Awful Smell

We had a house years ago w/ the same sewer smell coming from a basement toilet. We never found out the cause. It would come and go--no rhyme or reason--everything checked out okay. We ended up moving away for other reasons. The people who bought the house knew about the smell and bought it anyway, thankfully. I can sympathize w/ you and know the smell...not a dead animal, etc. Definately sewer.

I am so sorry to hear about your problem. Have you had anyone check the ventilation? Maybe something is trapped in there. Good luck.

could be a dead animal some where...will run it by my husband when i talk to him

B.,
This may be a little off the wall, but are you sure you don't have a dead mouse(mice) laying in the air ducts? I would think that by this time it would be dessicated and not smelling, but your problem seems to me to be more in the air ducts than in the plumbing. Or, could there be a mouse nest in the vicinity of the dryer vent/air ducting.
good luck
Dottie

I had a similar problem in our home and it was a skunk that decided to live under our front porch. Sometimes when I ran the dryer the smell would be awful. We just had to live with it until the skunk decide to move on. The area we lived in had many, many skunk so trapping and removing never really solved the problem.

B.,
Just a thought--does your dryer vent to the outside? Is there a foil-like vent "pipe" type thing? If you had your dryer checked--maybe they checked it but something could be in there (dead animal). I wiuld disconnect and pass a rag all the way through the vent pipe. But you and I know that dead animal smell is not really the same as sewage smell. Hmmmm....
Once we had a dead mouse somewhere and we couldn't find where it was. Seemed like the smell would leave and then, at times, be SO strong it would gag us. After days of searching and searching, my husband discovered it was under the fridge but ON the heating coils and that explained why the smell would get bad (when the fridge was ON). It almost sounds like something similar with your sewage situation....have you put the stuff down the toilet that keeps the septic tanks healthy? It might help. Do the tanks need emptied out?
Sorry--just a few ideas I had. Good luck.

sounds like an animal is getting near the dryer/ a/c vents...maybe the moisture that comes from running the washer is attracting an animal to the area

We had a similar problem. Does your washing machine water run into a tub basin or does it go directly into a pipe? When laundry is washed in a washing machine it gives off a smell like sewage. I know this sounds strange, but it is true. When we moved to our new home, every time I did laundry it smelled so bad and it was because we have a big basin that the laundry water runs into and then it goes down the drain. If your water does go directly into a pipe, I would have this pipe checked to make sure there isn't a leak or crack somewhere!

Hi B., We own a trailer in Maryland. Sounds as if you have a dead animal in your A/C ducts. Have them checked. You would be suprised what can get in there. Hoped I helped. Kristin P

Hi B.! Check out all your vents! Check out all the duct work for standing water in/around them. It could be rotting insulation or water somewhere in the system that is creating the smell. If it were in your drains the simple use of them would ease the smell not make it worse. Not to mention if you smell it when you are using the dryer or the heat/ac then it has to be somewhere around the air intakes or exhust. (I saw a similar thing on a DIY channel program about house mysteries.) Best wishes and good luck!

Sounds like there is a dead animal in there somewhere. Hmmm.weird

We have an older home and we had the same sewage smell occaionally what I finally found out is that our washer (like a PP said) drains into a sink basin and the smell was coming from that. Every month I take a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar and pour both down the sink wait a bit and pour boiling water down after them. This took care of the smell and we haven't had it since I started doing this six months ago. I hope this helps you, too!
~V.

I'm thinking there may be a dead mouse or some kind of animal in the duct running from your drier to the outside. You may need your duct cleaned and all your ventilation ducts as well.

sometimes shower drains allow sewer gas to swell up into your house when they are not used and dry out. a/c can grow mold while not being used.

I forwarded your email to my husband for his thoughts.

He wrote:
Would check to see if the plumbing is properly vented (I think you did that)

The HVAC running could actually cause the sewer smell being pulled back thru from drains etc.if they are not trapped and vented correctly

Try taping off drains with duct tape, running the HVAC to smell if possible which drain it is coming from etc

good luck

Something similar happened to us and thank God we caught it in time. It was electricity burning. Every time we used a certain outlet this would happen. We finally noticed a burning spot on our wall, felt the wall, and then called 911. We then had a electrician come and fix the outlet and no more smell.

It would smell when we used our dishwasher and we would wonder if it was the dirty dishes. It smelled like a fishy odor sometimes. So I would check the outlets that your washer and dyer or plugged into.

Hope this helps
J.