You walk into your bathroom and notice a sewage smell, yuck! Maybe one of the kids didn’t flush, you think. You check the toilet, nope, they flushed! Maybe it’s your imagination? You give the toilet a thorough scrub for good measure, but when you come back an hour later, the smell’s still there.
Chances are if this happens regularly or the smell persists, it’s not your imagination. There are a variety of things that could cause your bathroom to have an unpleasant odor, and unfortunately, spraying some Clorox isn’t a permanent solution to get rid of the nasty smell. Before you jump the gun and call a Palm Bay plumber, there are a few things you could check yourself. At Sun Plumbing, we’re more than happy to serve the people of Brevard County with all their plumbing-related needs, but we’d hate for you to whip out your checkbook when there could be an easy fix that you could do yourself. So, in the interest of saving some money, read on for things you can check yourself to see if you need to call a plumber or not.
First things first, in order to find the source of the smell you’ll need a basic understanding of how your plumbing works. We promise to keep it brief! Probably located under your sink, you’ll see a U-shaped pipe running from your sink into a larger wastewater pipe in the wall. One end of this pipe goes down to your septic system, and the other goes through your roof to act as a vent and release sewage gasses outside. Back under your sink, the U-shaped section of the pipe is a P-trap. When everything’s functioning well, there should be a small amount of water that stays in the P-trap after you flush the toilet, use the sink, or take a shower. This water prevents smelly sewage gasses from coming back through the pipe and into the bathroom.
If it’s been a while since you’ve used the bathroom, perhaps you were on vacation or it’s the guest bathroom, there’s a chance the water in the P-trap has evaporated. If this is the case, good news, it’s probably an easy fix! Try running the water in your sink and tub for about 10 minutes and flush the toilet a couple times. This should allow water to be restored to your P-trap, so if that’s all it takes to get rid of the sewage smell, you’re in luck!
If you still notice a smell after you’ve tried running water for a while, there could be another cause. Check to see if there are any leaks around the P-trap as this could let the water escape, causing those smelly gasses to invade the bathroom. If there’s a leak, get some sealant and patch it up, and with a bit of luck, your bathroom should stop smelling. It’s also possible that the drain is clogged, which is also a fairly easy fix with the help of a drain cleaner.
Once you’ve tried all these things, if your bathroom still smells it’s time to call a professional Melbourne, FL plumber. Call Sun Plumbing at (321) 725-2460 and we’ll have your bathroom smelling fresh and clean in no time!
