Explained! Sewer Gas Smell Outside or Inside of Your House & How to Fix

Here is the common cause of sewer gas smell inside or outside of your home when you have a septic tank.

Jim gets the whiteboard out to explain the cause of the sewer gas smell outside or inside of your home.

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#plumbing #septic #sewersmell

[ivanvivar]

He had me at 'Hi, i'm jim the grumpy plumber'

[delorestaylor]

Thank you for sharing this information. Five years ago I had this problem and my nephew installed a link pipe to my underfloor main sewer line and installed a radon fan with a four inch stink pipe affixed on the back of my house controlled by a regular light switch on my back porch. Expensive but it worked. Wish the p pipe was in our “tool bag” back then.
God bless you and your family sir.

[thomasjamiol]

Thank you so much!!
I did exactly what the grump said and the smell around our cabin was gone immediately!!! Great advice. 👍👍👍

[Spookdog]

I’m on a city sewer system and occasionally get the sewer gas smells, all the traps are full of water. We are on the second floor and the sewage drain pipe runs down outside the bathroom window and appears to be in good shape as far as visible leaks. The smell is confined to that one bathroom.

[brittblanton]

Hey Jim thanks for the great information and I definitely don’t trust any advice from politicians 😆

[sneaquie]

So glad I came across your video. Have had sewer smell in the house every time the furnace comes on. Checked P traps all over the house, changed the wax ring at the toilet a few times. Went as far as replacing the toilet, all with no positive results. I opened the septic tank lid and there was a T on the inlet pipe. I have put a temporary seal on the top of the T. Hopefully this fixes our problem. Is there any drawback from sealing that end of it?

[andrewhope]

Have this issue, so popped the lid. Sure enough, there’s no 90° bend installed. Thanks Jim.

[MarkQuinnelly]

Hi Jim! Thank for the help! I thought those disgusting smells were coming from the politicians! Shitter's FULL!

[MichaelWilson-mzpo]

Hi Jim We get a strong sewer smell in our home during the occasional rain but not all the time sometimes it seems the smell is coming from HVAC system, when heat is on. We are on septic which has been pump and cleaned the furnace in basement is near sump pump which keeps ground water in it during the winter I mention that bcuz we don’t know if the HVAC is drawing the odor from the sump pump. Plumbers who have come out seem not to be interested in exploring the issue bcuz there was no smell at the time of appointment and no plumber will go on the roof to check vent stack, p traps seems to be ok, wax rings on toilets all have been changed there is never the smell of sewer outside in yard no indication of septic issues

[KellyKorpinen]

thank you soooo much Jim the grumpy plumber love this now if it wasn't 20 below due to the windchill I could fix the smell now... unfortunately it is and with strong wind and my septic lids drawing frost I believe I am stuck with the smell for never had it this bad and I am sure the cold is part of the issue.... plus a fairly recent pump out leaves not enough turds to produce much heat😂😂😂😂😂 so hoping the pipe from the house stays yes it's the cold snap after weeks of basically no winter this year... el Nino turned into el freezo!

[StalloneZigy]

Thank you for the video. I want to know if sewage won’t remain in the pipes with the 90 degree bend installation and also Is it advisable to vent the septic tank?

[JP-bdzl]

Of course!!! That makes perfect sense! Im doing it!!!

Cheers Jim ya grumpy old bastard😂
Joking 😂

Seriously, thankyou very much Jim

Ill update the add if works

[jorgevelasquez]

Mr. Grumpy, we have an odor that comes and goes in one toilet. How can we see where or why this is happening? Thanks for your great videos. We have 2 bathroom and a septic tank. We also replaced the wax seal in smelly bathroom. THANK YOU !

[Divinefam]

We continue to have a sulfur-like smell in our house and it’s driving us insane! We’ve had 3 separate plumbing companies unable to diagnose. Their only recommendation is to spend $4-$5k on a smoke test. We just can’t afford that right now. We originally thought we’d found the source of the issue. We found the EXACT smell coming from inside our sumo drain line outside. There are attic vents just above that line. We cleaned and unclogged that line and the smell went away for a few days. Well, it returned with a vengeance in our utility room. Could the smell be coming from my sump basin?? We’ve pretty much exhausted all other potential sources. Also, the smell usually worsens after it rains, when it’s muggy, or when the heater is on. It usually only smells in the utility room and the 2 levels directly up from the utility room in a bedroom. Your input is worth gold at this point!!

[js-qjtb]

I have the smell but no septic tank 😩 it's more prominent when we turn on the hvac system. Plumber and hvac Co can't find anything. 😳

[christianandersen]

Hi grumpy plumber, thanks a lot for the tips. I have a septic tank recently installed and it has an air pump, I have bad smell in my house at night, particulary when it is warm during the day and cold at night, I put a vent pipe in the garden in the inlet of the tank, and the bad smell persists. I do not have access to install the solution inside the septic tank. would it work to make a trap underground in the garden with the pipe between the house and the septic tank? Hope you can help me!!

[pdxwildchildroberts]

Great vid💜👍..I've got an off topic question for ya..
..why would my washing machine drain just "stop draining" a week from the last time I ran a load with no problem❓could my roof vent pipe be the issue❓..any cures or trouble shooting suggestions..thx Grumpy💜..PDX gal here🙂

[HisBride-po]

We don’t have septic, we are connected to city sewer. I can sometimes smell sewer smell in the air outside. I can smell it in a shed connected to the house where a sanitary pipe exits the bathroom directly above. There is what appears to be a vent coming out of the ground next to that sanitary pipe, plus, there’s another vent right outside of the shed. Any suggestions about what could be causing this odor?

[ChadWaytashek]

hey jim 3 months after installing new septic tank and mound system we get strong sewer smell in our basement where pipe goes to take, we tried everything but cant stop or track down cause... smell gets a lot worst at night after everybody showers. i want to try the 90 in tank but i seen a lot of people say it creates a double trap and will cause other traps in house to fail. and another concern without fresh air intake where will gas go when they build up? what are your thoughts? thanks alot going on 1 full year trying get rid of sewer gas in house and still living in it

[ArchanaMangrolia]

Mr. Grumpy
We installed a new toilet almost two years ago, and since then, after 5-6 months, the water level in the toilet goes low, starts bubbling, and eventually won't flush. We have spent so much money calling cesspool services to drain it, using chemicals, and replacing the septic cover. I contacted the guys who installed the toilets; they removed the toilet and made some adjustments, which worked for another 5-6 months, but the problem has returned.

We have three bathrooms: one upstairs, one on the main floor, and one in the garage (which is closer to the septic and cesspool). The garage bathroom flushes fine, but it smells horrible. The main floor bathroom, which has the new toilet, is the problem. Wastewater from the main bathroom flows toward the garage bathroom and then to the septic tank, so why can't the middle toilet flush while the garage and upstairs toilets work fine?

I don’t understand this problem. Is it a vent issue or something else? Please help me resolve this issue. Thank you!