Plumbing and Piping - Bad smell in the crawspace - near toilets
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ritesh
10-08-05, 02:17 PM
Hi,
We bought a house 4 months back and from day 1 we noticed this foul smell coming from all closets/kitchen cabinets and bathrooms. The source seems to be in the crawspace. I cant recognize the smell since We are the first time home buyers.
I have had pest control guys, plumbers, home inspector and a contractor crawl into the crawlspace including myself and found the smell to be coming from near the soil near 2 toilet connections. We sprayed lysol and few other things but the smell goes for couple of days and comes back. One plumber even replaced the toilet line which was old cast iron with the plastic one, thinking there was a breakage in that line - but the smell is still there!!
We removed all the plants etc from the crawspace vent, removed deck and spa etc to let the air circulation in the crawspace - the smell has reduced but its still there and doesnt seem to be going totally.
Since I had several ppl crawl in, I have gotten a few theories. I am lost, have already spent $1000-$1500 on this with no real solution or even cause
Theory 1. Previous owner had sewer blockage, it was mentioned in the sellers inspection report, that may have seeped into the soil and causing the smell
Theory 2. Previous owner also had mice/rat activity in the crawlspace - poison, mice urine etc seeped into the soil causing the smell
Theory 3: I had a video camera run into the sewer line, I saw several cracks in the line from the toilet to the line going to the street underneath the driveway. Not sure if thats causing the gases to come back and cause smell
Theory 4: Just near the crawlspace entrance, there is a borrow/trench. Which seems deep. I had tried inserting the video camera from the sewer line, but camera was too big for the trench. So could only see a feet deep. But it seems to be going deeper. Plumber says its created due to the erosion from the rain water and its normal, lot of the older houses has it! Not sure if there is standing water underneath or any rodent activity. Trench doesnt smell or anything - but its a possibility
Any help will be greatly appreciated. I have almost given up - tired of ppl giving all kinds of theories and no solution!! plz help
We bought a house 4 months back and from day 1 we noticed this foul smell coming from all closets/kitchen cabinets and bathrooms. The source seems to be in the crawspace. I cant recognize the smell since We are the first time home buyers.
I have had pest control guys, plumbers, home inspector and a contractor crawl into the crawlspace including myself and found the smell to be coming from near the soil near 2 toilet connections. We sprayed lysol and few other things but the smell goes for couple of days and comes back. One plumber even replaced the toilet line which was old cast iron with the plastic one, thinking there was a breakage in that line - but the smell is still there!!
We removed all the plants etc from the crawspace vent, removed deck and spa etc to let the air circulation in the crawspace - the smell has reduced but its still there and doesnt seem to be going totally.
Since I had several ppl crawl in, I have gotten a few theories. I am lost, have already spent $1000-$1500 on this with no real solution or even cause
Theory 1. Previous owner had sewer blockage, it was mentioned in the sellers inspection report, that may have seeped into the soil and causing the smell
Theory 2. Previous owner also had mice/rat activity in the crawlspace - poison, mice urine etc seeped into the soil causing the smell
Theory 3: I had a video camera run into the sewer line, I saw several cracks in the line from the toilet to the line going to the street underneath the driveway. Not sure if thats causing the gases to come back and cause smell
Theory 4: Just near the crawlspace entrance, there is a borrow/trench. Which seems deep. I had tried inserting the video camera from the sewer line, but camera was too big for the trench. So could only see a feet deep. But it seems to be going deeper. Plumber says its created due to the erosion from the rain water and its normal, lot of the older houses has it! Not sure if there is standing water underneath or any rodent activity. Trench doesnt smell or anything - but its a possibility
Any help will be greatly appreciated. I have almost given up - tired of ppl giving all kinds of theories and no solution!! plz help
majakdragon
10-08-05, 03:36 PM
If the previous owner had sewer problems, it COULD be the smell is coming from saturated soil. It COULD also be there if the sewer line has cracks that allow seepage into the soil under the house.
Is there any evidence of water damage to the flooring that you can see from the crawl space? What I am getting at is there could have been a leak that has saturated the wood and the smell is permeating through the crawlspace and above. Hope this helps you. Good luck.
Is there any evidence of water damage to the flooring that you can see from the crawl space? What I am getting at is there could have been a leak that has saturated the wood and the smell is permeating through the crawlspace and above. Hope this helps you. Good luck.
ritesh
10-12-05, 09:58 PM
Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate you taking time to answer to the issue.
There is no dampness under the crawlspace. I have crawled underneath with 2 guys myself. As I had mentioned few other ppl also crawled in and didnt find any wetness.
Ground in the crawlspace is all dry - there is no dampness that I could see. I had the last 2 guys sprinkle lyme and they had a small bottle of odor removal spary that they sprayed. It has helped to reduce the smell, but I feel its coming back again.
There is a crack in the sewer line that I saw in the camera that we ran. But its hard for me to believe that that is causing such bad smell. I am in San Jose, CA - does anyone know of any good plumber/investigator who can help me with this smell? I really need to get this fixed - tired of this, its been 4 months and I have tried almost all options.
There is no dampness under the crawlspace. I have crawled underneath with 2 guys myself. As I had mentioned few other ppl also crawled in and didnt find any wetness.
Ground in the crawlspace is all dry - there is no dampness that I could see. I had the last 2 guys sprinkle lyme and they had a small bottle of odor removal spary that they sprayed. It has helped to reduce the smell, but I feel its coming back again.
There is a crack in the sewer line that I saw in the camera that we ran. But its hard for me to believe that that is causing such bad smell. I am in San Jose, CA - does anyone know of any good plumber/investigator who can help me with this smell? I really need to get this fixed - tired of this, its been 4 months and I have tried almost all options.