Unvented sink smells a little??

[timcanton]

he all,

I recently bought a house and at some point the bathroom was remodeled and the sink was not tied back into the vent pipe. so ocassionally it smells at that sink. We just pull the stopper but is there a solution to this? I can access all the plumbing in basement but it was originally connected in the wall/ can I just add a small vent into basement? its unfinished dirt floor. Reconnecting to the original vent in basement possible? it seems very hard its old pipe, house bulit in the 30's. Reconnecting in the wall would mean ripping out a wall so id really rather not do that. Thanks

 

[Gary Swart]

An AAV aka Studor vent would work.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Smooky]

It is probably an easy fix but we need to see what you got. Take a picture of the plumbing at the sink, in the cabinet.

 

[timcanton]

I cant really show you too much. The sink drain goes into the wall directly behind the sink with no trap just a straight shot. The reason I know its been disconnected is there is a recessed cabinet above the sink that takes up the wall cavity. I can show the basement scenario but there isnt much to show there. The drain from bath comes down about 4 ft from the main drain line. Ill post that if its helpful??

 

[hj]

And how do you know the vent does not just "jog" around the wall cavity? It is how I would have done it, and NONE of your "solutions" will work and might just make things worse.

 

[timcanton]

HJ,

Because I can see the drain going into the wall and it just connects to pvc drain line not the old vent piping. Its straight shot down into the drain as I mentioned. I dont have any solutions thats why I was asking if my ideas would work. Im not a plumber. What will work? For all I know the sink may have never been attached but ive remodeled enough bathrooms to know what they usually look like in the walls. What can I do after the fact to resolve this? Thanks

 

[Reach4]

Can you look into the drain and see water in the trap? Even if there were no vent, putting water slowly into the drain should put water in the trap. If there is no vent, pouring water into the sink rapidly can let the trap siphon out. That is the purpose of that vent -- to prevent the siphoning with bigger flows.

Lift out the stopper out and use a bright flashlight.

There was an odor at a bathroom lavatory successfully dealt with in a recent thread. The problem was the flex lines bringing water to the fixture. That odor was thought to be hydrogen sulfide, but without a lot of practice, it is difficult to distinguish foul smells.

 

[timcanton]

No trap installed its just straight shot. I assume to hide plumbing behind the pedistal sink. Its not the water because the problem is stopped by closing the sink stopper

 

[Reach4]

If there is no trap, that is your primary problem. That is going to smell whether there is a vent or not.