Sewer Gas Odor

Tim: I agree 100% with the plumber, it is not the line to the street, its probably not the sewer system at all! Most people make a lot of assumptions as soon as they smell an odor. The sewer system always gets blamed first when that is seldom ever the case. In my experience its almost always a cleanliness issue.There are simply too many safeguards built into a plumbing system. All fixtures are trapped and vented to prevent the very thing youve described. In order to solve your problem you must first isolate the smell.Next time you smell this odor, follow your nose to the origin. If youre convinced its the sewer system wouldnt the smell be that much stronger if your nose were closer to the cause? Put your head into the toilet bowl, into the sink bowl, inches away from the shower and bathtub drain. Get on the roof and put your nose into each vent pipe and smell. Put a garden hose into each vent pipe and run water full blast. If water if flowing thru system (it will be) all of the vent pipes are clear and unobstructed. A healthy sewer system, one that has good unobstructed water flow, has almost no odor whatsoever. Sewerage only smells when its allowed to sit and stagnate.This test can be done with your sewer cleanouts and also in the street. Remove the cleanout caps, lift up the manhole cover in the street, check for good, quick, water flow then put your face down and smell! In all of these instances Ill bet you smell almost nothing. If Im right start looking elsewhere for your problem. Good luck, Lane.: We live in a 20 year-old house on a slab, and aprx. 2 years ago began to get bad sewer gas odor after flushing downstairs toilet. No problem w/ 2 upstairs toilets. Problem also is intermittant. Sometimes its awful, then it goes away for few days.. Plumber says its not the Line out to the street. He says it may be Venting problem and we have to tear down wall to check vent pipe for cracks. Can any one help?

Check for a tight fit of the wax ring under the base of the toilet. Easy to do.