We recently had foundation work done and they discovered that the drain lines in our master bath that houses a toilet, washer, two sinks, tub and shower were all disconnected. We paid them to reconnect them and all the work is finished and we have moved back in our house. Now every time I turn on my washer and the water hits the bottom of the washer I am hit with this strong odor of sewer gas. It lasts about 45 seconds to a minute and then is gone. It never did this before, and I'm just wondering now that it is connected up to the sewer if it was not done properly or what else it could possibly be. I just had the company out today that did the work and he tried to tell me that he did not smell the odor. I have had several people confirm that they can smell it too so I know I'm not crazy. He claims that the Ptrap is in the wall so if there was a problem with that the odor would be coming out of the wall. I have let my washer sit and soak full of water with bleach to see if there is something in the washer that needed to be cleaned out, but the odor was still there when I started the next load. I just think it is too coincidental that this started right after we had this plumbing work done... I just can't help but think that it has to be related.

Please help!!
Thanks,
Anne

Sounds like they hooked it up wrong and don't want to rehook it up. You are not imagining things. The trap is definitely the culprit.

P trap in the wall, this sounds pretty suspcious to me. I wonder where all your sewage went if this drain line was disconnected, and how do it get disconnected. Hate to ask so many questions before we find you a cure but there are lots of questions in your situation.

Thanks for responding! Well the guy out here today said that the p-trap to the washer was in the wall. I have not had time to investigate that further. But, now that you bring it up... aren't p-traps located right by the sewer connection? As far as how it got disconnected, they said the connections were not originally done properly. They did not install hangers on any of the drain lines in the entire bathroom and when our house shifted from foundation problems they all pulled loose. At least that is what they told me.

I'm not sure how I would be able to tell if the p-trap is in the wall without tearing up the sheet rock. Any suggestions?

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I'm not sure how I would be able to tell if the p-trap is in the wall without tearing up the sheet rock. Any suggestions?

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Yes! To check for a "P" trap take a stick and put it all the way to the bottom. If you have a trap you will see at least 2" of water on the end of the stick.

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every time I turn on my washer and the water hits the bottom of the washer I am hit with this strong odor of sewer gas.

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The smell comes from the washer and not the stand pipe the hose drains into? Is the hose simply hung into the stand pip[e or have you duct taped it so no water can back up as the washer drains? I'm trying to find out exactly where it smells the worst. Let me know, Tom