Is There A Plumber In The House?

The master bathroom smells so bad, I think it's coming from the shower drain.
I read once that they get dry and smell. Ours doesn't really have a chance to get to dry with us both using it daily.
It's a slab floor and drains fine, as does all the drains in the house.
I've poured bleach, baking soda (not together) but by over night it will gag you. I have gotten to where I use the main bathroom except for showering.
Any ideas?
We do need to get a plumber here to redo the shower in the other bath but can't afford to right now.

 

I'm not a plumber, just like Joe.:-D Did this start all of a sudden? Can you see from below if your P-trap is leaking and therefore letting in the sewage gases. Is your air stack blocked, doesn't sound like it from your description but who knows eh?

EDIT: I just reread your post and you have a slab floor so you can't see anything from below.:-o Pour some water in there and see if it still stinks as much after keeping the windows open and taking a few minutes to reset your nose.

 

Thats what I do and it seem to fix it (temporally) until it sits overnight.
Dan said he connected the exhaust pipe himself after the roof was put on. :confused If it's like the exhaust on a Harley he nailed it. :-D
This is his first house and whenever I mention ripping anything out he turns pale LOL

 

Here is a trick I use once a month, and it keeps drains open and clean... Not too expensive either...

• Take a cup of baking soda, and pour it int the drain. Even if you have to force it...

• Then, take 2 cups of white vinegar and pour it into the drain. It will fizz up on ya, but it will CLEAN!

• Now, lastly, take a coffee pot full of boiling water, and pour that down the drain.

Now, your drains are clean and clear.. Even the gunk build up in the drain will be cleaned out.. That should make a huge difference.

I do that once a month to all my drains.. Helps to keep everything flowing..

 

Hi Darlene, my wife works in the catering trade and maybe it's a long shot because we're here in the UK and your in the US, but she's just said that she uses a solution at work called DrainAway, it's a thick bleach / washing liquid solution and how you use it is by pouring it down the drain and leave it for 24hrs and then it just works itself throughout the drain and cleans it leaving it smelling fresh, so if you try and find a catering suppliers near to where you live or even have a look on the www you may be able to get hold of some or it maybe called somehing else in the US may do the job as it is not sold on the shelf in your local supermarket it's supplied to the trade !
Good Luck hope you get sorted !

 

LOL @ Harley.:-D Well if everything moves and sounds the same from the whole house then it's not the stack which is just an air conduit so that the water does not get sucked out of the P-trap due to suction. I have no experience with slab construction but I do know that pipes are encased in concrete.

Maybe there's an access to the P-Trap from outside the b-room which might not be encased in concrete below the slab level. I mean, even if the plastic went south for some reason the concrete should still hold the form of the trap and not soak the water away. I'm out of my league of expertise now. It really does sound like a leaking affair. Hey, try the above first to make sure, just don't make mustard gas in the process.:-D

 

There are losts of drain cleaners, most of them produce toxic fumes which I try to avoid due to my bad lungs.
I have done bleach, baking soda, vinegar all seperately. I refuse to waste coffee

 

NOT the coffee, Darlene, a coffee pot of HOT WATER... that is what the Maids use here in the motels...., and I use it in all my drains.. NOOOOO I wouldn't waste coffee either.. Just brew a coffee pot of plain water. Leave the coffee out, and the Baking soda + white vinegar + hot water will not make any fumes....

 

roflmao Oh, OK I can do that :-o

 

Darlene the stuff i was telling you about dosen't affeect your breathing, my wife has just said i described it wrong :-o , its more like a thick gel that cleans over night ! Yet again a man gets it wrong :zzz !

 

Darlene, Darlene, Darlene, I am so glad that got straightened out! Good Grief, not the coffee! {plus, Stubby will beat ya too it! roflmao}That stuff is liquid gold!!! LOL

Hey, all the maids in the local motels use this method, and never had a clogged pipe, and no smelly drains... You know, some people will clean fish in a sink, and shove all that crap down the drains? uke Yup. That is the method they have used for years.. Works like a charm.. Nothing smells worse than fish innards in a drain after a nice HOT day.....:eek

Do keep us posted, tho.. When I use it, I shove that baking soda into the drain, then add the white vinegar. While I am doing that, the coffee maker is brewing a pot of HOT WATER. Once the pot is done brewing, I pour that down the drain, and it is nice and fresh.. NO FUMES... I can't have that here either...

 

I'll have to use a pot of water from the stove the coffee maker we have has no pot.
I use baking soda in place of cleanser all the time, works as well without the chemicals.
I'll try that tonight before bedtime TeeCee

 

I searched, looks as though DrainAway products and services are in the UK

 

http://www.liquidplumr.com/products/snake.html

 

I tried that long ago, didn't do as well as Draino.
It isn't clogged, just smells bad, but thanks

 

Might this be of any help?

http://www.askthebuilder.com/587_Shower_Drain_Odor.shtml

 

any time =]

 

Oh my, that poor woman after 8 plumbers -

"DEAR SHARI: You might be eligible for a place in the record books for having called in that many plumbers for one problem."

I'll pull out my hazmat suite and give that a try

 

I was hoping the parts about where the odor may be coming from might be helpful as it seemed to have possibilities(mold, dead animal, etc.) for a solution to your problem. Personally, I would have quit calling after three or so plumbers.

 

The adjacent walls are the other bathroom and the kitchen, and the house sits on a concrete slab so the dead animal thing is NO uke

 

It is unlikely to be a dead animal as the water trap should keep smells from the pipe out of the room.

 

Is this just a shower or a combo bath/shower? The reason I ask is the drain overflow pipe in a bathtub can build up the same 'slime' the accumulates between the floor and the trap, in order to get to it you need to remove the drain lever. Then it is a matter of bottle brushes, old tooth brushes, etc to get into the pipe that is at a angle to you.

A pic:

 

Hey Tim, I'd almost bet on that too, but I haven't "heard" it roflmao

 

I'm with you Tim. I've been reading this thread and Darlene said there are No clogs and that everything flows fine through the drainage system. When you mentioned squirrels it hit me. My father had to put a piece of mesh screen over the pipe on the roof be cause of the Nuts and other debris that started to build up causing it to clog a little. Not sure but I believe he put the hose to it also.

 

I'll show this to Dan, thanks Tim

Shower

 

Cats, no squirrels BT, think we have a gopher, being silly :-o

 

Trees with their leaves and other debris can also get down those pipes with the help of the wind.
Gophers might be a little too fat LOL . Unless you guys are starving them.:-D jk
Hopefully you get it taken care of. That is a horrid smell.Not healthy to breath either.

BT

 

Update -
Turns out the pipe going from the kitchen drain, pass the clean out, was not connected to the main drain but rather sitting on top of it and leaking under the house, or in the walls. The house is on a slab and stucco. My camera is on the fritz or I would show you, I don't explain things well.
Waiting for it to dry out well enough to re-stucco. I have not smelled anything bad so far (knock wood)
Dan has kept up the home warranty policy since he bought the house, so it was a $60 co-pay.


PS, BT,
the outside cat got that gopher last night.
Seems like after a rain is when lots of little dead things turn up.

 

Well, Darlene, that is good news, I suppose, at least now you know, and hopefully, will dry out for you... I think that takes a load off your mind tho. Thanks for the update, I was wondering myself how things had turned out... Good to hear it wasn't a major undertaking....

 

Well TeeCee I'm just not entirely convinced that it could smell in that bathroom and no where else from a leak off the kitchen. :confused
But what do I know, I did come here for help huh? rolleyes

 

Hi Dar, Yeah, when the weather permits, and you get it all sealed back up, I think you will notice a difference... Yeah, and I was wondering too!