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I dont know if this has been covered, but whenever my shower is running the smell of sewage seems to be coming up from my drain. This happens in only one bathroom, this bathroom being on the second floor. There is a 1/2 bath in the basement that hasnt been used in years, we just recently bought the house. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
The odor comes from rotting hair mixed with grease from soap. Try this. Tonight before you go to bed pour 1/2 gallon of bleach down the drain and let it set overnight. Next morning flush it down with a few large pans of boiling water. The bleach will start to dissolve and soften the hair and make it slippery and the boiling water will melt the grease and flush the mess out into the main. Now see if that smelly drain doesn't smell sweeter? If that don't fix the problem, remove the strainer and run a snake past the trap on into the drain line for about 8 feet. Check and make sure the traps are still full in the basement, also check out the floor drain. I get lots of complaints on sewer gas because the trap in a unused fixture has evaporated all the water out of it leaving it open to sewer gas. Hope this helps . Tom
I recently had the exact same problem. The problem was ....the vent for the shower drain was plumbed before the trap and should be the other way around ..the shower trap should be plumbed before the vent. I hope that fixes your problem.
As a general rule bathroom groups are vented through the lavatory vent. The rest of the fixtures are wet vented. Since the shower is tied into the lavatory drain it wet vents downstream from the lavatory vent. This is standard for all bathroom groups.
Is Mr. Vargas claiming a separate vent for his shower and another for his lavatory or is he claiming his lavatory wet vents off the shower vent?
Because if he's claiming the later then his lavatory's "S" trapped and that's outlawed in EVERY state and local code both here and in Canada.
His explanation's a little confusing to me. [quote]The problem was ....the vent for the shower drain was plumbed before the trap [/Unquote]
Since the trap is the terminal end of the branch nothing could be installed "before or ahead of the trap".
[quote] the shower trap should be plumbed before the vent.[/UNQUOTE]
This would put the shower trap downstream from the vent as it is in most installations.
Unless the traps "gurgle" in your bath when you flush a toilet I don't think you'll locate the problem in the vent. Has this been a ongoing problem or did it just start up recently?
This has been an ongoing problem since we bought the house 6 mos ago...the smell has recently started to get worse. The bleach trick seemed to work for a couple of days..but then it came back. I'm going to try this once more and then I dont know what I will do. Thanks for everyone's help.
Let's put this problem to bed.
You have to snake the shower and then flush it out. First remove the strainer,(TIP: put the screws in the soap dish. They will be hard to replace if they go down the drain.) Now work your snake past the trap and 6 or 7 feet beyond. When you pull the snake back it should have the hair that was smelling up your shower on the auger tip. Now pour 1/4 gallon of bleach down in the trap and let it set over night. Next morning pour a pan of boiling down the shower to clear what's left and make your drain smell nice. Unless you have a open connection to the sewer this should solve your problem. Cheers, Tom
I tried to auger out the drain I've use bleach and boiling water and it is not any help. The smell comes up during shower use and immediately after. It is definitely not the smell of buildup in the drain. I've tried flushing the toilet to see if it pulls the water from the shower trap and it doesn't and I am out of good suggestions. Any other ideas here? Thanks.
I tried to auger out the drain I've use bleach and boiling water and it is not any help. The smell comes up during shower use and immediately after. It is definitely not the smell of buildup in the drain. I've tried flushing the toilet to see if it pulls the water from the shower trap and it doesn't and I am out of good suggestions. Any other ideas here? Thanks.
You said,'I tried to auger out the drain " Did you suceed? How far in did the snake get? What came out on the auger tip? You said the bleach and boiling water worked for a while. That locates the smell in drainpipe buildup.
Now you say," It is definitely not the smell of buildup in the drain."
What changed your mind? If you've augured the length of the branch and it still smells, then i would start checking the venting, this sounds like a ongoing problem from the time the house was built. regards, Tom
I augered down somewhere between 12 and 15 feet and the tip came out clean as a whistle. The bleach treatments only seem to hide the smell for a couple of days before it comes back. The reason I don't believe it is the smell of build up is because I recently cleaned out the drain in my sink and pulled a bunch of hair and build up out and took a good whiff of it and it definitely has a different odor. I am a builder and oversaw the construction of the building (it is a three unit). I don't use the same plumber anymore due to other problems. I have suspected a venting problem for a while but want to eliminate all other possibilties before opening ceilings and walls. My plumber thought that we can add a vent off the shower to relieve the problem. I am on the first floor and directly above the ejector pit which also may have something to do with my problem. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.
I augered down somewhere between 12 and 15 feet and the tip came out clean as a whistle. The bleach treatments only seem to hide the smell for a couple of days before it comes back. The reason I don't believe it is the smell of build up is because I recently cleaned out the drain in my sink and pulled a bunch of hair and build up out and took a good whiff of it and it definitely has a different odor. I am a builder and oversaw the construction of the building (it is a three unit). I don't use the same plumber anymore due to other problems. I have suspected a venting problem for a while but want to eliminate all other possibilties before opening ceilings and walls. My plumber thought that we can add a vent off the shower to relieve the problem. I am on the first floor and directly above the ejector pit which also may have something to do with my problem. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.
I have this nagging feeling in the back of my head that might notbe your problem either. There's only two ways you would get sewer odor from the shower drain. One is if the trap seal were lowered or reduced, allowing sewer gas to escape. But you say the seal is undisturbed.
The other is if there were back pressure down the vent causing a "blowback" of sewer gas through the trap. But again, I don't hear you complaining of "gurgling" or "bubbling" in the drain. The reason for a trap seal is to contain sewer gas. I think you have pretty much eliminated the odor coming from the drain. However, your last post brought up a interesting theory. Perhaps your sewer smell isn't coming from the drain at all but from inside the walls themselves. ( i used to love these kind of complaints when I was the shop trouble shooter.) The methane content in sewer gas allows it to raise. Warm weather could make it worse.
Could it be that sewer gas escaping from the ejector pit is raising up into your walls and that's what you smell? Just a thought. Tom
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