[sjthurstan]

I have an acrylic stand up shower. I am on septic. I moved in this house in Oct. of '06. I have always used this shower every day. I never noticed the sewer smell until around June of '07. Could it be the hot weather that is causing the smell?
The drain flows real good. No backup. It does not smell when the water is running for showers.
It is worse in the afternoon than in the morning and evening. I tried leaving the shower stall door open which seems to help a little.
I don't smell any odor coming from the tub, toilet or sink drain. The smell is only coming from the shower drain.
I don't know if this is important or not, but the hot water tank is located in an outside room built off the common wall that the shower is on.
Hopefully, you can help me solve this problem.

[stew_1962]

You might have a clog in your vent line. The shower drain might be the path of least resistance when you flush the toilet, and the water seal in the trap is being pulled out.

Is there any gurgling noise in the shower when you flush the toilet? Run the shower for a minute or two - to make sure the trap is filled up.

Then have someone flush the toilet while you listen to the drain in the shower. If it gurgles, this is the likely problem. You'll have to find the vent on the roof and snake if from there. Sometimes you can use one of those expandable things that fits on the garden hose, push it down as fas as you can, turn it on and blast out the obstruction. Otherwise you'll need a poser auger (or a plumber).

Let us know if this helps.

[sjthurstan]

Hi Stew,
Sorry it has taken so long to reply. There isn't any gurgling noise in the shower when I flush the toilet. My shower doesn't have a trap, but I put something over the drain so it would fill up and ran the shower for about a minute. I flushed the toilet and no gurgling.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Judy

[speedball1]

Hey Judy, Your shower does have a trap. It's just under the drain and not in sight. Most bad smells in tubs, lavatorys and showers are caused by rotting hair matted with grease from the soap and from rotting food in kitchen disposals Try this for the smell. Tonight before bedtine Take a 1/2 gallon of bleach and pour it down the drain and let set over night. Next morning ,(and this is important) flush out the drain with two large pans of boiling water to loosen the grease and flush the mess out. The bleach will make the hair slippery and began to dissolve it and the hot water will melt the grease and flush the mess away.
Also, pull the lavatory stopper and look down the drain. About 4 inches down you'll see a small rod sticking out. Fish out any hair that's caught there and do the same thing to the lavatory if you detect any odor. This should make your drains smell better. With all chemicals used in drain cleaning proper ventalation should be observed. Good luck, Tom

[sjthurstan]

Tom,
I have a septic tank and I'm afraid to add the bleach (chemical).
The drain cap has no screws to release it. It looks like it may be glued on. I don't know if it's suppose to just pop off or not. I don't want to break it.
I've looked down the holes on the drain cap and only see water about 6" down the tube. Would the trap be beneath the water?
I used a coat hanger down the holes to see if I could pull up any hair/scum and nothing came up.

[speedball1]

Don't be afraid to add bleach. The small amount won' be enough to harm your septic tank. The water you see in t6he pipe is the trap seal. Regards, Tom

[ballengerb1]

Tom's cure is a great one and usually workis quite well. If you are worried about the septic tank you can try my mix. Mix 1/2 cup of baking soda with 1/2 cup table salt. Dump the mix in the drain and then add a cup of vinegar, don't look down the drain when you do this. Tomorrow flush with a bucket of very hot water.

[sjthurstan]

Thanks so much. This worked great.
Judy