We have a bathroom in our basement and after heavy use (we had 15 people in the house over Thanksgiving), both in this bathroom and the others( 2 full on 2nd floor and a powder room on the 1st), there is a very bad smell in the basement bathroom. We have septic, which is somewhat overbuilt (2 1200 gal holding tanks). The leach field is large. We've never had a problem with it.

There is an ejector pit in the basement, which works well. We caulked around it to make sure it's sealed.

The basement bathroom was built last spring and has been regularly used by my wife and me. The 2 bathrooms on the 2nd floor were remodeled this fall and there was some relocation of water lines up there.

The plumber who built it doesn't have an answer.

Help.

Hey Bill,

Well the first thing I would check is the ejector pit vent. It not only breaths in like a regular vent but also expels sewer gas when it breaths out. If this vent were clogged then every time you flushed or drained sewer gas would be forced out of the nearest opening. Good luck Tom

Possible, but the construction plumber tapped all over it and he says it's not clogged.

billspringer
New Member Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 2


Basment bathroom smell

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What if the septic system was challenged by the heavy usage? Would that cause the smell?

" the construction plumber tapped all over it and he says it's not clogged."

Perhaps not a solid clog but even a partial clog would set up a back pressure situation where sewer gas would not be vented. Tapping a pipe will tell you if it's plugged solid but won't tell you if it's completely clear.

"What if the septic system was challenged by the heavy usage? Would that cause the smell?"
If you overloaded the septic system you would have backups in the main.
I still think your focus should be on the ejector system. Regards, Tom