My house stinks after I take a long shower, How do I fix it?

Question

I must have a plumbing problem because my house stinks after I take a long shower. I have a septic tank , I am not on sewer. If I crawl under the house what am I looking for? An open pipe? vent? and what does it look like? Thanks

The tank is not full. It's under the house and it smells like methaine gas.

The tank is 100 ft in front of the house. The smell is from under the house.

Answer 1

The septic tank may need to be pumped out.
The vent pipe may be clogged.
If you crawl under the house the ONLY thing you can look for is a leaking drain pipe going to the septic tank.
Check the vent out first and if it is not clogged or you can't open it, call a plumer. Good luck. Pops

Answer 2

CJ, you sound like you have problelms with your latteral lines outside. They are backing up into the drains and vents in your house when you shower for a long time. Sometimes this will happen if you have hade an unusual amount of snow or rain and do not have good drainage in your yard. the latteral lines can not drain properly. I would for sure have your tank pumped. It is not that expensive. Depending on how many in your family, and how large the tank is,I would at least pump it once a year. better to do this than replace the whole thing, you could burn out your pump.

Answer 3

The shower drain needs a trap installed. You can buy a rubber mat stopper and lay over the drain for a quick fix. If you want to fix it properly yo will have to cuty a section of the pipe and install a trap. At least your house is on a conventional foundation and not a slab. You will be looking for the drain pipe direstly below your shower. A trap is shaped like a U. Look under your sink and get an idea of what one looks like.

Answer 4

Well I guess the first quesion you might ask is what does it smell like but it sounds like you already know...If it is a septic tank, there may be a backup or its full. The smell may be coming from backed up or broken pipes too. Septic tanks aren't usually located directly underneath the house tho...probably somewhere in your front or backyard.

If the smell doesn't resemble sewage then its probably not your septic tank. We used to have our own water tank and septic tank in our old house. We weren't on city water...but because of our location (georgia), limestone was present everywhere beneath the soil. That in turn severly affected the taste of the water but even more so the smell. When we would even turn on the faucet in the bathroom, it would smell up the whole room. It was terrible. Check to see that it isn't coming from the water itself.

Answer 5

I looked at all the other answers and i am sure Marsha is correct. Chances are good you have a shower pan leak or grout failure. After your next visit to the shower, inspect all the baseboards of the walls that surround the shower. Look for water damage or paint that doesn't look right. Look at the sub-floor under the house for water. If you have a broken pipe, and you can go under the house, that will be easy to find and fix. They also make cameras that can detect water inside a wall. Contact a local company that does water restoration, they might have one, or your fire department uses them to search for victims in a fire. Get out your wallet, this repair wont be cheap. Good luck.

Answer 6

It sounds like it is draining under the house.
If you look under the house, (like you asked everyone), you would be looking for signs of a leaking or broken pipe.
Telltale sign would be a large puddle or a washout on the ground below the pipe.
I don't know the age of your home you could be looking at cast iron pipe, black pvc pipe, I have lived in old homes that had actually had pipe that lookes like clay, like a terracotta clay flower pot.
Just follow the pipes under your house back to the bathroom they should range in size from 2 inch to 4 inch in diameter.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.

Answer 7

Take a Shower = SOME PLACE ELSE!

Actually the Gas Traps in the PLUMBING are not functioning properly. Do you have a sink or drain that has not been used on a regular basis? IF so, pour about a gallon of plain tap water down that drain on a regular basis!

Thanks, RR

Answer 8

It sounds like one of your vent pipes has corroded & is venting into the house instead of outside. This would only be likely if you have metal drain, & vent pipes. If your drains, & vents are ABS plastic, then it could mean that one of the joints weren't glued properly, & may have separated. It could be under the house, or inside one of the walls, but is probably somewhere in the vent stack from your bathroom.

Answer 9

I would look for leaking pipes first. Then I would use some drain cleaner down the showers drain. If that does not work then you should have the septic system pumped out.

Answer 10

What kind of stink? mildew/moisture?
If so When you crawl under the house look for wet wood around drain pipes down from shower, wet spots in the dirt. you may only need to re-caulk around drain flange in shower.