Smells like...? A new game. Unfortunately.
So, we had a smelly basement and thought we had fixed it. We felt so clever. So superior. So...naive.
It's back. The SMELL IN THE BASEMENT!
Why I can smell things before A can or even when he cannot, I have no idea. Luckily, other people do. Otherwise, A would think that I was a complete nut.
We've been pouring water down the drains more than once a day. We have tried vinegar. We have tried bleach.
There is no stopping the Smell.
The basement floor is concrete and definitely has settled under some of the support beams. I imagine that the pipes that run the length of the house (and to the sewer under the street) are made of clay. The drains closer to the gas-fired steam boiler seem to be worse than those further away.
That's all I can figure out.
Anyeone in home improvement land know what we can try? I just hope it isn't anything requiring digging up the basement.
And just in case you thought only human adults were capable of "the yuck face"...
* 
**
* From, "Beagles on the Web"
**Arm & Hammer Fresh Face Winner.
(3)
Looking for More?
| Search for more on 'controling basement odors' on this site. |
| Search for 'controling basement odors' on on other houseblogs like this one. |
| Search for 'controling basement odors' on Google. |
| Search for 'controling basement odors' on Amazon.com. |
Cabinet Refacing:
Face Your Kitchen | Your Guide to Kitchen Cabinet Refacing Sponsored Links |
Comments
Have you checked the vent stacks? If you have a clogged vent stack, that might be forcing odors back inside the house, even though your traps are filled with water. Have you checked for pinhole leaks in your drains? Our home has cast iron drainpipes that I have to constantly keep an eye on for pinholes from rust. When we first moved in, we also experienced the basement odor, but filling the traps with water did the trick.
Posted by: PCook | October 21, 2003 7:32 AM
Have you checked out DoItYourself.com? I did a search under the plumbing category for "sewer drains" and tons of questions and suggestions about odors and smells came up in the results.
Posted by: Diane | October 23, 2003 2:07 AM
The pipes that compose the traps for the floor drains are more likely to be cast iron and may have leaks in them allowing the water in the trap to drain into the earth under the floor. If you can remove the drain screens, you could try using expandable rubber "test plugs" to stop up the drains. These could be easily removed should you ever need the drains to clear a flooded basement.
Posted by: John | January 11, 2004 9:23 PM