What To Do About a Sewer Smell in Your House

Sewage is the last thing you want to smell in your home. This rotten egg smell is a sign of severe problems, so it is critical to find out where it originates. This article will help you identify where you have a sewer smell in house facilities and explain how to fix the problem at those locations.

Locating and Identifying the Smell

If you have a sewer gas leak, your plumbing system isn’t working correctly. Sewer gases come from the decomposing waste inside sewer lines. Usually, properly functioning plumbing keeps the sewer smells from entering the house.

You can identify a sewer gas odour by the distinctive smell of rotten eggs. That smell may lead you to any of the four following places.

Shower Drains

Your shower drain is very sensitive and may stink for several reasons. Most of these reasons involve the p-trap under the drain, which seals off the smell of sewer lines. If the p-trap doesn’t function properly, the drain smells horrible.

Soap, body oils, and other bath paraphernalia cause biofilm buildup in the drain. This biofilm has a particularly intense odour that clears any bathroom in seconds and clogs the p-trap under the drain.

Hair in shower drains also causes clogs and odours. So begins a vicious cycle that stinks up your room, leading to a buildup of germs, bacteria, and more hair.

Your shower drain may also smell bad because it has no water. Water helps seal the p-trap to keep sewer gases from entering the home. Without water in the p-trap, those gases have free reign in your home’s air.

Toilets

Toilets have two main components that seal in smells: the wax ring and the vent pipe for the toilet. If both parts fail, they will likely emit a sewer smell in house facilities.

The wax ring sits under the toilet. This ring seals the toilet to the drain line leading out of the bathroom. If that breaks, you’ll notice the smell.

Every bathroom has a vent pipe that runs to the roof of a house. Improper installation or a clog will let that smell into your home through the toilet.

Sinks

The leading causes of sewer smells in your sink are buildups of mould, mildew, and grime in the overflow. This part of the sink is often very humid and an ideal location for mould and mildew to grow. When they do, they release a familiar smell that seeps throughout the house.

Water

One cause of foul-smelling water in your house is bacteria in the water heater. These colonies build up in the city water lines or the wells that supply your home’s water. They hole up in your water heater and start to grow.

Another cause is the presence of a chemical called hydrogen sulphide. This chemical is what gives sewer gas its smell. If this chemical is present in your home’s water, it’s a major problem.

How Do I Fix the Smell?

Now that you know how to identify the sewer smell in house facilities, we can look at how to fix those problems. The cause of the smell determines how difficult removing the smell will be. Some fixes are easy, while others are difficult.

If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, you can always hire a plumbing technician. Call us at (204) 815-5878 to schedule your sewer and drain cleaning by King’s Services in Winnipeg. We will leave your bathrooms smelling fresh and the plumbing working as it should be.

Shower Drains

If there is a clog of hair in your shower drain, simply removing the drain grate and snaking the drain will suffice. Installing a shower drain that catches hair helps keep your drain from clogging.

If there is a biofilm buildup, boil two gallons of water, then let it cool to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the hot water into the drain, and follow it with one cup of distilled white vinegar and half a cup of baking soda. Wait two hours, then pour another gallon of hot water down the drain.

To fill a dry p-trap, run the water in the shower for a few minutes. The water will seal the trap and keep the smell from intruding into your home.

Toilets

Fixing the wax ring requires pulling up the toilet. Turn off and drain the water in the toilet, loosen bolts on the bottom, and move the toilet out of the way. Remove the old wax ring, apply the new one, and reinstall the toilet.

Call a plumber to fix a broken or clogged vent pipe. It may require cutting into the wall to repair it.

Sinks

Pour a 50-50 solution of water and bleach down your sink’s overflow. While pouring the solution, brush the overflow with a long, thin brush for cleaning valves and drains. The brushing and water-bleach solution should remove mould or mildew inside the overflow.

If the sewer smell in your sinks continues, contact a plumber immediately.

Water

To remove bacteria in your water heater, increase the temperature of your hot water to an unbearable level for bacteria for a full day. After 24 hours, drain the water from the tank and fill it up again. This process will flush all the bacteria out of the tank.

Contact a water testing lab or city officials if you still have a sewer smell coming from your water. There may be a sewage leak in the water lines throughout the city.

Always Maintain and Monitor Your Home’s Plumbing

While there are ways to eliminate a sewer smell in house facilities, it is always better to prevent the smell from coming in the first place. A periodic inspection of your plumbing system is enough to do that. You can monitor your home's plumbing with this checklist.

If you notice anything unusual, call King’s Services immediately at (204) 815-5879. If we catch the problem early enough, we can resolve it without hassle or considerable expense.