Flipperman2a2w
Member
I wasn't sure what forum to post this under, as my problem potentially pertains to a number of different areas (toilets, septic, venting, etc.) House is 11 years-old. We bought it 5 years ago and used it as a vacation home for 4 of those year. We started living in the house full-time almost exactly a year ago. About 6 months ago, my wife and I noticed a sewer gas smell wafting up from our twin bathroom sinks when we were using them. Shortly thereafter, the toilets (master bath AND guest bath) started "belching" the same gas when they were flushed. The gas comes from the jet, and is enough to seriously smell up the bathroom and several feet down the hall. As far as we can tell, the gas is only coming from these fixtures.
We have a well and septic system. Thinking the septic tank might need pumping, I contacted a local company. Even though the tank hadn't been pumped since we bought the house, the man who pumped it didn't say there were any issues. It wasn't full, and we've never had any backups or soggy areas in the yard. We used to get a lot of down-drafting, so you would definitely smell it outdoors when someone was taking a shower or doing laundry. FWIW, we no longer smell the sewer gas outdoors like we used to.
That line of reasoning is what got me on the roof with a 20' pipe snake and a garden house. I snaked both roof vents and ran water down them for a few minutes- nothing. I even went so far as to cut the vent pipes in the attic, so I could snake the vent where it branches off to the individual fixtures in the house- nothing.
I went under the house to take a look at the piping. There's a main drainage line that has two clean-out plugs. Expecting to be choking on sewer gas, I opened up the pipe closest to the septic tank- nothing special/no gas smells. I opened up the plug at the opposite end of the line and shined a flashlight down it- nothing special/no clogs. My wife flushed the toilet while I had the clean-out plug open, and it seemed to drain just fine.
I recently cleaned out our twin sinks and flushed the line with one of those balloon things that attaches to a garden house. The pipes were pretty stinky, and the water that flowed out of them reeked of gas. It's still too early to tell if the gas will come back...
I discovered a Studor vent under the kitchen sink. I doubt this has anything to do with my problem, as we haven't had issues with the kitchen sink. I went ahead and replaced it anyway.
At this point, I AM COMPLETELY STUMPED!!! Where is the gas coming from? If it's an issue with the septic system, why are we only getting gas at certain fixtures in different parts of the house? We have high iron in our water, so I was thinking maybe we have bacteria in the piping that is creating the gas, but I don't understand why we wouldn't have gas in all the pipes. If anyone can shed some light on this issue, I would be grateful. Should I call a plumber or call the septic company back? If my issue is the septic system, is there anything that can be done other than digging up the whole yard?? This problem has been driving me crazy, and it really stinks when we have guests...
We have a well and septic system. Thinking the septic tank might need pumping, I contacted a local company. Even though the tank hadn't been pumped since we bought the house, the man who pumped it didn't say there were any issues. It wasn't full, and we've never had any backups or soggy areas in the yard. We used to get a lot of down-drafting, so you would definitely smell it outdoors when someone was taking a shower or doing laundry. FWIW, we no longer smell the sewer gas outdoors like we used to.
That line of reasoning is what got me on the roof with a 20' pipe snake and a garden house. I snaked both roof vents and ran water down them for a few minutes- nothing. I even went so far as to cut the vent pipes in the attic, so I could snake the vent where it branches off to the individual fixtures in the house- nothing.
I went under the house to take a look at the piping. There's a main drainage line that has two clean-out plugs. Expecting to be choking on sewer gas, I opened up the pipe closest to the septic tank- nothing special/no gas smells. I opened up the plug at the opposite end of the line and shined a flashlight down it- nothing special/no clogs. My wife flushed the toilet while I had the clean-out plug open, and it seemed to drain just fine.
I recently cleaned out our twin sinks and flushed the line with one of those balloon things that attaches to a garden house. The pipes were pretty stinky, and the water that flowed out of them reeked of gas. It's still too early to tell if the gas will come back...
I discovered a Studor vent under the kitchen sink. I doubt this has anything to do with my problem, as we haven't had issues with the kitchen sink. I went ahead and replaced it anyway.
At this point, I AM COMPLETELY STUMPED!!! Where is the gas coming from? If it's an issue with the septic system, why are we only getting gas at certain fixtures in different parts of the house? We have high iron in our water, so I was thinking maybe we have bacteria in the piping that is creating the gas, but I don't understand why we wouldn't have gas in all the pipes. If anyone can shed some light on this issue, I would be grateful. Should I call a plumber or call the septic company back? If my issue is the septic system, is there anything that can be done other than digging up the whole yard?? This problem has been driving me crazy, and it really stinks when we have guests...