggestions on other areas to look at ?


Thanks!!

 

[JerryR]

I had same problem. It was more noticeable when bathroom exhaust fan ran for a while with the bathroom door closed. The negative roon air pressurevwas drawing the smell up into the room. My sewer sniffing Jack Russell dog's nose went to the base of the toilet. I pulled the toilet, which had a slight rock to it, and found the wax seal had become compromised due to the rocking toilet.

I reinstalled the toilet using a Saniseal Gasket instead of wax seal, shimmed the toilet base so it would not rock and re-caulked the base to tile. I left it uncaulked at the rear.

Smell is completely gone for several months now.

The saniseal gasket has ability to withstand some toilet rocking motion and still remain sealed. In addition if you screw up the install it is reusable. http://www.sanisealgasket.com

Edit:
Previous thread;
https://terrylove.com/forums/showth...-Fluidmaster-waxless-gasket&highlight=Russell

Jerry

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Phillbo]

Huh.. my toilet rocks a bit too. I thought they were suppose to.. may be something as simple as needing to be tightened.. I'll try that firs and if it persist I'll give the new gasket a try as well.

 

[hj]

It could be the toilet, sink, or tub drain which has dried out. It coudl also be connected to the air conditioner's condensate drain. ANd these are just the things to start with.

 

[Phillbo]

Sink and Toilet get daily use.. It's just the tub that only gets used a couple times a year. AC drains outside.

I'll try tightening the toilet and see what that does .

 

[Cacher_Chick]

If the toilet has been rocking, chances are that the wax seal is leaking. I would pull the toilet, determine if/what shims are needed and reset is properly with a new seal. Anything less is bound to end in failure.

 

[JerryR]

[

If the toilet has been rocking, chances are that the wax seal is leaking. I would pull the toilet, determine if/what shims are needed and reset is properly with a new seal. Anything less is bound to end in failure.

Agreed,

BEWARE of just tightening the bolts. If tightened too much, you can crack or damage the flange mounted on the floor, especially if it is plastic.

If it is rocking then it probably needs to be shimmed. If it rocks enough then the wax seal will become compromised and should be replaced. Pull the toilet, remove the wax seal and set the toilet in place without a wax ring to make sure it sits still on the floor and doesn't rock. Home Depot sells composite shims in the building section that work well and will not rot. After shimming remove the toilet and install a new wax ring. If it is wax ring you have one try to set the toilet. Saniseal gives a novice the ability to make multiple attempts and keep the seal functional.

Terry has a good tutorial on replacing toilets here:
https://terrylove.com/forums/showth...T454CEFG-2-piece-toilet-written-by-Jamie-Love

Saniseal has a youtube video that is pretty simple explanation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3-GblSoNCo

Jerry

 

[Jadnashua]

Wax isn't elastic..once compressed, it doesn't bounce back, so if the toilet has been rocking, it DOES need a new wax seal (or one of the alternates). A toilet shold be installed such that it is rock solid - it can't rock, or you'll have problems.