It’s every homeowner’s worst nightmare: they open the door to their basement and are met with a wave of genuinely offensive odors. As you struggle to make it through the stench and find what you need in this often neglected room, you may wonder what the exact cause of these smells is. Many people may be surprised to learn that the actual underlying cause could be coming from your plumbing system.
If your basement smells awful, here are some potential causes of that odor — and what you can do about it.
Your Water Trap Is Dry
When preventing sewer gasses from escaping into your home, the water trap is one of the first lines of defense your plumbing has. This bend in your pipes allows gravity to hold the water in place, acting as a protective barrier against these odors from traveling up into your basement’s drains.
If this portion of your system hasn’t been used for an extended period or if there is a leak, the water that usually resides here can dry up. However, without this protective barrier, the foul odors from the sewer have nothing blocking them from traveling up the length of your sewer lines and filling your basement.
Blocked Rooftop Plumbing Vent
While you might think that the plumbing pipes underneath your home are the underlying cause of your foul odor issues, it’s not the only area that can prove problematic. For example, the rooftop plumbing vent helps easily direct fumes and odors up and out of your home. However, this vent can get clogged for various reasons, including frost, snow, leaves, or other debris blocking the opening.
If these clogs go unnoticed or aren’t treated, the clog can become so severe that the fumes have no room to escape. Instead of traveling outside the home, the odors travel back down into your home and cause the unpleasant stench to fill your basement.
There’s a Leak in Your Drain Line
Multiple pipes and drains work together to transport the wastewater from your home into the municipal sewage system. However, if there’s a leak in your main drain line underneath your basement floor, foul odors may start to fill your entire basement. If the particular pipe that burst contains sewage, the smell can prove quite pungent and require immediate attention. Getting one of the top residential plumbing companies in Pittsburgh, PA, to take a look can help isolate the issue and get the necessary repairs.
Broken Toilet Wax Ring Seals
Have you noticed that your toilet rocks every time you use it? If this continues without getting addressed, the friction may cause the wax ring between the toilet’s base and flange to break and start leaking. If these leaks aren’t addressed quickly, gasses from your sewer system can leak throughout your home.
A professional can come to your home, remove the toilet temporarily, and replace the wax ring with a brand-new one. The technician can also address the rocking motion to help prevent the issue from recurring in the future.
Call in the Top Plumbing Experts in Pittsburgh, PA, Today!
No matter the underlying cause of your basement’s foul odor, you need to have the best team in Pittsburgh on call to handle the job. Mister Sewer & Plumbing has helped countless people throughout the city and the surrounding areas with their smelly basement issues in no time. We can come to your home, figure out the cause of the problem, and ensure everything gets back to normal in no time. We help our customers get their basements back to normal in no time. We can also go into greater detail about eliminating sewer drain smells in your basement and how we can help keep your plumbing system running smoothly.
Contact our team to schedule your next plumbing appointment today!