Help! Sewer smell problem in house - Please help!

We've lived here over 6 years now, had the house built. We live in the country with well water and a engineered septic field. September, we had the tank cleaned out because we were coming out of the top. Two weeks later, we were full again. Had our local septic cleaning engineers out to find the problem, and they found a clasped pipe- the one that goes from the tank out into the field. They replaced it and since then we've had foul smell in our basement and house! We've tested everything... had the lids off the tank to measure the water going out, how much time it took to go down, pin pointing where the smell is coming from, and cleaned out every trap and pipe we have.

What we've detected so far, is the septic tank in the morning is about 5-6" below the pipe going into the house. If I do a lot, of laundry it gets filled rather quickly, including baths- about 1" from pipe and then even into the pipe... it isn't taking much for the smell to start though. The water in the tank gets displased out into the field in a matter of hours, but smell still lingers. Talking to the Septic Co. it's acting as a normal field. Please remember we use a lot of water and we dug holes, in our yard, on the septic field to see if there was any standing water and everything is dry.

Our attention was directed inside and we went up on the roof and ran snakes down through the pipes, cleaned traps, even took the lids off the tank again, plugged up the pipe with a towel and ran a hose down the roof stink pipe to see if there were any leaks. Didn't find any. Lids went back on the tank, everything put back, and the smell is gone for a couple of days. We have been through this house twice now - we're smelling again.

But, found out our upstairs bathroom, the kitchen sink, dishwasher, downstrairs 1/2 bath and washing machine are basically on 1 stink pipe. If I run the washing machine about 4 loads, back to back, then we are smelling. It's comnig through my dishwasher, kitchen sink, smells in basement, and laundry area. I think I can even smell it in the wall going upstairs even though that upstairs bath doesn't smell. However, I have pinpointed the washing machine use to be the main cuplerate.

Please help! Why would this start after a pipe outside was replaced? What could be wrong? We are so worried!

I am going to assume there is a trap on the washing machine drain?

If you can't pinpoint the problem area you could do a smoke test. That is where you fill the DWV system with smoke and look for it in the house. Then you know where the odor is coming from and can correct the problem.

Thanks for the reply!

Ok- I asked my husband if he cleaned out the trap on the washing machine drain. He looked a little puzzled. Said he'll check --- but where to find it because apparently he didn't?

Also, smell is also coming into my first floor bedroom. I did a lot of laundry today along with all baths. Smell in my bedroom is just above where the pipe is leading out into the field from the basement. Another clue?

Only a plumber can do a smoke test?

Washer traps are not prone to clogging due to the high volume of water with very little solid materials that would cause a clog. Knowing nothing more that you have give us, I suspect there is no trap on the washer drain.

My husband found the trap to the washing machine... oops, didn't get that one! We'll see what's what tomorrow. I told him what you said, Gary, and I doubt that's the problem. May have to do a smoke test. Can we rent something and do it ourselves?

I was asking if there was a trap on the washing machine drain because I have seen so many homes without a trap there.

Cass... I'm interested in how to do this smoke test... is there such a thing as "canned smoke" or do you use one of those things like my grandpa used when he was robbing bee hives? I would like more info/details..... Hmmm... Crazy Bill..of Crazy Bill's fireworks is a good friend of mine... reckon those smoke bombs (like a cherry bomb) will do the trick? I can get loads of those really easy.....

We cleaned out the trap for the washing machine... as suspected it was clean. What concerns me is after heavy water use in the septic tank, then we get the smell. I've been reading a lot of other people's issues and seems like this will be a hard one to figure out. This is no fun.

A good plumbing supply house will have them or will be able to get them. I wouldn't use firework type smoke bombs as they may give off a noxious fume that would end up in someones home.

Not good.

You need a C/O to put it in and I place it in a can that goes in the C/O then pull it out. It can generate a lot of heat so you need to be carefull with PVC/ABS that it doesn't melt.

If the vents in the house are not done properly, you could be siphoning the traps of some fixtures dry, allowing the sewer gasses into the house. This could also happen if one of the vent lines is plugged. A plugged vent line normally does not affect water draining, or backing up, but it could slow it down or suck other traps dry to supply the needed air to drain.

WHen you smell the fumes, and can locate it to a sink or other drain, try just pouring maybe a couple of cups of water down the drain slowly. See if the smell stops. If it does, you know that the trap has been siphoned dry.

The area in question is like a big square... through the back door, to the left - washing machine, to the right, 1/2 bath... walk about 10 steps to the kitchen, and to the left is the kitchen sink and dishwasher, and above is the upstairs full bath. All of this seems to be on 1 stink pipe (if this makes any sence or if this may or not be an issue?) Point is, when we get this problem, seems like I've been noticing my kitchen sink smelling and some other fictures... I'm thinking your right on the sink being siphoned! After Christmas we'll se about callling in a plumber, but this seems to be a lot of trial and error so at least we can tell him what our discoveries are and see if he can come to a diagnosis that can solve the problem quickly. PLUS, funds are really low (Michigan)! and I don't have much extra cash flow to be messing around. Would he be able to tell if a vent is faulty easily? How much would this vent cost to replace? What would cause it to go bad after 7 years? Would there be 1 vent for all the fictures that seem to be together? Where would it be located? Is this something we can replace or need a professional? Any help you can give me would be grately appreciated! We aren't doing very well in Michigan as we work for the auto industry... house is for sale and we must sell. Sound desperate? Anyone want to buy a house? I'll give a good deal! Thanks.

Oh yeah, with your advise you gave me... I tried to run the water in the sink drain and it seemed to help! But, still smells everywhere in the area. Could the washing machine be siphoning the water out of all the drains in the area? All on 1 vent?

EACH trap needs a vent. The vent lines can be combined above the flood plane of the highest, but each needs one. If you don't have vents for each trap, then running water down any one of them could siphon out the others.

Don't Stop Now!

I've was just reading this forum and I have exactly the same problem, but noticed you stopped writing before Christmas and didn't say what you're outcome was. Please let me know. I've been searching and searching for answers and just found this forum tonight.