My boyfriend, new baby, and I recently moved into an older single-wide mobile home. Every night or so, the back of the home (bathroom and master bedroom) smells like a sewer. The smell also occurs within a few minutes if the toilet is flushed more than once. The toilet will sometimes clog along with the shower, which we fix by covering the shower drain (because sometimes, waste comes out of the drain while we plunge the toilet if left uncovered) and some forceful plunges. We need to do that about once a week. After that is done, the smell is gone for a couple days.

Lastnight, my boyfriend had used the bathroom and after flushing the smell was terrible. But, we could pinpoint the smell a little better. You can smell it most under the sink and in the closet of the master bedroom, which are back to back. This is coming from under the home. There are not vents in the mobile home skirting, but there are access holes and we cannot see any leakage or a sewer vent that is trapped under the home.

Check your drain pipes on the sink.. I bet they are corroded and there is a hole that lets sewer gas in even though its not big enough for water to leak.

Thanks for the reply! We will do that. Just wondering if that would cause the smell in our bedroom? The sink and our closet do share a wall, but the smell is worst at the floor and seems like it is under the trailer. Even when I can't really smell it in the room, it smells at the floor in the same spot. Also, could the clogging in the shower/toilet be linked since the smell seems to be gone for a few days after unclogging?

Could the toilet possibly not be pitched correctly? I was told that this could lead to water moving faster than waste, therefore letting it lay in the pipes. To me, this seems like something that could be causing both issues but I don't know how to check that and can't really afford a plumber. There are also vents on the roof of the home, could something be clogging the sewer vent? Sorry for the lengthy questions. I would love to be able to rule out everything I can on my own before resorting to paying somebody to do it for me. I will check the sink pipes in a bit for any holes.

Thank you!

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Originally Posted by boliverisms

Thanks for the reply! We will do that. Just wondering if that would cause the smell in our bedroom? The sink and our closet do share a wall, but the smell is worst at the floor and seems like it is under the trailer. Even when I can't really smell it in the room, it smells at the floor in the same spot. Also, could the clogging in the shower/toilet be linked since the smell seems to be gone for a few days after unclogging?

Could the toilet possibly not be pitched correctly? I was told that this could lead to water moving faster than waste, therefore letting it lay in the pipes. To me, this seems like something that could be causing both issues but I don't know how to check that and can't really afford a plumber. There are also vents on the roof of the home, could something be clogging the sewer vent? Sorry for the lengthy questions. I would love to be able to rule out everything I can on my own before resorting to paying somebody to do it for me. I will check the sink pipes in a bit for any holes.

Thank you!

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First things first... check those pipes... they are likely metal and not plastic... and they do eventually corrode I've had some that didn't last 10 years in my kitchen, I know because I put them in new when I remodled the kitchen.

There may be gaps in the wall the odor is getting through or it might be something else.

If it was under the trailer you should be able to smell it under the trailer.

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Originally Posted by smoothy

First things first...check those pipes...they are likely metal and not plastic...and they do eventually corrode I've had some that didn't last 10 years in my kitchen, I know because I put them in new when I remodled the kitchen.

there may be gaps in the wall the odor is getting through or it might be something else.

If it was under the trailer you should be able to smell it under the trailer.

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I took a quick look because baby is fussing up a storm. The pipes are metal, and look pretty gnarly. They have plenty of sticky white/turning brown stuff on them like someone's cheap fix. The metal pipe then connects to one covered in a black material.

I think you need to have a plumber out. You could have corroded pipes as suggested by others. There's also a possibility that your plumbing isn't properly vented. Amateur plumbers often forget that this needs to be done so that sewer gases are released into the atmosphere, not back into the home.

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Originally Posted by dontknownuthin

I think you need to have a plumber out. You could have corroded pipes as suggested by others. There's also a possibility that your plumbing isn't properly vented. Amateur plumbers often forget that this needs to be done so that sewer gases are released into the atmosphere, not back into the home.

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I'm hoping it doesn't come down to that. The park we live in made it mandatory to install low flow toilets in the older mobile homes a few years before we moved in. The people that sold it to us were DIYers... and pretty bad at it. New carpet installed meant carpet not cut to the right size and just pushed against the wall, or stapled so that it's loose enough to trip over ;) So they could have very well messed the plumbing up. The smell is pretty well contained so it's avoidable, so I'm willing to try some things before spending that kind of money.

Hard to know what kind of a mess they made but that's what I thought it would be. Do you know ANYONE personally that's a decent handyman type? The drains shouldn't cost you more than $20-30 in materials at Lowe's or Home Depot if you can find someone with a mechanical aptitude to help.

Might want to try googling up a video or ask someone at the store to explain it for you. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to replace these, but you likely need a few basic tools. And some basic know-how. It just seems harder for someone that has never done it. Assuming you have have SOME mechanical aptitude.

As you see... some people shouldn't be allowed to have tools. Like the previous owners.

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Originally Posted by smoothy

Hard to know what kind of a mess they made but that's what I thought it would be. Do you know ANYONE personally that's a decent handyman type? The drains shouldn't cost you more than $20-30 in materials at Lowes or Home Depot if you can find someone with a mechanical aptitude to help.

Might want to try googling up a video or ask someone at the store to explain it for you. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to replace these, but you likely need a few basic tools. And some basic know-how. It just seems harder for someone that has never done it. Assuming you have have SOME mechanical aptitude.

As you see...some people shouldn't be allowed to have tools. Like the previous owners.

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Should I be replacing the sink and shower drains or just work on the sink for now since that's where the smell is? I replaced the faucets in the shower alone a few weeks ago so I may be able to do this with some help along the way. My dad's usually pretty good with this stuff but so far he doesn't know what to do, but I'm sure he can help me replace things to rule them out.

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Originally Posted by boliverisms

Should I be replacing the sink and shower drains or just work on the sink for now since that's where the smell is? I replaced the faucets in the shower alone a few weeks ago so I may be able to do this with some help along the way. My dad's usually pretty good with this stuff but so far he doesn't know what to do, but I'm sure he can help me replace things to rule them out.

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Take it one step at a time... do the sink first... you are sure that's a mess... don't start anything else until the first one is finished and leak free.

I say that so if the worst happens... you don't end up with too much on your hands at any one time. And even the pros have things go wrong from time to time.

And the older the place... the more likely you will run into problems like I described. Plus it lets you gradually build on your skill set and confidence, That shower drain is likely going to be more difficult than the sink for example.

First rule of DIY... keep the projects to one at a time... don't start a new one until the first is finished. You would not believe the mess you can get into starting multiple projects at once.