Any Plumbers On Here?

[Scotto]

Are you sure that the wax seal under the toilet is sealed properly?

[Steve Valentine]

Joshua, the Pipe is safe and sound. It's not in the house. lol

Palmwood, I'm not sure if the plumber did that or not. Most of the work they did was done while I was sleeping during the day. I have been under the house and looked at all the pipes and I don't see any evidence of leaks and I've checked the vent pipe through the attic and I don't see any cracks or leaks there either. As for the dry drain, I have went around to all the drains and sniffed and there are no odors coming from the drains. The strongest odor is in the living room where there are no drains or plumbing of any kind in that area. That is what is really strange.

Scotto, as far as I know it has a good seal. There are no leaks around the toilet.

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm going to try them while I'm off the next couple of days and see if it solves my problem.

[Palmwood]

One more thing to consider is the condensate drain trap on any A/C unit in a closet or attic. They can get dry and I've seen it vent right into a unit before.

[Steve Valentine]

Out heating and air unit is outside and the drain from it isn't connected to the plumbing anywhere.

[cgode]

There's no drain on the air handler?.....our units are outside also but the air handlers are inside the basement and attic space....both have drains for the condensation that occurs.

[Steve Valentine]

Originally Posted by cgode

There's no drain on the air handler?.....our units are outside also but the air handlers are inside the basement and attic space....both have drains for the condensation that occurs.

As far as I know there is nothing under the house except for the duct work. They installed all knew ducts when we got the new unit and I ran the drain from the unit to the drain pipe out in the yard so it doesn't go anywhere near the house.

I cut the vent pipe down to 16 inches and put a rain cap on top of it, but we still got the odor last night as soon as the sun went down. That is what is so odd. You won't smell it at all during the day, but as soon as the sun goes down you get the odor. Any ideas on that? You also don't get the odor when it's a relatively cool day, like say in the high 70's or low 80's and not at all during the winter months. Only when it's been really hot during the day or during a long slow rain.

I hate to have to pay hundreds or dollars for a plumber to look at it if I can possible fix it myself, but it's beginning to look like I might have no other option. It sucks having put all this money into redoing the house and then have to live with this sewer smell.

[Palmwood]

The main difference between night and day other than temperature is a breeze or wind. Usually in a slow steady rain there is no wind either. It must be from a wall or attic space that has some air exchange during the day. And it must be from an open or broken
vent/drain.

Good Luck, let us know what you ultimately find.

[DesertWalker]

Ewww...lol. Ya might wanna listen to Kent, he's a plumber...

[Palmwood]

One more thought.

Since it seems to have been related to the remodel it could be that the vent/drain design is no longer correct and you have a siphon pulling a trap dry with the right combination of use. And during the day you use the plumbing fixtures enough to refill the dry trap and not get enough smell in the house, but at night the trap stays dry. You might check all plumbing fixtures again with your nose at maybe 2:00 AM when there is just enough smell to pinpoint it.