Since I have owned my home (purchased July of 2014) I've noticed that if I run the kitchen sink on the main floor, I'll sometimes have a sewer odor fill my basement. It appears this odor is coming from the basement floor drain. This does not occur every time the sink is used but definitely 75% of the time, especially if the sink is used for more than a minute or so. If the blower kicks on, this odor then fills the home.
I did have a backup of the floor drain not long after moving in - using the kitchen sink would cause water to backup in the basement floor drain and I originally thought this was the source of the problem/odor. A plumber visited and used a small auger to snake the floor drain. The backflow problem has been fixed but the odor problem has not.
I know the problem is not due to a dry trap as I frequently make sure to poor large amounts of water in the floor drain as well as making sure the basement shower, toilet, and sink are used regularly to maintain primed traps. This only occurs when using the kitchen sink - usage of all other drains in the home does not cause the odor.
I purchased a drain "seal" which allows water to drain into the floor drain and stop gas from coming out but this "seal" didn't cure the issue.
I was told this could possibly be a vent issue (ie the negative pressure of the running water is removing the water from the trap in the basement drain allowing sewer gases to escape.) I assume the next step is to climb on the roof to snake the vent? Any other thoughts before I tackle this? Pictures included for reference if needed. Thanks!
Picture of the kitchen sink drain/vent...
Picture of the vent entering the wall and then traversing up the wall to the roof (not sure what the painter's tape, etc is for)...
Picture of the floor drain...
I did have a backup of the floor drain not long after moving in - using the kitchen sink would cause water to backup in the basement floor drain and I originally thought this was the source of the problem/odor. A plumber visited and used a small auger to snake the floor drain. The backflow problem has been fixed but the odor problem has not.
I know the problem is not due to a dry trap as I frequently make sure to poor large amounts of water in the floor drain as well as making sure the basement shower, toilet, and sink are used regularly to maintain primed traps. This only occurs when using the kitchen sink - usage of all other drains in the home does not cause the odor.
I purchased a drain "seal" which allows water to drain into the floor drain and stop gas from coming out but this "seal" didn't cure the issue.
I was told this could possibly be a vent issue (ie the negative pressure of the running water is removing the water from the trap in the basement drain allowing sewer gases to escape.) I assume the next step is to climb on the roof to snake the vent? Any other thoughts before I tackle this? Pictures included for reference if needed. Thanks!
Picture of the kitchen sink drain/vent...
Picture of the vent entering the wall and then traversing up the wall to the roof (not sure what the painter's tape, etc is for)...
Picture of the floor drain...
