sewer odor


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Old 02-13-03, 05:26 AM
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sewer odor

I'm in a 1-year old house. Last week, I noticed sewer odor (or some unpleasant odor) present in a bathroom. There was no problems with odor in this bathroom when we had been using the tub portion of the bathroom. However, we stopped using the tub approx two months back. After flushing the toilet next to the tub, i noticed a "gurgling" sound coming from the tub drain. I immediately turned ON the tub tap and allowed water to fill the tub drain....The smell disappeared. It appeared that the trap on the tub had dried out.....

However, there are two other bathrooms in the house where have never used the shower/tub and there has been no smell.
Is is possible the bathroom in question (with the sewar odor) was not plummed correctly? Could there be problems with the tub trap, venting, etc, etc.

Alhough my warranty on thehouse has expired, i can still press the contractor to fix this....if it looks like the plumbing was incorrect.

Thanks in advance to those replying! tom.
 
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Old 02-13-03, 06:05 AM
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Cool

If running water in the trap stopped the sewer odor, it is plumbed correctly.
If there is a clog in the vent pipe or the drain, it can cause trap water to siphon out, or if the trap water evaporates, it allows the sewer gas back into your home.
If everything is draining O.K., just make sure that you keep all of your traps filled with water. If the problem keeps recurring, go up on the roof and check for leaves, debris, etc. in the vent pipe.
Clean out the vent pipe and flush it with a water hose sprayer, if it appears to be clogged.
Good LucK!
Mike
 
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Old 02-13-03, 06:12 AM
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thanks Mike!
 
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Old 02-13-03, 07:37 PM
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First of all, I would like to have a house where there are three bathrooms that I never use... Anyway, traps do dry out, and different bathrooms allow traps to evaporate faster... It just depends on which ones stay the driest... And of course, it would only take a very minimal amount of water to keep a tub drain from drying out... (i.e., a drippy faucet, or the water that gets in the drain when the bath is cleaned...)... Your only problem is to make sure that you get some water in the tub atleast once a week or so... It sounds like your plumbing was done just fine...
 
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Old 02-14-03, 04:46 AM
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thanks....I was just confused because the other bathrooms with tubs do not dry out....but everyone seems to be advising me the plumbing is OK so I'll take your good advice and make sure we get some water in the trap on a regular basis. thanks again.
 
 

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