Sewage smell in bathroom

[mwams74]

Hello everyone,

Recently we have had a sewage smell in our 2 bathrooms for the past few days. We just moved into the house about 4 months ago (house is only 4 years old) and the home inspector said all everything looked great. We have public water/sewer, electric heat (so no vermin dead in any duct work). I've checked all over the house, no leaks seems to be present, everything gets used on a regular basic. Everything also works the way is should, so no clogs that I can see.

Issues: Wednesday, sewage smell was awful and went through whole house. Located the smells from downstairs/basement bathroom and main floor bathroom. Determined that the sewer vent could be the issue. The roof is too steep for me to safely get on (plus with snow on the roof, I live in New England, even less safe), I was able to give it a few good knocks from under the roof in the attic. I could hear what sounded like a little bit of ice get dislodged. Both bathrooms stopped smelling within 15 minutes. Ran the shower in the main floor bathroom for a few minutes to take a shower, smell returned in just the bathroom. Sewage smell remained until the next morning (Thursday) when I replace the wax seal for the toilet. Smell immediately was gone when I reseated the toilet.

The sewage smell returned this morning in both bathrooms (it snowed again on Thursday when I replaced the wax seal). Repeated the sewer vent knocking trick (again heard some ice come loose), basement bathroom stopped smelling immediately but the main level one still smells. I've ran the water all over the house to get everything moving. Flushed the toilet several times to make sure water was in the trap.

Looking for guidance on what else could be going on and what else I could do, please help!

 

[CluelessHomeowner]

We had the same sewage smell from our bathroom when we moved into the house 4 years ago. It turned out to be a simple problem though. There was a small gap behind the toilet that had no caulk. I sealed it up and the smell was gone.

Also, if you have a guest room/unused room in the house, the water in the trap will evaporate over time so you will also get the sewage smell. We found this out after 5-6 months of moving in. This is why i'll flush the toilet and turn on the faucets (sinks/bathtub/shower) in the guest room's bathroom every 2-3 months.

I would check the caulk around the toilet and bathtub/shower.

 

[mwams74]

Interesting. I read somewhere online that it was a good idea to leave the rear of the toilet uncaulked. The toilet was originally uncaulked entirely, so I caulked up about 80% of the toilet when I reinstalled it. I will apply caulk to the rest of the toilet and report back!

UPDATE: Caulked up the back portion of the toilet and the smell is gone! My only question now is why there wasn't a smell for almost 3 days and now it showed up?

 

[havasu]

The only time I would caulk the entire base of the toilet is if I was on a concrete slab foundation. If not, any failure with your wax gasket underneath will result with a rotten floor and a potential flood below it.

 

[CluelessHomeowner]

Interesting. I read somewhere online that it was a good idea to leave the rear of the toilet uncaulked. The toilet was originally uncaulked entirely, so I caulked up about 80% of the toilet when I reinstalled it. I will apply caulk to the rest of the toilet and report back!

UPDATE: Caulked up the back portion of the toilet and the smell is gone! My only question now is why there wasn't a smell for almost 3 days and now it showed up?

i'm glad it worked for you. We inspected the house before moving in and there wasn't a smell in that same bathroom on inspection day. My guess is the water evaporates over time as the temperature got higher for unused toilets. I live in Arizona so these are the common problems for the sewage smell around here. What's the temperature in your house at the moment?'

I learned various things after becoming a homeowner. Sometimes it can be the simplest things and nothing serious like i thought it was-- like this

http://www.plumbingforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10369

I replaced my water heater recently and when i posted about it. I was advised to add a sediment trap and expansion tank. I ordered the parts but found out later after talking to the gas company employee and a contractor Rheem sent to my house. Both things are not needed for my area :/

The state/city and the environment of your house will make some solutions not applicable. Of course, You can always unscrew and unhook supply line of the toilet and put in a new wax ring, put the toilet back and see if the smell is still there with the new wax ring ? and then re-caulk for peace of mind ?


This old house has a lot of useful videos

How to Repair a Leaking Toilet
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjSbQhXTdHI[/ame]

How to Change a Toilet
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYCYUIhZDCI[/ame]