Sewer Gas?!?!

[Amber Follis]

I live in Austin, TX. About 10 days ago I noticed a strong ammonia or sulfur type smell coming from my downstairs bathroom toilet and sink. It appears to only occur at night. I use this bathroom regularly and have 2 other bathrooms upstairs that are used a lot less often, sometimes not at all unless I have guest. Last Friday I had a plumber check the sewer drain, remove the toilet and he said all came out clear. That night I started smelling it again and noticed the toilet bowl was also very low on water. For whatever reason I took some water and filled the bowl up a little to see if it would go away and noticed the water level dropped back to what it was before adding additional water... I refuse to stay there and my dog doesn't even want to be inside the home. Any ideas? Is there a certain plumber who specializes in this sort of thing I need to call? The last company that came out were gas leak specialist and $650 later nothing found.

Sorry if this sounds confusing. I never thought I would be researching this subject Thank you!

 

[Reach4]

It is possible that the toilet is cracked and the water is running out via the crack.

There are other possibilities, I think, that are not nearly as simple. If you were sufficiently motivated, I could suggest a troubleshooting technique. I suspect you may be a renter, so you probably have limited motivation. Most tenants are not Robbie_d . ;-)

Almost every plumber can change out a toilet. I don't know what plumber would best at troubleshooting weird stuff, but I expect some are more into the more unusual. I am not a plumber.

 

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[Amber Follis]

I bought this home brand new 2 years ago. Now that you mention, I think there is a very slight crack at the bottom of the toilet bowl. Almost certain it's not a scratch, But if it were a crack, wouldn't the plumber have noticed it?
I'll take a troubleshooting technique! I'll do anything to get the smell gone so my dog and I can return home.

 

[Reach4]

If there is a crack, I would just jump ahead to getting the toilet swapped out.

However, I might as well describe the thing I was thinking of that could be done if the toilet was not cracked. The thing you would be looking for is to measure for a vacuum in the sewer line. What if there is a vacuum -- how do you fix that? I don't know.

Anyway the technique would be to get a clear piece of flexible plastic tubing maybe 5 ft long. Somebody on medical oxygen will throw away such tubing once per month. Most hardware stores would sell clear tubing.

Blow through one end while thrusting the other end through the water in the toilet, and up the trap another maybe 8 inches. Don't do this while you have the hiccups.

Put the end you were blowing into into a glass of water with maybe 4 inches of water. The water inside the tubing would normally rise to the level of the water in the glass. If there was a vacuum in the trap area of the toilet, the water in the tube would settle significantly lower. That tube in the glass forms an "open manometer", in case you want to look that up.

But fortunately you have a crack. New toilet should fix things.

I am not a plumber. Click Inbox, above.