Hello all. The stubborn odor we have been experiencing in a property we purchased a few months ago has brought me to join this site. Here’s some background and what we’ve done. We are about to pull the trigger on a $500+ camera scoping, but figured I would come here first to see if any other troubleshooting could be done myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
odor smells like earthy gas - a bit of sulfur smell to it; located mostly in master bedroom and stronger in connected master bath. Most commonly smell it at the wall between bed and bath (vent stack is not in this wall). I believe it is coming from tub drain. Some nights it can get so strong it will wake us up from a sleep. Even with the drains closed, it is pungent.
we’ve tried bleach, draino, baking soda, running water for extended period of times etc. We’ve also confirmed that vent stacks are clear (no blockage) and also performed a peppermint test with zero noticeable leak at any plumbing fixture. We’ve purchased a cheap combustible gas detector which was too sensitive and inconclusive. It did seem to spike more in the bathroom than anywhere else tho.
House is all electric - no natural gas or propane and water heater is in outside utility room not connected to house. So that should rule out any other type of gas. House was built in 1970 is south Florida. Single story on slab.
The toilet next to tub does burb an air bubble when flushed and the tub does have a very slow drain. Toilet water does not bubble and water level does not change as we run sink or tub.
The bathroom backs up to another bathroom and the two toilets and shower/tubs share a vent stack which runs up the wall and out of the roof from the shared wall. The sink in the master (6 or so feet away) has its own vent stack. Note, when we performed the peppermint test and poured hot water down the vent stack, gas/steam rose through the other suggesting there are connected (I thought they would have been separate lines). I don’t have an appreciation of the horizontal plumbing/slopes/joints, etc.
Could a partial blockage from the tub to the main drain cause this? Could the ptrap in the tub be faulty or nonexistent? Does it sound like a leak under the tub? Is the right next step to have the camera scope performed? I feel like we’ve done so much to rule out a plumbing issue, but we may not know for sure until we do the scoping.
odor smells like earthy gas - a bit of sulfur smell to it; located mostly in master bedroom and stronger in connected master bath. Most commonly smell it at the wall between bed and bath (vent stack is not in this wall). I believe it is coming from tub drain. Some nights it can get so strong it will wake us up from a sleep. Even with the drains closed, it is pungent.
we’ve tried bleach, draino, baking soda, running water for extended period of times etc. We’ve also confirmed that vent stacks are clear (no blockage) and also performed a peppermint test with zero noticeable leak at any plumbing fixture. We’ve purchased a cheap combustible gas detector which was too sensitive and inconclusive. It did seem to spike more in the bathroom than anywhere else tho.
House is all electric - no natural gas or propane and water heater is in outside utility room not connected to house. So that should rule out any other type of gas. House was built in 1970 is south Florida. Single story on slab.
The toilet next to tub does burb an air bubble when flushed and the tub does have a very slow drain. Toilet water does not bubble and water level does not change as we run sink or tub.
The bathroom backs up to another bathroom and the two toilets and shower/tubs share a vent stack which runs up the wall and out of the roof from the shared wall. The sink in the master (6 or so feet away) has its own vent stack. Note, when we performed the peppermint test and poured hot water down the vent stack, gas/steam rose through the other suggesting there are connected (I thought they would have been separate lines). I don’t have an appreciation of the horizontal plumbing/slopes/joints, etc.
Could a partial blockage from the tub to the main drain cause this? Could the ptrap in the tub be faulty or nonexistent? Does it sound like a leak under the tub? Is the right next step to have the camera scope performed? I feel like we’ve done so much to rule out a plumbing issue, but we may not know for sure until we do the scoping.
