How Do You Get Rid of a Sewer Smell in Your Bathroom?

It’s as unmistakable as it is unwelcome: a sewer smell in your bathroom emanating from the plumbing. This is a problem that you want to get rid of right away for obvious reasons, but it’s worth being armed with all the necessary information you might need when it comes to these smells inside your home that we’re going to cover for you right now.

• The vapors from hydrogen sulfide, one of the gasses associated with this smell, can be detrimental to your health. Low levels can cause irritation to the mouth, nose, throat, lungs, and eyes. Longer or higher exposure can result in headaches, nausea, drowsiness, shortness of breath, or even heart palpitations.
• If there is a sewage leak somewhere in the house, it can cause damage that can be very expensive to repair.
  There are some DIY approaches to getting rid of sewer smell. Still, in many cases, it’s better to call a professional plumbing service like Four Seasons Plumbing, one of the leading plumbers in Asheville, NC, and the surrounding region.

DIY Approaches

If the problem appears to be minor, there are a couple of things you can try on your own:

• If the bad smell comes from a drain in a bathroom that doesn’t get much use, such as a guest bathroom, there’s a good chance the water in the drain traps mentioned in the previous section has dried up. This is a very easy fix if that’s the problem. All you have to do is run water through the pipes. Once water is back in the drain trap, the drain trap should once again block odors from escaping into your house.
• When the seal in the wax ring or caulking around your toilet is broken or missing, water, urine, and other waste can find their way into crevices. Once that happens, bacteria and mold can begin to grow, and they can produce those rotten-egg odors you’re smelling. Addressing this is pretty simple, too. After locating the spot(s) where the seal has broken, you can apply a bead of caulk to reseal them. In almost no time at all, the foul odors will be gone, and your bathroom will be back to smelling clean and fresh.

Professional Services for Eliminating Sewer Smells

If you’ve tried the above approaches and they didn’t work, or if you know neither situation calling for them is the issue, you have a bigger problem with your plumbing. Now it’s time to call an expert; this isn’t something you should continue to deal with on your own. If you do, you might worsen the problem, and you could expose yourself to harmful toxins or injure yourself.

Here are some of the things a pro can do:

• As a first step, they will probably use a specialized camera to inspect your pipes and return photographic evidence of what’s causing the problem.
• Sometimes, the plumber will next clear the sewer pipes by hydro jetting them. By removing sewage backups and any other backups, the plumber can then inspect the system to see if additional repairs or replacements are going to be needed.
• A plumber can also repair the sewer lines if damage to them is causing the problem. This will take care of the issue, but it might not be a permanent fix. For example, if tree roots damaged your pipes, they could still grow back into the repaired pipes or into other pipes in your system.
• For a long-term fix, the best option might be sewer replacement. One approach involves digging and excavating before placing new lines in different locations or with more durable materials. This can be a big, expensive job since it requires tearing up portions of a yard and/or sidewalks, but it will get the job done.
• Another approach to replacement some plumbers offer is trenchless sewer repair and replacement. As the name suggests, this is a no-dig method using specialized equipment and practices.

Have a Pro Take Care of Your Sewer Smell

When you need a plumbing repair, it’s better to skip the hassle and the mess and have a professional take care of the job. A pro will know how to find the problem and what to do about it, and they’ll have the right tools and training for the job.

Four Seasons Plumbing is a fully certified and insured plumbing service with experienced, trained plumbers who will get things back to normal for you and your family as soon as possible. We also realize that plumbing issues can come up at the most inconvenient of times, so if you’re needing an emergency plumber in Fletcher, NC, or elsewhere in the Asheville region, we’ve got you covered.

Need a plumbing inspection or repair? Contact us now!