another smelly question.

[phungurl]

Hi all,
Just bought our first house and been doing most of the work ourselves. kind of a learn as you go process. I also have a smelly bathroom problem. It smells like septic in the downstairs(don't know if you would consider it a basement) half bath. I read thru the other threads concerning this. Not sure what to do first should i check the vent on the roof for blockage or check the traps to make sure there is water in them. oh and by the way how would i go about doing that? Just bought the house 2 months ago and the septic just passed its title5. It doesn't smell in the upstairs full bath and the taste and smell of the water is fine all thru the house. Hoping it's just the wax seal on the old toilet downstairs. Any and all help would be much appreciated. Sorry for the rambling

[Mike Swearingen]

If you have a clogged or partially clogged vent pipe on the roof, whenever water is draining through the drain/waste/vent system, it will siphon the water out of hte nearest trap to create a "vent", allowing sewer gas back in.
Check the vent pipe(s) on the roof first. Clean out everything that you can reach by hand, snake the vent pipe from top to bottom (lowest point of the house) with a long, heavy-duty plumber's snake, and then flush it down with a water hose sprayer.
Good Luck!
Mike

[majakdragon]

Hi Phungurl,
Welcome to the DIYForums.
If there is water in the toilet there is water in the trap(toilet is the trap).
If the toilets flush without trouble and the sinks drain without trouble the vent is clear.
A failed or deteriorating wax seal will allow sewer gas to leak into the room where the toilet is and will have an obnoxious odor. You may or may not have water present with the leak.
To replace the wax seal,
Turn off the water supply to the toilet(should be a shutoff valve below the tank)

Flush the toilet and hold the flapper up to evacuate as much water as possible. Soak up any remaining water with sponge or towels.Bail water from bowl and then soak up any remaining.

Disconnect the supply line from the tank or from the shutoff valve.

Remove the hold down nuts from the base of the toilet(they may be covered by decorative caps that will pull right off)

Lift the toilet off the floor and move to waiting newspapers or other disposable floor protector.

Carefully lay the toilet on its side or back. If you have 2 people you can just tip it to clean old seal off.

Clean the old seal material off of the floor flange(do not allow any of the wax seal to drop into the flange pipe).It is not advisable to reuse the old bolts.

Place new flange bolts into the slots provided in the flange and use the keepers that come with the new bolts to hold them straight.

Place the new wax seal onto the floor flange.If keepers did not come with the new bolts you can use a SMALL amount of wax to hold them straight.Just pinch the wax around the bolt.

Place the toilet onto the new seal using the bolt holes in the base as a guide.

Press the toilet onto the seal and sit on it to seat it. Use a SLIGHT twisting or side to side rocking motion as this will further seat it into place.

Put the new washers over the bolts.

Tighten down with the new nuts. Tighten evenly(side to side) until snug but DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN. Cracked base due to over tightening means a new toilet.

Reconnect the supply line and check for any leaks.

Good luck and reply back if you have further questions.

[phungurl]

thanks, you guys are awesome and so fast too. I'll let you know how it all turns out :D