I get a sewer smell in my house. I had a hole in my cast iron vent stack and replaced it. I still get the smell. There is definitely odor problems at the sewre drain in the basement. Strangely, the problem is worst when it rains or is very humid. My house was built in the 50's and it looks like there are some cracks in the clay (?) basement sewer drain. I've dumped water down the basement drain hoping that it was low on water and just needed to be "topped off" I poured several buckets down and the level never rose, the smell did get worse however.

My fear is that I'm going to have to have my finished basement dug up.

I get a sewer smell in my house. I had a hole in my cast iron vent stack and replaced it. I still get the smell. There is definitely odor problems at the sewre drain in the basement. Strangely, the problem is worst when it rains or is very humid. My house was built in the 50's and it looks like there are some cracks in the clay (?) basement sewer drain. I've dumped water down the basement drain hoping that it was low on water and just needed to be "topped off" I poured several buckets down and the level never rose, the smell did get worse however.

My fear is that I'm going to have to have my finished basement dug up.

Good morning Louie,

If it's the basement floor drain that's smelly let's look at that first. Pour a 1/2 gallon of bleach down the floor drain and let it set over night. Next morning flush it out with a few large pans of boiling water. That should make that stinky drain smell better. If not click on back and we'll explore other possibilities. Regards, Tom

I used the bleach a couple days ago, flushed it yesterday, and it really helped. For a while. The smell is returning. I had to pour some more bleach down there again this morning.

What next?