Smelly drain - not sewer

[pa1969]

I have an exterior floor drain at the bottom of the steps that lead to my basement. This drain has started to smell. It's not sewer, but pretty close. It's under concrete and runs under the basement slab. I had a plumber come in and take a look. He could only get about 5 feet in with a snake. Said it's full of mud. He says it looks like it takes a left turn and just drains into the stones. It's not connected to the sewer line. I've taken a hose and shoved it down there and ran it for about 15 minutes. It doesn't back up. Not sure if there's a trap in there or not. I need this drain for the rain but the smell is so bad you can't sit on the patio. I've dumped about 5 gallons of Simple Green Fungicidal solution down there with no improvement. I'm looking at just buying this SureSeal thing if I can't get rid of this smell. I've lived in this house for 7 years and this just started. I'm out of ideas. Thanks - Scott

 

[Reach4]

Not a pro...

the SureSeal seems reasonable. You could prove out the concept first with a plug temporarily. Just make sure that to remove the plug before you need the drain for rain.

I think you are saying that you know where the water drains to.

If I were dumping something to kill smells, I would consider some chlorine bleach and laundry detergent. Also you might consider getting the biggest BrassCraft Drain Bladder that fits, and shoving that on a hose into the hole.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WJcandee]

I had an outside drain that was all gunked up with mud and gravel, and snaking couldn't clean it. (When I say that, 3 companies couldn't get it open and all insisted that I was going to have to dig it up and replace it.) Got a guy that our member MacPlumb recommended who came in with a hydro-jetter and had it cleaned out within an hour. Turns out it was connected to a cistern drain in a location that nobody would have expected it to be connected to. That was two years ago and it still runs like a champ. Get a couple of quotes if you want it hydro-jetted as the equipment is expensive and so the vendors vary widely in price.

 

[Roger Hansen]

I have ran into the smelly drain issue multiple times. There were many times when what I was doing wasn't working at all. I recently ran into this gem of an ebook, it has helped me with many things including getting the foul odor out of my drains.