Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    badsmellinbsmt's Avatar
    badsmellinbsmt Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Mar 19, 2011, 06:39 AM
    When we take a shower (second floor) there is a bad smell in drain in basement
    Hi - we live in an old Victorian house that is emitting a bad smell in basement when we show -and now is getting worse and the smell is strong enough to smell it on first floor (shower on second).
    Can you tell me what that means?
    massplumber2008's Avatar
    massplumber2008 Posts: 12,832, Reputation: 1212
    Senior Plumbing Expert
    		  
    #2

    Mar 19, 2011, 07:20 AM

    Hi Badsmell...

    Could be that you are having an issue with venting or even could be that the main drain is starting to get blocked up and is causing a back-pressure on the drain system... ;)

    Have someone fill the tub upstairs and then drain the tub while you observe the floor drain. Tell us what you observe, OK?

    Back to you...

    Mark
    lilpoppa's Avatar
    lilpoppa Posts: 118, Reputation: 13
    Junior Member
    		  
    #3

    Mar 19, 2011, 03:13 PM
    If you have a floor drain in the basment that isn't used its possible for the trap on that drain to have dried up, or possibly be broken and unable to hold the water needed to block sewer gases from entering the house. And as massplumber stated it could be a venting problem causing gasses to bubble thought the water in the trap.
    massplumber2008's Avatar
    massplumber2008 Posts: 12,832, Reputation: 1212
    Senior Plumbing Expert
    		  
    #4

    Mar 19, 2011, 04:14 PM

    You know... sometimes I forget the most obvious stuff... ;)

    Definitely want to check that the PTRAP of the floor drain has water in it as lilpoppa mentioned. If the trap dries out sewer gasses can eneter the home and cause the issues you describe.

    If the trap is dried out pour some water now and again periodically to keep the trap wetted.

    Otherwise, test as I mentioned in my first post and pop back to discuss, OK?

    Mark
Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions
 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

Floor drain in the basement started to smell a few weeks ago. [ 2 Answers ]

I put bleach, drain cleaner, ran water down it a few times( twice 2 and a half gallon pail and once 5min of water from hose). It drains well but smell starts up in a few min. What else can I do?

Septic smell in basement floor drain/gutter drain? [ 2 Answers ]

1928 home on city sewer. After showers there is a septic smell coming up from floor dain in basement. I have oured enormous amounts of water down the drain not fixing the problem. I ended up cover the drain with a bucket, this took care of the smell, this was all three months ago. I recently cut my...

I have a leaky shower drain on a basement floor. The shower is about 35 years old. [ 1 Answers ]

It looks like the drain pipe is soldered in and I suspect the gasket on the underside of the shower pan is leaking. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

We had a bad smell (like dead rat) in our basement shower drain. [ 1 Answers ]

It went away after 6 months. We now have a strong dead rat smell in the basement bedroom across from the bathroom. Our basement is dry? What should we do?We need help in trying to figure out this bad odour. We are on city sewer. We built house 10yrs ago. Any suggestions?

Shower drain (not used)- bad smell [ 5 Answers ]

I have lived in my house for 5 years and we don't use this particular shower. In the last two months a bad smell has started coming from it. We thought that it was dry drain so we started running the water a couple times a week. Unfortunately the smell is still happening. Any ideas?

View more questions Search