Ask Me Help Desk - Bad smell under house

Bad smell under house

I have read a lot of similar questions to mine, but none seem to describe my situation exactly so here goes:

I have absolutely no clue about plumbing although I'm beginning to figure out some things. My husband and I bought our first house last year and it's proving to be a lot of work. It's a 1940's pier and beam house with a lot of quirks. We had a broken pipe under the house where the washer drained from and this caused a build up of stagnant water under the house till we caught it and fixed it.

I have periodically noticed a bad smell outside our back door seemingly coming from under the house. I thought it was the lingering smell of the standing water. This area of the house is where our kitchen and bathroom pipes are. The smell seems to come and go and once or twice has been strong enough it can be smelled on the other side of the house (outside), but not so strong that we were convinced there was anything wrong. We live near a kind of smelly creek and thought it was the smell of the creek.

I have sometimes noticed a similar smell inside the house, specifically around the kitchen sink and in the bathroom. Again this came and went. In the last 24 hours it has got pretty bad though and the whole house is beginning to smell. The smell is worst under the house, and under the sink in the kitchen and bathroom. It does not seem to be coming directly out of the drain. I have tried putting water down all the drains and it makes no difference. I think I have 'S' traps, I can't see any outside vent.

Last week we had trouble with our toilet not flushing well but this seemed to resolve after a couple of goes with a plunger.

I am planning to call out a plumber but I wanted to check if there's anything obvious that I should do first since money is an issue for us. Please forgive my ignorance - I'm new to this game!

It could be that the ground became saturated with the washer discharge and then dried out but every time it rains or has high humidity that the ground starts to smell again. In that case spead some lime under the house. **OR**
You could have another leak. Has anyone been under the house to check?
Good luck, Tom

Aren't S traps no longer acceptable? I would consider replacing those with P traps.

Thanks for your replies - I will try the lime thing. I haven't noticed if the smell only comes back after rain, but we have had a lot of rain recently. I have half crawled under the house to check for leaks, but I will check more thoroughly.

About the S traps, I have read that they are not installed any more, is that something we need to worry about? I'm guessing it's a major undertaking to replace with P traps and install vents? Just about every part of our house violates modern building codes... Sometimes I feel like we'd be better to demolish it and start over...

Back when I started to learn plumbing "S" traps were acceptable. Now they are outlawed in all the states and Canada, As a licensed plumber it's my duty to advise you to bring your house up to code,( Growler would be so proud of me) however, I'm a great believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it" If you have had no problems in drainage or odor out of your traps I can see no reason to tear up your house just to satisfy a code requirement. Especially if money's tight. Good luck, Tom

Why were S traps outlawed? Sorry to hijack, but I figured it might be of his help to know this also, just in case they might be a possible reason for the smell--are they not as good at creating a seal as P traps or something?

It's because there is no way to properly vent an S-Trap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedball1

Back when I started to learn plumbing "S" traps were acceptable. Now they are outlawed in all the states and Canada, As a licensed plumber it's my duty to advise you to bring your house up to code,( Growler would be so proud of me) however, I'm a great believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it" If you have had no problems in drainage or odor out of your traps i can see no reason to tear up your house just to satisfy a code requirement. Especially if money's tight. Good luck, Tom

I agree -- That Growler guy sure can be a stick-in-the-mud sometimes.;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffw2006

Aren't S traps no longer acceptible? I would consider replacing those with P traps.

Easier said than done.

S-Traps typically drop vertically down into a horizontal pipe -- Whereas a P-Trap typically goes horizontally into a vertical pipe.

Changing over would require cutting out the fitting below the kitchen cabinet and replacing it with a fitting aimed horizontally towards the back of the cabinet and coming up through the back of the cabinet vertically.

I'm with Tom on this one -- If it ain't broke, then don't fix it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffw2006

Why were S traps outlawed? Sorry to hijack, but I figured it might be of his help to know this also, just incase they might be a possible reason for the smell--are they not as good at creating a seal as P traps or something?

"S" traps were outlawed because they weren't vented and the suction caused by the draining water could possibly pull water out of the trap seal causing sewer gas to escape. I've never had that happen but it could and that was enough for the powers that be to write new codes. Vents with "P" traps break the vacuum and let the system breathe. Regards, Tom

The odor es extremely bad, like spoiled eggs