Why does the house smell of sewage and how to deal with it

For any owner will be an unpleasant surprise the appearance of a sharp smell in the home. At first glance, this may seem a trifle, but it can permanently spoil the mood of all inhabitants. The reasons why the apartment smells like sewage or why it smells like sewage in a private house are similar and we have chosen the most common ones for you.

Tip: do not, with the regular appearance of a stagnant atmosphere, try to solve the problem with the help of air fresheners. Figuratively speaking, it will give the impression that under the Christmas tree spoiled the air.

Is the problem so terrible?

Let's first understand, maybe you should not sound the alarm and calmly endure this discomfort. To do this, find out what is this "flavor". Since sewage is primarily biological waste, therefore, there is a large percentage of hydrogen sulfide, it is unpleasant, but not fatal. There are clinics based on hydrogen sulfide therapy.

But figuring out further, we are guaranteed to find in this atmosphere a huge percentage of ammonia vapors and its various derivatives. Namely methane, carboxylic acids, nitrogen and many other harmful gases and vapors.

Add to this the abundance of cleaning and detergent chemistry that we use everywhere. As a result, instead of mild discomfort, we get, in fact, a poisonous atmosphere.

Summarizing all the above, we can conclude that the fight against these fumes is not an idle desire, but an urgent need. By neglecting which we risk getting health problems.

The root of the problem and how to deal with it

Unfortunately, it cannot be said that there is one most common reason that could be easily handled by yourself. There may be several such prerequisites, but fortunately there are not so many of them.

Bugs builders

This reason, perhaps, is the most problematic in terms of elimination. Deciding why the toilet smells of sewage, you should, first of all, pay attention to the installation of the system itself. Perhaps the pipe was mounted at the wrong angle and as a result, stagnation was formed. This disease is characteristic of new buildings and private houses.

The smallest and innocuous that may be the tilting of the corrugated pipe connecting the toilet bowl with the drain. In this case, you can simply fix it manually and everything will end. Otherwise, you will need to disassemble the point of entry of the drain system, and adjust the angle of inclination.

In private houses and houses with low-rise floors, the installation of a vent pipe on a roof or a shut-off valve can save. That will compensate for the pressure in the piping system and the problem will be resolved.

Water seal

The water seal or water seal has been known for about 150 years. This is a natural water valve that blocks free access to the sewer and prevents the spread of odors from it. Its elementary elementary device can be a curved pipe filled with water or a so-called siphon, whose work is based on the same principle.

• The water seal design is quite simple and rarely can cause the spread of aromas.. Is that when figuring out why the sink smells like sewage, you should pay attention to the siphon under the sink. If it is not cleaned for a long time, then fat accumulations and food residues can smell.
• Hydraulic lock system is weak and unable to hold pressure. If the wiring is not designed correctly and an overpressure periodically appears in the pipes, then the poisoned air is capable of pushing through the water valve. The process may be accompanied by boiling or pass quietly, almost invisible. You can save the installation of a vent pipe or alteration of the entire system.
• The next reason why it smells like sewage in the kitchen may not be the correct configuration of the pipe itself, the water in it simply does not linger and the entrance to the system remains open.. Often such a mistake is made by the young owners who make repairs themselves. In this case, a siphon is installed, or you can simply make a loop by tying the corrugated pipe with wire.

• Failure of the water seal can cause the sewer to fill the pipe.. This happens for 2 reasons.
• Wanting to save money, the owners install small-diameter pipes in the system; as a result, the structure does not cope with its task and overflows.
• It may also form a banal blockage, which is eliminated by chemical reagents, plunger or with the help of sanitary cable.

• Sometimes this problem occurs at periodically visited, not heated summer houses in winter.. This happens due to the freezing of the system, as a rule, in this case it is enough to turn on the hot water for 20-30 minutes. But in general, when building, it is better to take such an option into account and to insulate pipes well, if the price does not matter much, then the installation of a heating wire on the pipe would be ideal.

Important: any good master will tell you that when choosing a section of pipes for installing sewers, it is better to take the largest possible size. Now the price of plastic products of different sections is not much different from each other, so you should not save here.

Construction defects and latent leaks

Old pipes may eventually form small cracks. Water from them begins to seep in meager amounts, so they will not lead to a large, apparently “flood”, but the smell will appear. This can happen both at your place and at the top of your neighbors.

In the old days, such places were wrapped with a bandage soaked in cement mortar in several layers, since the system is not under pressure, this was quite enough. Now the instruction is much simpler, cold welding is used for cast iron pipes, plastic is repaired with epoxy resin or similar sealing compounds.

One of the reasons why the bathroom smells like sewage is the wear of rubber gaskets at the joints. The price of such fittings, however, as well as the plastic elements themselves is not great, so ideally it is better to replace them. But if for some reason this is not realistic at the moment, then you can simply seal the joints with silicone putty.

Sometimes due to shrinkage, at the joints of structures, through cracks are formed. They are located in the upper part and in view of the fact that the liquid in the process of operation, which fills the system by no more than half, is not immediately visible. They are eliminated in the same way as described above, by cold welding or silicone putty.

The development of mold and mildew can also cause odors in the bathroom or in the kitchen. This sometimes happens if the floor level is made with the wrong slant and leads, say, to the bathroom.

In this case, there will gradually be formed dampness and mold will inevitably start. If you do not take into account the possibility to shift the tile on the floor in the services or the kitchen, then the only way out will be regularly cleaned using special chemistry.

Important: the reason why the apartment smells of sewage, can be a malfunction of the ventilation. You can check it by attaching a notebook or newspaper sheet to the ventilation window. Normally working ventilation will attract and will keep the sheet. Otherwise, the channels need to be cleaned with your own hands or contact the appropriate services.

The video in this article shows some interesting points on this topic.

Conclusion

As we said earlier, there are many reasons for the occurrence of such "fragrances". But the good news is that the vast majority of these troubles can be eliminated relatively quickly and cost-effectively without your own hands, the main thing is to respond in time.