A smelly drain is never a good sign, whether it's inside your home or outside. When smelly drains start emitting a bad smell, then it's a sign that something is wrong with the drains/pipes outside or the drainage system inside.
Knowing how to fix smelly drains and get rid of that foul smell is important if you ever want to breathe fresh air again.
But what do you need to know, and how do you fix it? Well, read on, because we have it all below!
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A smelly drain outside your home is a bigger problem than inside, so knowing exactly where the smell is coming from is important.
Sometimes a smelly drain inside your home can be so bad that it smells like the problem is outdoors.
To fix smelly drains indoors, and rule out this as one of the possible causes, here's what to do.
If your toilet is the problem, then you'll notice the smell pretty quickly. Your toilet bowl will be where you notice the nasty smell the most.
The first thing to do is check the toilet's seal. If this wax seal ring is broken, then sewer gases can rise from the sewers into your home. To fix this, you'll need to replace the seal. If you have a new toilet, then this is probably the most likely explanation for the foul odor, since they might not have installed it correctly.
If you have a cracked toilet, then a similar problem will happen. The sewer gases will rise up and cause a sewage smell in your home. To stop the sewer gas in its tracks from affecting your plumbing, you'll need to replace your cracked toilet with a new one.
The problem might also just be a blocked drain or blockage in your u bend. A clogged toilet is easy enough to fix by using bleach (or a vinegar, baking soda, and water combination instead) to remove the blockage and odors. Flushing your toilet will fix the toilet's smelly drain without needing to contact a plumber to complain about faulty plumbing.
And finally, you might not have a problem at all. If your toilet hasn't been used in a while, then water will evaporate. When this happens, toilets start to smell, because water keeps smells from entering your house and bathroom from the sewage system. In this case, just flush your toilet. After a flush, the water will return and prevent the sewage smell from rising from the drains and into your bathroom.
Another explanation for inside smelly drains might be a clogged vent. Lots of people underestimate the importance a vent pipe plays in your plumbing system and how it helps with drainage. But actually, vents are incredibly important.
Your vent pipe forces air pressure into the drainage system to force the water and waste out of the home, through the drainage system and out to the sewer system. Without the vent working properly, the waste can't be sent in the right direction...
If you have a clogged vent, then a sewage smell will build up in and out of your home because the sewer gas will be able to escape through the vents, making your home smell bad. To fix this, you'll need to unclog the vent.
In this section, we've talked a lot about sewer gas. Just to clear that up, sewer gas is hydrogen sulfide mixed with methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and other assorted oxides, which are what's produced when waste in sewer systems breaks down.
If there's a problem with the sewer line or plumbing, either in your home or further afield, then these gases are produced closer to your home, and produce that rotten eggs bad smell you've been noticing.
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Without putting too fine a point on it, whenever there's a bad smell in our home, we associate it with the toilet. We mix up some baking soda, vinegar and water, and hope that'll deal with it.
But there are other causes that are possible explanations...
When a shower drain gets blocked, it can cause a horrible smell, which you might even confuse with your toilet.
So, to cover all the bases, clean your shower drain with hot water and baking soda etc., too. This will clear your shower drains of build up, clogged hairs, and other debris, fixing your bathroom smell.
Don't forget your sink and tub too, both of which are common problems. Just fill your basin or tub with enough water to essentially flush the system. Hot water works best to get rid of anything that's trapped in the drains.
Another problem specifically associated with sinks that cause really terrible smells is the p trap. The p trap is the curved structure under the sink, and when there's a problem, stagnant water (that smells like sewage) and other debris can sit in the p trap and make your house smell.
To fix it, loosen the p trap with a wrench, whilst a bucket is underneath to catch the foul smelling water. Once done, rinse out the p trap and then reattach with the wrench. This will reinforce the water seal and prevent sewage gases from rising through the drain into your house.
Contact usIf, after the troubleshooting and fixes above, you still have a problem, you can now be pretty certain the problem is with the drain system outside your home.
To fix smelly drains outside is a little more complicated and will probably require the assistance of a professional who is experienced with plumbing.
But there are some things you'll need to do.
The first thing you'll want to do is avoid the area entirely, but you're going to have to confirm a few things before you contact a professional to complain about your smelly drain or pipe.
First, head to your nearest drain cover. This is probably in your garden somewhere. If the stench intensifies here, then we know for sure the problem is outdoors.
That means the problem is not with your internal pipes or drain, but with the drain system outside your home. Flushing it with hot water isn't going to fix a drain problem out here, and a professional will need to at least jet wash the area with high pressure to get the drain moving again.
Problems with pipes and drains outside will need professional help to determine the exact cause, but here are some of the possible explanations:
Once you're sure the odor is coming from outside, you'll need to contact a professional. Troubleshoot first, in case the problem is indoors, but once you're sure, you'll need professionals to take over from there.
The problem may be a much wider issue affecting the sewers in your local area, so this will require investigation and potentially a lot of hard work to fix the issue.
But at least once you've reported the issue, the professionals will fix it for you soon enough - and then you can finally get rid of those awful smells!
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