thais0n
New Member
We just bought a brand new house (new construction, not just new to us). Its 3 levels, 5 bathrooms, basement (no crawl space) on a septic system.
When we moved in everything was great for about a week. Then one day, my wife called and said she could smell sewer gas every where! We checked all of the p-traps, they were all full of water (and we ran more water just to be sure). Over time, she pinpointed it to the toilets. Basically, when they flush its like a puff of sewer gas is coming back up. We have worked with our builder - they had the plumber come back out and replaced two toilets. That didnt help - my wife can still smell it. The plumbers even installed a backflow preventer to the septic tank, so that stuff could go to the septic tank but nothing could come back toward the house.
The builder says one thing that could be the culprit is that since the septic tank is so new, its not yet full, so that creates a giant air bubble in it. And as the septic tank gradually fills up, it would displace that air bubble and it would be less likely for that air to flow back up through the system.
The smell happens with every toilet in the house. The unfortunate part is that my wife is the only one that can smell it. I have horrible allergies, so I dont smell much, one of the builders smokes alot so he doesnt have the best sense of smell either. My wife is complaining of horrible headaches - so I know she isnt making anything up. At one point, I opened the cap to the cleanout in the backyard, and the second the cap came off she said that was what she smelled in the house.
The drains aren't slow, so we dont think its a venting issue. There is still one vent that is on the highest part of the roof that no one has yet inspected.
A few other interesting things:
1. This all started on one day. Wednesday everything was fine, Thursday the house stunk. The only thing happening is we had flooring guys in the basement that day, but I dont think they would have fouled up the whole system.
2. I ran the washing machine yesterday and noticed something strange. About 30 minutes after the washer stopped, I went to the half bath - opened the toilet lid and it appeared as if water was splashed in the toilet - there was water on the bottom of the lid, and on the inside of the bowl and rim - very weird. Didnt know if this might be a sign of a blockage. With all of the discharge from the washing machine - maybe the toilet in the half bath was acting like a vent?
Please help - the plumbers and builders are all at a loss on this one, and my wife cant deal with any more headaches!!!
When we moved in everything was great for about a week. Then one day, my wife called and said she could smell sewer gas every where! We checked all of the p-traps, they were all full of water (and we ran more water just to be sure). Over time, she pinpointed it to the toilets. Basically, when they flush its like a puff of sewer gas is coming back up. We have worked with our builder - they had the plumber come back out and replaced two toilets. That didnt help - my wife can still smell it. The plumbers even installed a backflow preventer to the septic tank, so that stuff could go to the septic tank but nothing could come back toward the house.
The builder says one thing that could be the culprit is that since the septic tank is so new, its not yet full, so that creates a giant air bubble in it. And as the septic tank gradually fills up, it would displace that air bubble and it would be less likely for that air to flow back up through the system.
The smell happens with every toilet in the house. The unfortunate part is that my wife is the only one that can smell it. I have horrible allergies, so I dont smell much, one of the builders smokes alot so he doesnt have the best sense of smell either. My wife is complaining of horrible headaches - so I know she isnt making anything up. At one point, I opened the cap to the cleanout in the backyard, and the second the cap came off she said that was what she smelled in the house.
The drains aren't slow, so we dont think its a venting issue. There is still one vent that is on the highest part of the roof that no one has yet inspected.
A few other interesting things:
1. This all started on one day. Wednesday everything was fine, Thursday the house stunk. The only thing happening is we had flooring guys in the basement that day, but I dont think they would have fouled up the whole system.
2. I ran the washing machine yesterday and noticed something strange. About 30 minutes after the washer stopped, I went to the half bath - opened the toilet lid and it appeared as if water was splashed in the toilet - there was water on the bottom of the lid, and on the inside of the bowl and rim - very weird. Didnt know if this might be a sign of a blockage. With all of the discharge from the washing machine - maybe the toilet in the half bath was acting like a vent?
Please help - the plumbers and builders are all at a loss on this one, and my wife cant deal with any more headaches!!!