[BuyerEric]

I am considering buying a house, which I love, but there is an odor in the house that smells like sewage/urine. The house is winterized so the water is turned off... ie. There is no water flowing through the pipes. Could this be the cause of the smell since water is not flushing the sewage system? It is a public system. I have been back a few times and noticed the smell was strongest after heavy rain.

[massplumber2008]

Buyereric:

You hit it on the head.

*yuck*.. water has been shut down, but the p-traps and/or toilets were probably not winterized properly and the ptraps that keep sewer gasses from entering the house evaporated and are now letting sewer gasses into home.

For p-traps and toilets to be winterized PROPERLY, need to evacuate water from these and fill with antifreeze. Then should remove antifreeze (don't just flush down drain) and fill with water (turn on water to house)... that make sense?

Simple to fix... just add water to fill traps (including toilets). Hope that helped... MARK


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[BuyerEric]

Thank you so much. Yes that makes sense to me. I was hoping it wasn't a major problem. You mentioned antifreeze. There was a blue powdery substance in the toilets (no... not comet, haha)... would that be the antifreeze?

[ballengerb1]

Mark is correct, P traps will evaporate their water in a few months and sewer gas can enetr the building. Get yourself a few gallon jugs of windshiels washer solution with antifreeze and put about a quart into very drain. Air out the house and the odor level should drop to pretty much zero. Even if there is an odor we can help track it down, most plumbing problems can be a DIY with some help.

[massplumber2008]

Eric... blue powdery doesn't sound like antifreeze to me, but may be something similar.. I guess. Did the blue stuff cover over the inside hole of toilet so no gasses were escaping? Maybe they did winterize toilets... maybe just forgot to winterize the washing machine drain or the kitchen sink.. something like that... look down the other traps in house... anything in them? If not, you found issue... if all traps winterized... bigger issues somewhere... but I doubt it,

Ballenger had good idea... windshield washer fluid with antifreeze.. works for me! AND cheaper then antifreeze, too... not bad.

Let us know if we can help anymore... especially when you move in to the house and find the seals have dried out in the toilet tank parts... ;) Good day.

[BuyerEric]

Thank you guys, you are very helpful. I am not quite sure how they winterized it and unfortunately, I do not have access to the house because I do not yet own it. We are about to bid on it now. I recall the toilets having some kind of substance in them (the chalky, powdery blue-green I described) but I could be wrong on the texture. The sink drains did not have anything that I noticed. My only concern was that the house is permanently stained with the smell of sewage or that it be a recurring problem, which I guess is irrational since our home inspector would never pass the house if potentially toxic fumes are present. I have a feeling that because the house has been winterized for so long, the odors are seeping in (like you said), and once the water is on, it will wash away. I will certainly try that techinique with the washer fluid, if necessary. Once we go into contract, they will have to unwinterize the house so we can inspect the plumbing so I am hoping the problem will go away.

Thank you guys again. I really appreciate your professional insight and advice!:)


On site note, I stumbled upon this site and already love it! I will surely be making good use of it as I move forward with the house!

[ballengerb1]

I have a feeling that once you own this building you might be back here with other issues. When that happens, if it happens, we'll be here for you Eric.