[emann]

In the master bath of our designer home, one of the sinks has a sewer gas smell every so often.

Has anyone else had this problem and if so how did you solve it.

We have used baking soda and vinegar and it doesn't seem to help.

Thanks

[Bill-n-Brillo]

If it's a sink you don't use very often, the drain water being held in the p-trap (look under the sink for the loop in the drain line) is probably evaporating, allowing any odors from the drain/sewer line to come up through the sink. Ordinarily, the water in the trap will prevent that from happening. Solution: Periodically, run one of the sink's faucets for a few moments to allow the trap to refill with water. Problem solved.

If that's not it..............I'm out of ideas!

Hope that takes care of it for you, though!!

Bill

[VillageSitter]

Bill is right about running water. Try that first but our last home had this problem and it was with one of our bathroom sinks that we used daily. There is usually a vent at the top of one of the pipes under your sink which may need to be replaced. It is easy to screw off and take to a plumbing suppy store, even Home Depot may have it. Funny though, I just looked at both my sinks in my master bath and neither had a vent and when I looked in my hall bath, that one did. Odd????
Good luck!

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by VillageSitter

.....Funny though, I just looked at both my sinks in my master bath and neither had a vent and when I looked in my hall bath, that one did. Odd????
Good luck!

A majority of your drain lines will connect direct to a vent pipe that will go out through your roof. Certain situations aren't conducive to having a connection to a through-the-roof vent. Those can have air valve attached that will perform essentially the same function as the roof vent does (allow for proper flow of the drain pipes, etc.) - but they don't allow odors to escape into the house.

Bill

[Biker Dog]

We had the same problem with the sink in our Villa. When I checked to be sure the inline vent was working properly, I found that the plumber never installed a trap in the drain line. He had piped it direct without a trap.

The warranty department sent the original plumber to the villa and he refused to put a trap in the pipe saying his men would not pipe it without a trap and it was not his problem.

I when to ACE Hardward told them I needed a trap for our new home. He said you must live in a vila in the villages. I ask him how he knew that. He said they had a few people in recently with the same problem.

So be sure there is a P trap under your sink.

[784caroline]

I would go back to the Warranty Dept for a sink trap should be a requirement probably a code requirement. YOu can easily call the county inspection office and ask them. It sounds like the plumbing company did not "disagree" a trap was required, just that they would never install a sink without a trap.

Did the plumber think you redid the plumbing for that sink and took the trap out ?? Does not make sense. I would think the plumber would have immediately fixed the problem and never want you to go back to TV Warranty Dept showing them this plumber installed a sink without a trap. These guys donot want to loose TV work.......and TV warranty will fix almost all issues without question during the first year of home ownership. ...and in this case if it was found to be faulty installation/construction, TV home warranty would repair the problem after the first year. PLUS this is an easy fix!!!

[emann]

This sink is used daily. It also has a p-trap ( cannot tell were it is vented too). We are in the house nearly 4 years , so are well past warranty.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks

[aljetmet]

I'm a DIYer. So if this happend to my sink.
I would remove the p trap.
You might not even need a wrench to do it. Inspect the trap and clean it out. I googled this and found Bill's possible cause to be a valid one. You can leave a cup of water on the sink and see if it evaporates....

My bathroom sink was very clogged and the water went down very slow.

I removed all the pipes under the sink to the wall. They were all clogged.
I cleared them all and my problem was fixed.


Good luck!

[CaptJohn]

From another DIYer. These things (trap evaporation) hold true for your tub and commode as well if they're not used frequently. Could also be a bad gasket on the commode unless you're sure it's the sink. Older style floor drains are notorious for this.
Sounds like the plumbing inspectors are not doing their job there if the hardware store has heard this before as BDog said.
Maybe time for TV to hire a new plumber.

[rubicon]

We had the same problem with a sink used daily. You will need to dis-assemble the trap underneath the sink. Be sure to go all the back to the pipe coming thru the wall. It is this particular pipe that usally gets a build up of cunk. A plumber once told me to run hot water for 5 minutes once a week and it will help remove some of that residue, primarily soap. We jusrt cleaned out our trap.

[Carla B]

Well, I thought the problem was between the sink drain and the trap. We disassembled the stopper and used a brush to clean out all the black gunk clinging to the stopper. It seemed to help.

[emann]

opened up the p-trap. The clog was not in the trap but in the straight pipe that leads to it. Looked like a clob of brillo pad. All seems to be well now.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

emann:

[shazam]

Having the same problem, but the odor comes from the shower drain. Baking soda routine does nothing to help. Have read the replies and most refer to sinks. Any ideas regarding shower traps?
Home is nearly three years old, so warranty dept. can't help.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by shazam

Having the same problem, but the odor comes from the shower drain. Baking soda routine does nothing to help. Have read the replies and most refer to sinks. Any ideas regarding shower traps?
Home is nearly three years old, so warranty dept. can't help.

We had that problem in shower in Ohio occasionally.

I would ask warranty. Sometimes they come through even after the time that is guaranteed.

[Oren L Miller]

Bill the boy genius is right about making sure the drain p trap is holding water.
If it is is then buy some buttermilk & pour it down the drain before you go to bed. The enzymes in the buttermilk eat up all the smelly bacteria & sweetens the pipe right up.