Sewer gas mystery

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Lyn12

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Im going to order 2 of the Studor air vents and see if that works.
They are not legal to install outside on the roof here either. I put one on a 3" vent that is at my back door because of septic odor wafting down onto my patio. It has been up there for 18 years, in full view. I have been afraid every day since I put it up there.
What state are you in?
 

Lyn12

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You can do anything you want to on your own property...

You can even run around your your house in your birthday suit
as long as you please keep the blinds closed:eek::eek:o_Oo_O



Their are not " studor vent police" who are
gonna come out and carry you away for installing them

NO ONE CARES.....


Enjoy...... and be careful getting up on that roof.....

I put charcoal filters on the vents. Odor hog. Did nothing. Had the running trap installed. Helped some but still smell sewer gas. I hope its wafting out of the.pipes not.replaced that are from kitchen to drain as others have been replaced. And that it will.stop eventually.
 

Cacher_Chick

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I'm amazed to see this thread is still alive.
You either have a leak or you don't. Assuming this is a single family home, we would have sealed all of the drain and vent inlets and pressure tested the system. Until the system is made to pass a pressure test, there is no need to look any further.
 
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I believe this home owner has no idea what they are doing. They are just throwing money away at incompetent plumbers that can't do proper work.

Replacing an entire DWV system right to the street is not rare and commonly done to very old homes. This home is not any more special.

The homeowner has admitted that not all pipes have been changed, and have not changed what goes to the street either. They are also given "downdraft" stories, to justify that any work done was enough.

This home owner needs to get their priority right and hire the proper professionals that will just gut out the entire home, make a new drain to the street, which will set things right.
 

Cacher_Chick

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I believe this home owner has no idea what they are doing. They are just throwing money away at incompetent plumbers that can't do proper work.
Replacing an entire DWV system right to the street is not rare and commonly done to very old homes. This home is not any more special.
The homeowner has admitted that not all pipes have been changed, and have not changed what goes to the street either. They are also given "downdraft" stories, to justify that any work done was enough.
This home owner needs to get their priority right and hire the proper professionals that will just gut out the entire home, make a new drain to the street, which will set things right.

Until there has been established evidence of the location and cause of a leak, nothing should have been replaced.
What you are suggesting is akin to replacing the entire car when all it might need is a new windshield. This is what is wrong in the trades today- too many want to just sell and replace parts, but only a few take the time to properly diagnose the problem.
 

Lyn12

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Until there has been established evidence of the location and cause of a leak, nothing should have been replaced.
What you are suggesting is akin to replacing the entire car when all it might need is a new windshield. This is what is wrong in the trades today- too many want to just sell and replace parts, but only a few take the time to properly diagnose the problem.

Ive had so many plumbers out you can not imagine!!! Probably 15. None can figure a damn thing out! Its been smoke bombed and pressure tested numerous times. And the house is disgusting filled with sewer gas. The only things not replaced yet are the cast iron pipes from the kitchen sink to main drain in basement. Doing that this week. And the cast iron pipes in the front yard. A running trap was installed near wall inside house but a 2 feet away wall. Im I'm not a plumber and this a horrible thing to be going through.
 
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Lyn12

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I'm amazed to see this thread is still alive.
You either have a leak or you don't. Assuming this is a single family home, we would have sealed all of the drain and vent inlets and pressure tested the system. Until the system is made to pass a pressure test, there is no need to look any further.
That has been done and nothing leaks! Yet house full of sewer gas!
 

Lyn12

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Until there has been established evidence of the location and cause of a leak, nothing should have been replaced.
What you are suggesting is akin to replacing the entire car when all it might need is a new windshield. This is what is wrong in the trades today- too many want to just sell and replace parts, but only a few take the time to properly diagnose the problem.

Good comparison. Not one of the many plumbers can find the leak after testing. So I'm just replacing everything one by one. I should have replaced everything at once long ago. But since no one knew where it was leaking hard to say redo it all. My fear is I when I have replaced eveything and then the sewer gas will still be there!!
 

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Many years ago I worked on a school rebuilding project. One of the buildings was a large shop building. After the job was finished there was a bad sewer odor in the building. The architect was sure there was a plumbing problem, something was missing or damaged with the drains or the vents. That was my first experience with a smoke test. Smoke was coming out of the roof vents and manholes but none was detected in the building. After a lot of testing and other investigation it was determined that the odor was from construction workers peeing and pooping in the building. During the construction a paint contractor used one of the shops to store paint and supplies. Instead of using the porta-johns ,they went in the back of this and other shops to relieve themselves……So the reason I’m telling this story is maybe the smell is not from the plumbing in your house. Maybe a cat or something peed in there everywhere. It could be something else like the carpet has an odor. One time there was a bad batch of Chinese made sheetrock that smelled like rotten eggs.
 

Lyn12

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Many years ago I worked on a school rebuilding project. One of the buildings was a large shop building. After the job was finished there was a bad sewer odor in the building. The architect was sure there was a plumbing problem, something was missing or damaged with the drains or the vents. That was my first experience with a smoke test. Smoke was coming out of the roof vents and manholes but none was detected in the building. After a lot of testing and other investigation it was determined that the odor was from construction workers peeing and pooping in the building. During the construction a paint contractor used one of the shops to store paint and supplies. Instead of using the porta-johns ,they went in the back of this and other shops to relieve themselves……So the reason I’m telling this story is maybe the smell is not from the plumbing in your house. Maybe a cat or something peed in there everywhere. It could be something else like the carpet has an odor. One time there was a bad batch of Chinese made sheetrock that smelled like rotten eggs.
 

Lyn12

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That is not the case in this situation. The house is basically gutted. There is no toilet and nobody or pets going in the house relieving themselves. But thanks for the possible idea and explaination.
 

Cacher_Chick

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That has been done and nothing leaks! Yet house full of sewer gas!

If there were no leaks, how would replacing anything fix the problem?

A proper test would place the entire piping system under pressure over a period of time. If the system held pressure during testing, it could not emit sewer gas under normal operation, and one would know to look elsewhere for the problem.
 

Lyn12

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If there were no leaks, how would replacing anything fix the problem?

A proper test would place the entire piping system under pressure over a period of time. If the system held pressure during testing, it could not emit sewer gas under normal operation, and one would know to look elsewhere for the problem.[/QUOTE

He plumber did that already. Im just going to have to replace the rest of the pipes under the concrete. The ones where the kitchen sink drains down. Not one on the 15 plumbers can figure it out.
 

Lyn12

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They did the pressure test for half hour. It didnt move they said and held fine. The 15 plumbers can't figure it out. Going to replace the.pipes from sink to drain now. And that probably.wont work either
 

Reach4

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With your running trap, it is important that your roof vents not have an AAV, and I think a charcoal filter is not going to be useful either.

With the place aired out, where do people smell the odor now?
 

Lyn12

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With your running trap, it is important that your roof vents not have an AAV, and I think a charcoal filter is not going to be useful either.

With the place aired out, where do people smell the odor now?
Yes. It does not air out with windows open. I had a plumber and his helper out today and they both smelled the nasty smell. But they didn't think it was sewer gas. They smelled it outside and the back door and the stairwell as usual. They went in the attic and didnt find anything. But they brought some insulation down and was old smelling. I wonder if something is coming from up in the attic? It doesnt smell moldy but dont know. Having a house remodeler come and maybe he can identity the odor. Im allergic to mold and that house bothers my lungs...Im.not going to bother to replace more pipes.

The odor hog filters did nothing. As I guess thats not the problem. Good to know that its not a good thing to put on the aav filters on vents. Should I leave the filters up there?

The took the cap off rhe clean out,and said thet couldn't smell a thing
 
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Lyn12

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Yes. It does not air out with windows open. I had a plumber and his helper out today and they both smelled the nasty smell. But they didn't think it was sewer gas. They smelled it outside and the back door and the stairwell as usual. They went in the attic and didnt find anything. But they brought some insulation down and was old smelling. I wonder if something is coming from up in the attic? It doesnt smell moldy but dont know. Having a house remodeler come and maybe he can identity the odor. Im allergic to mold and that house bothers my lungs...Im.not going to bother to replace more pipes.
 

Reach4

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The odor hog filters did nothing. As I guess thats not the problem. Good to know that its not a good thing to put on the aav filters on vents. Should I leave the filters up there?

I don't know if it is worth a trip up there.

I would ask some friends to sniff around. I don't know that you will do worse with friends than professionals at this point.

edit.... OK. Suppose you tape up some thin plastic sheets, such as disposable painting drop cloths. Separate the house into two or more sections. See if one section gets much more odor than the others. That can narrow your search we hope.
 
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