Poo smell coming from the basement

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

I live in Northern Michigan, where we get alot of snow. We have kept our roof clear of snow and on many occasions have dumped warm water down the pipe on the roof. We have had our septic pumped about a year ago. To no avail, we still get the smell. It travels from the basement into the rest of the house. My husband checked the fittings in the basement and has replaced some of them…..still smells like poo. Please help me, I have told my husband that this cannot be good for us to continue to inhale. I’m at my wits end with this.

[GuestParticipant]

We have had an ongoing smell also coming from our basement, we have just discovered that our upstairs toliet is leaking and it appears that the first layer of the subfloor is damaged but has yet to come through to the second layer, we therefore are not able to see any water damage in the basement, have a look at the floor around your toliets and see if you see them raised at all. We plan to take the toliet off tommorrow so we will know for sure if this is the problem, heres keeping our fingers crossed.

[John Aldrich1Participant]

[email protected] the first thing that you should check is whether the gas that you are smelling is in fact sewer gas. It may be a natural gas leak. I recommend that you contact a Licensed Master Plumber, and have the Plumber perform a Peppermint Oil test. If you do not have natural gas in your home, a Peppermint Oil test is still in order because the odorous gasses could be generated from decomposing organic matter of another kind, like a dead rat, mouse, raccoon, or other critter.

If the result of this test proves that it is a sewer gas leak, then inspect all of the fittings in the vent system in your basement. Check the seals in the sump pump vault if you have one. This is often the source of sewer gas odors in basements.

Recently, a fellow named Anthony (screen name-Can’t pound a nail) located the source of sewer gas odors in his basement as coming from the electrical conduit that housed the service wires for his sewage effluent pump, located in the septic tank. The sewer gasses entered the basement through his electrical panel.

If you still cannot locate the source of the sewer gas leak, then a smoke test is in order. Contract with a Plumber who has access to a “cool smoke generator.” Do not allow anyone to ignite a smoke bomb in your sewer system. Some of these gasses are explosive.

You are correct in thinking that it is not a healthy, nor safe situation to be constantly exposed to the sewer gasses, nor, possibly, the natural gas that is entering your home.

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