Any Plumbers On Here?

[Steve Valentine]

Any plumbers here on the site or anyone that knows anything about plumbing? I've got a problem and need some help or suggestions as to how to fix it.

First a little background.

We have been in the process of remodeling our home for a few years now and are finally on the last stages and just about finished. We just need a few comestics things like baseboard, casements, trim around windows, etc to be done.

While remodeling we turned one old bedroom into a bath and had a small second bath built into the additon we added on. We had all new plumbing put in under the house for everything except the kitchen including a new sewer line all the way to the tap in the alley and a new vent pipe through the roof. It's all new PVC pipe.

So here's the problem. We are getting a very strong sewer odor in the house but only on one end of the house and only when we have a long slow rain or right at dusk when the sun goes down on a very hot day. I checked online and it said it could be coming up through the a dry trap but we use all the sinks and drains daily so I don't think one could go dry that quick. It seems worst in the living room, which is odd since there is absolutely no plumbing running under that part of the house.

When I installed the new vent pipe I put a 3 inch pipe up through the roof since that is what the old metal pipe was and I extended it to even with the peak of the roof. Could it be that the pipe is to big around and to high and the odor is being forced down into the soffits on the eaves of the house and then brought in through the attic? It just sucks to have put all of this time and money into redoing our house and then have to put up with this horrendous odor every now and then.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[kentlangreder]

steve did you by chance install any s traps instead of p traps? if you have to much fall on your waste pipe it could be sucking the traps dry also allow a 1/4 bubble in four feet on your level is proper fall . s traps are illegal and the sewer gas problem is why.

kent

[Steve Valentine]

I'll have to look. I didn't install the plumbing under the house. That was done by a plumber. All I did was install the new vent pipe.

[kirby]

Steve, this is exactly why I posted this thread some time back:

I have an idea......

[kentlangreder]

also steve that vent pipe should be no longer than 12 inches tall if it is even with the peak of the roof you might be getting a lot of wind blowing down the pipe this could cause traps to go dry rather quickly also with this heat wave we are having.

kent

[Steve Valentine]

I had a feeling the vent pipe might be to tall. It's probably close to 25 to 30 inches tall. I guess I need to go cut some off of it. lol

Thanks for the tips Kent.

[joshuaream]

Steve, just to be safe send me your fish effigy pipe.

[Palmwood]

I only know two things about plumbing:

Fingernails run downhill, and don't chew ........... .........., wait, I think I'm confused.





I think the dry drain somewhere is very likely. You should be able to follow your nose and pin it down.

Another thing to keep in mind is what happened to me when I built my house. I had a 3.5 inch PVC stack that was leaking, and we finally found where I had shot a nail in it with the nail gun and blew a hole in it. That was discovered when it failed the first pressure test. Then we had to plug every opening and fill the vent system with compressed air to find the leak.

Did you pressure test the vent/drain system before concealing all of it?

[ghost recon]

Originally Posted by joshuaream

Steve, just to be safe send me your fish effigy pipe.

Lol, that's funny.

[Cluton]

Steve cut down the pipe, and they also make a pressure cap that will keep it in the pipe until enough pressure hits and a spring releases the foul air! Mine did the sane on my new home and a put those on in the attic on my vents so I didn't have to put penetrations on my custom metal roof! It works! Also in remodels stuff falls down in the pipes and clogs, plumbers don't care, and they just cover it up! Hope it works!! Let me know, I'll ask my buddy if that doesn't work, he's a master plumber and a good one!