I live in South Florida. I had all my bathrooms remodeled less than 6 months ago. When we first moved into the house my son's bathroom would smell bad (sewer) in the mornings. Eventually that went away. Now the problem is in my daughter's bathroom. At first the smell was in the mornings, then we noticed that it would become worse in when it rains. The heavier the rain the worse the smell is, which is severe. A couple of weeks ago I started leaving the tub 1/2 way filled, as well as the bathroom sink. That seemed to control the smell. A few days ago I left only the bathtub with water allowing the sink to remain without water. The smell came back after the rain. Last night I put water in the sink and tub and the smell was there... not as severe, but there.

I've had the septic tank cleaned. I had someone from roto-rootter come out, he suggested a smoke test. Someone else suggested the camera test. Some have said there could be a missing p-trap, but one of the plumbers said the problem would be constant if there were a missing p-trap.

Today I poured clorox in the drains, after a few hours I ran hot water for about 5 minutes. I do want to mention that when I went to the sink after a few hours after I had poured the clorox there was a black gunk around the rim of the drain... kind of like black chalk. I had to scrub it to get it to come out.

If the clorox doesn't solve the problem... I don't know what my next step should be? Do I do the camera? Or the smoke test?

Why is the problem only when it rains?:confused:



HHHHEEEEELLLLPPPPP!!

Greetings from Sarasota. Sewer gases have a way of dulling the olfactory nerve and make detection nasally impossible.
You must realize that smells and weird noises are the hardest to track down when you're on site and just about impossible when you're not.
All we can do is point out likely spots.
That I can answer. Sewer gas raises but with high humidity the gas becomes heavier and starts to sink.You said you used bleach but did you let it set overnight and flush it out in the morning?
. Tonight before bedtime Take a 1/2 gallon of bleach and pour it down the drains and let set over night. Next morning ,(and this is important) flush out the drains 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.
. This should make your drains smell better. With all chemicals used in drain cleaning proper ventilation should be observed.

If you've tried everything else you might want to consider replacing the wax rings in your toilets. Sewer gas can escape a defective ring yet not leak water when flushed. The wax ring can emit sewer gases from the base of your toilets and you will swear it's coming from the shower/tub drain, lavatory drain
You have my best shot. Good luck, Tom

Tom,

Thank you for your reply. I have to tell you... that you are my hero. I've contacted several people in regards to my problem. Including an insurance inspector, a septic tank service man, 3 different plumbers, and a couple of general contractors. They were all baffled by the fact that the smell only happened when it rains. I was getting ready to bring a bulldozer to take apart the bathroom. It hasn't rained very much since I did the treatment, but I has rained some and we have not had any more odor. Not even in the morning... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you so much !!!!!

I just wanted to report that the problem did eventually come back but then I had someone come out and check the wax in the toilet like you originally mentioned and voilà! The problem seems totally gone. We have had light rain and heavy rain and nothing I think this time the problem is solved permanently thank you