Question: Septic Smell. Plumbing Pictures Included. A real challenge!!!
 

Greetings,

I've searched through numerous posts over the years without an answer
to the problem I'm having so I thought if there were some generous
plumbers out there or people that know the answer to this it would be
very helpful.

I have a simple home in the country. The plumbing is only on the main
level and in the basement. There is 1 toilet, 1 bathroom sink, 1
kitchen sink, and a tub drain. A water softening system is installed.

My bathroom has a septic smell in the winter time which appears to
come from the toilet. No smell comes from the tub, or either sink.

The toilet is functioning well other than the winter smell. It doesn't
appear to have any leaks at the drain seal, because I see no water on
the bathroom floor around it, or seeping through the floor and into
the basement.

I thought the water in the toilet acted as a trap? Is this correct or
should there be something else. There is no smell in the summer, but
from what I've read most people experience this problem in the winter.

A septic vent pipe goes from the toilet drain pipe (about 3" up from
the only 90 degree bend) which you cannot see in the picture. The vent
goes through the roof and a smell comes from it so it is not clogged.

The rest of the simple plumbing setup is shown and labelled in the 2
pictures.

Any ideas about what is causing this? I can only think that the seal
on the toilet is not perfect and is letting gas escape from under the
toilet along the bathroom floor but then I should see a water leak,
which I don't.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Pictures are he

http://www.janeboire.com/photos/pipes1.jpg
http://www.janeboire.com/photos/pipes2.jpg

Question: Septic Smell. Plumbing Pictures Included. A real challenge!!!
 

I'm wondering if perhaps there is urine around the base of the toilet and if
it starts smelling when the heat comes on. Try using a strong antiseptic
(Mistovan is good)
swab it all around and see if the smell returns.
Are you sure your septic system is in good shape? But even if it isn't, it's
doubtful the problem would be evident inside the house.
rps
"Marc" wrote in message
om...
Greetings,

I've searched through numerous posts over the years without an answer
to the problem I'm having so I thought if there were some generous
plumbers out there or people that know the answer to this it would be
very helpful.

I have a simple home in the country. The plumbing is only on the main
level and in the basement. There is 1 toilet, 1 bathroom sink, 1
kitchen sink, and a tub drain. A water softening system is installed.

My bathroom has a septic smell in the winter time which appears to
come from the toilet. No smell comes from the tub, or either sink.

The toilet is functioning well other than the winter smell. It doesn't
appear to have any leaks at the drain seal, because I see no water on
the bathroom floor around it, or seeping through the floor and into
the basement.

I thought the water in the toilet acted as a trap? Is this correct or
should there be something else. There is no smell in the summer, but
from what I've read most people experience this problem in the winter.

A septic vent pipe goes from the toilet drain pipe (about 3" up from
the only 90 degree bend) which you cannot see in the picture. The vent
goes through the roof and a smell comes from it so it is not clogged.

The rest of the simple plumbing setup is shown and labelled in the 2
pictures.

Any ideas about what is causing this? I can only think that the seal
on the toilet is not perfect and is letting gas escape from under the
toilet along the bathroom floor but then I should see a water leak,
which I don't.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Pictures are he

http://www.janeboire.com/photos/pipes1.jpg
http://www.janeboire.com/photos/pipes2.jpg

Question: Septic Smell. Plumbing Pictures Included. A real...
 

You have a bad wax ring, its leaking gas , I just had the same problem,
no leak on floor , but it smelled, the leak was such that the liquid
flows down , but gas leaks up. Your windows are oen in the summer, i
bet.

Question: Septic Smell. Plumbing Pictures Included. A real...
 

mark Ransley wrote:

You have a bad wax ring, its leaking gas , I just had the same problem,
no leak on floor , but it smelled, the leak was such that the liquid
flows down , but gas leaks up. Your windows are oen in the summer, i
bet.

Mark is right. sigh
The wax ring can fail in such a way that there is no water leakge
but sewer gas escapes.
Jim

Question: Septic Smell. Plumbing Pictures Included. A real challenge!!!
 

Question: Septic Smell. Plumbing Pictures Included. A real challenge!!!
 

Unsupported claim from the original poster.

Leaks at the drain seal (wax ring) are not defined by
whether there is water leaking in around it. It is indicated
by whether you're getting sewer gas around it. The presence
of sewer gas from a leak around the ring is not yet excluded.

With the design of the toilet, and the ring, it would oftentimes
be necessary for the water to go uphill to manage to leak around
the ring. But sewer gas can make its way past very nicely,
especially when the house is tight, and the furnace is pulling it in
to its air return duct. Go to the FAQ's in Toiletology at
http://www.toiletology.com/frequent.shtml

Jim Elbrecht wrote in message
...
(Marc) wrote:

It doesn't
appear to have any leaks at the drain seal, because I see no water on
the bathroom floor around it, or seeping through the floor and into
the basement.

Is there a window in the bathroom that gets tightened up in the
winter? My first thought would be to eliminate the possibility that
it is really a rear-round problem that is only noticed in the winter.

Next I would suspect the vent getting snow, debris or sitting water
that is causing a plug when it freezes in the winter.

Do you use propane gas in the house. I've seen folks confuse the
smell with a septic tank. A poorly vented dryer, hot water heater or
space heater could stink up the place.

Jim

Question: Septic Smell. Plumbing Pictures Included. A real challenge!!!
 

Thanks for all the replies. Just so others may benefit I'll address
some of the possibilities. It's not a vent problem with winter freeze
because the vent used to go into the attic only when I first bought
the house (ie. no freezing or ice build up there) and the problem
still existed. I put the vent out properly through the roof as soon as
possible of course. I don't use propane in the house so the smell
isn't that, and the dryer is properly vented (although the previous
owners had it vented to the basement - venting wizards these folks
were!!).
I'm going to go with the assumption that the toilet seal is leaking. I
didn't realize that gas could leak from the seal but there still be no
water leakage. The toilet does rock if you lean on it heavily enough
so it's probably a bad seal. I'm replacing the seal and seeing what
happens.

Thanks to all....

Regards,
Marc

"Michael Baugh" wrote in message ...
Unsupported claim from the original poster.

Leaks at the drain seal (wax ring) are not defined by
whether there is water leaking in around it. It is indicated
by whether you're getting sewer gas around it. The presence
of sewer gas from a leak around the ring is not yet excluded.

With the design of the toilet, and the ring, it would oftentimes
be necessary for the water to go uphill to manage to leak around
the ring. But sewer gas can make its way past very nicely,
especially when the house is tight, and the furnace is pulling it in
to its air return duct. Go to the FAQ's in Toiletology at
http://www.toiletology.com/frequent.shtml

Jim Elbrecht wrote in message
...
(Marc) wrote:

It doesn't
appear to have any leaks at the drain seal, because I see no water on
the bathroom floor around it, or seeping through the floor and into
the basement.

Is there a window in the bathroom that gets tightened up in the
winter? My first thought would be to eliminate the possibility that
it is really a rear-round problem that is only noticed in the winter.

Next I would suspect the vent getting snow, debris or sitting water
that is causing a plug when it freezes in the winter.

Do you use propane gas in the house. I've seen folks confuse the
smell with a septic tank. A poorly vented dryer, hot water heater or
space heater could stink up the place.

Jim

Could someone tell me where I can buy MISTOVAN - name of the manufacturer and/or distributors ???

THanks a million