Smells when the heat comes on.....

[disgustingsmell]

Is there anyway I can get rid of the sewer smell when I turn my heat on without having to pay someone else to do it. There used to be a bathroom in the basement but the city made us take it out. I am wondering if that has anything to do with it. We also have had people out to look at the furnace but they can not find anything wrong. Please someone help me. I am afraid that my kids are going to get sick if they keep breathing this disgusting smell.

[leejosepho]

Look around for an open drain or line of some kind related to the removed bathroom and either plug its opening or cap it off. Your furnace needs combustion air to pass through its burner and on out the chimney, and it sounds it is presently getting that intake through your drain plumbing.

[jimbo]

leej is on the right track, but if the furnace was ingesting combustion air from the sewer, this would not necessarily cause a smell in the house.

But, if this is a forced air furnace, then we have a return air inlet. If a basement bathroom was removed, and the pipes not plugged, especially maybe an open floor flange from a toilet, now we really have a path for the odor!

[D.Smith]

You may want to add water to your floor drains. Those traps can dry out.

[jadnashua]

If the toilet drain was not plugged properly, there is no trap to isolate it from the sewer, and no amount of priming will help. It definately could help with any other sewer drains.