Unregistered

We had the house built in 1985. Plastic piping, 4 baths, two roof vents. Occassionally in the base, usually in the winter, we have a very smell basement, usually associate with outdoor drops in temperature, Illinois. Basement is finished, pipes are not accessiable. Any ideas? Two baths on second floor, one main floor, one in basement. Septic tank is eight feet underground, gravity feed below basement floor, field is down the hill from the tank of course.

Grumpy

My girl friends house has this problem and for some reason my own condo developes this stank from time to time. I pour draino down the drain.

I'm no plumber but I am told the stench is due to clogged sewer pipes. A friend of mine has a severe problem like this due to improper pitch of the sewer pipe.

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

Bjd

Try to locate any open drains or vents, also take a close look in the attic.
An open pipe in the attic can and will cause this type of probem when the temps are just right.
Some plumbing systems require a pipe known as a future vent, this has to have some type of cap.
This cap can sometimes become loose, as the contractor with use the cheapest thing he can find for the job.
If this is the case the cap may have been lost and when the system is at just the right temps sewer gases escape into the attic. Sewer gas is heavy and will fall into the basement area through the partions.

Bernie

Unregistered

check for floor drains or standpipes. when a drain is not used for a extended amount of time the trap can evaporate letting fumes come into the house.

Unregistered

Install a J bend on top of each vent stack and the smell will go away.

Grumpy

Installing J bends assumes the vent stack is pvc. I've never seen a cast iron with a j bend. Also the plastic/vinyl collar used to flash the soil pipe to the roof are pretty much garbage. That's a roofer's opinion. I see many leaks caused by the vinyl collars.

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

Unregistered

i am a plumber and have a customer that has been having this same problem for some time now.only when it is really cold.today i went there and searched for an open trap or anything.finally i climbed on his roof he had 2 3" vents and 1 2" vent all were covered with a thin coat of ice so they weren't venting.someone told me their septic tank wasn't degrading right.i'm going to check into it further so it doesn't happen again

Unregistered

We are also having the same problem with an ice cap forming over the roof vent during cold temps and a strong sewer smell in the basement. Our house is 10 years old, and this happened last winter and now this winter again. Our septic tank has never been pumped since we moved in (10 yrs). Could this be the problem?

Grumpy

I've seen hoods that can be installed over those vent pipes.

__________________
-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

Unregistered

I did some searching and couldn't find any hoods for a 3'' sewer vent pipe. Any info on where I could find one? I am still thinking that the problem is related to the septic because the vent pipe never froze in the 8 years previously.

Driftwood

was the basement fixtures installed after the original plumbing work signed off? my guess impropaly vented fixture call a plumber for inspection

Unregistered

You need to only check one thing before going to the bothe rof all the other details.

You have a floor drain somewhere close to the furnace area. Make sure there is water in the trap (if its dry just pour about a gallon of water in it) also make sure the plug is screwed into the ptrap at the side. Any opening can vent sewer gas smell into the basement. Also check any unused plumbing like toilets and sinks that would have water evaporated from teh Ptrap.

If this does not fix it, you have a deeper problme requiring more information to determine the cause.

Professional Plumber in KC