# Confused Master Plumber



## pydoplumbing (Oct 29, 2008)

I have a cabin in northern Mi (if that matters) and plumbed 1000's of houses and never had this issue, whenever the weather changes i can be outside my cabin and smell the sewer gas come down from the roof. Has anyone else ever had this problem and how do i fix it??


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

pydoplumbing said:


> I have a cabin in northern Mi (if that matters) and plumbed 1000's of houses and never had this issue, whenever the weather changes i can be outside my cabin and smell the sewer gas come down from the roof. Has anyone else ever had this problem and how do i fix it??


Gather a meeting of the JEDI MASTER PLUMBERS and use the force


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## Ron The Plumber (Oct 10, 2006)

pydoplumbing said:


> I have a cabin in northern Mi (if that matters) and plumbed 1000's of houses and never had this issue, whenever the weather changes i can be outside my cabin and smell the sewer gas come down from the roof. Has anyone else ever had this problem and how do i fix it??


Never an issue here, but it may not get as cold here as it does there, Lots of us plumbers are on, Plumbing Zone.com come over there, give an intro and see if the others can help you out. But do give an intro 1st.


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## Proud Plumber (Sep 9, 2008)

pydoplumbing said:


> I have a cabin in northern Mi (if that matters) and plumbed 1000's of houses and never had this issue, whenever the weather changes i can be outside my cabin and smell the sewer gas come down from the roof. Has anyone else ever had this problem and how do i fix it??


Are you sure it is coming down from the roof? Could it be a crack in the vent somewhere in the wall, or is the pipe hung in a crawl space underneath the home? 

Is the sewer or septic exiting the building near where you smell it, hence a clean out plug not properly tightened and releasing gas or missing.

Hope this helps---


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## Proud Plumber (Sep 9, 2008)

rbsremodeling said:


> Gather a meeting of the JEDI MASTER PLUMBERS and use the force


:clap::laughing:

Luke I am your plumber, say it outloud into a fan and it sounds like the real deal.


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

Proud Plumber said:


> :clap::laughing:
> 
> Luke I am your plumber, say it outloud into a fan and it sounds like the real deal.


I am thinking by now the scent got to bad for him to bear and he called a real plumber out. May using the darth varder voice if he needed too


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## stp57 (Dec 12, 2007)

Maybe a P-trap ran dry? My sister had an odor inside & outside her house. The neighbors were starting to complain. It turned out to be a never used wet bar sink in a closet. She ran water for a couple of minutes & the problem never came back.
Steve


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## pydoplumbing (Oct 29, 2008)

I have to laugh @ the responses, I am a second generation master plumber with an electrical engineering degree, I'm not a disguised homeowner, dried up trap or loose clean out?? No neither, plumbed the cabin myself and it is a heated slab with a septic but depending which way the wind is blowing you can smell it on that side of the place, it is a single story 4/12 pitch roof with 18" riser out of roof, you can NEVER smell it inside the cabin only outside and it's not constant, wind blows u smell. I am however in the tallest (elevation wise) area in Michigan, when it snows we get Appx 2 more inches than anyone else, so i think the air comes across the flats and compresses where i'm at and forces the gases down?? I'm just hoping some one from a mountanous area would know a solution, I've talked to other people in the area, builders etc., and they said the same thing. By the way before you rip, i know bad sp? in a hurry have to go thanks


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

pydoplumbing said:


> I have to laugh @ the responses, I am a second generation master plumber with an electrical engineering degree, I'm not a disguised homeowner, dried up trap or loose clean out?? No neither, plumbed the cabin myself and it is a heated slab with a septic but depending which way the wind is blowing you can smell it on that side of the place, it is a single story 4/12 pitch roof with 18" riser out of roof, you can NEVER smell it inside the cabin only outside and it's not constant, wind blows u smell. I am however in the tallest (elevation wise) area in Michigan, when it snows we get Appx 2 more inches than anyone else, so i think the air comes across the flats and compresses where i'm at and forces the gases down?? I'm just hoping some one from a mountanous area would know a solution, I've talked to other people in the area, builders etc., and they said the same thing. By the way before you rip, i know bad sp? in a hurry have to go thanks


I had the same problem, my plumber put a charcoal cap filter on top of the stack, been fine ever since, we change it our every few years just to be safe.


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## MALCO.New.York (Feb 27, 2008)

Patrick said:


> I had the same problem, my plumber put a charcoal cap filter on top of the stack, been fine ever since, we change it our every few years just to be safe.


A "Stink Stopper"!!!! Interesting!

Or is it better know as a "Fart Filter"?:laughing:


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## Ron The Plumber (Oct 10, 2006)

Patrick said:


> I had the same problem, my plumber put a charcoal cap filter on top of the stack, been fine ever since, we change it our every few years just to be safe.



There are codes in place that tell you how far above and away a vent needs to be away from windows and doors.


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

Ron The Plumber said:


> There are codes in place that tell you how far above and away a vent needs to be away from windows and doors.


Ron, the vent came out the roof and was WELL away from the doors and windows. The issue actually wasn't stink in the house, it was stink in the back yard on certain days when the wind was just right.


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## Dan_Watson (Mar 1, 2008)

How remote is this cabin? Did you forget about the body you dumped out there?


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## threaderman (Nov 15, 2007)

Maybe a back-check valve installed where the bldg. drain and bldg. sewer connect will stop the gases,of course if your getting negative pressure it may suck your traps dry.


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## neolitic (Apr 20, 2006)

One of our customers with
septic tank had this problem
in a *really* bad way.
His plumber put in a whole 
house trap with a clean out
where the waste line exited
the house.
'Twas the septic tank cooking
off maliferous aromas.
Problem remains solved.


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## threaderman (Nov 15, 2007)

neolitic said:


> One of our customers with
> septic tank had this problem
> in a *really* bad way.
> His plumber put in a whole
> ...


I thought of the house trap but the way code reads is a fixture should not be double trapped,and that seems to be the case with the exterior trap.
I've never installed an exterior trap but I know it's legal at the connection of a combined sewer/storm-water connection on the storm-water side,if it's legal in the area to run san. and storm together.
I would have to speak to a local inspector to get their opinion on the building-drain/sewer trap.


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## neolitic (Apr 20, 2006)

threaderman said:


> I thought of the house trap but the way code reads is a fixture should not be double trapped,and that seems to be the case with the exterior trap.
> I've never installed an exterior trap but I know it's legal at the connection of a combined sewer/storm-water connection on the storm-water side,if it's legal in the area to run san. and storm together.
> I would have to speak to a local inspector to get their opinion on the building-drain/sewer trap.


We had a thread about this
before, and I think the consensus
seemed to be positive.


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## pydoplumbing (Oct 29, 2008)

Alot of good answers, going up this weekend will try one, i like the whole house trap idea but i think i'll wait till summer, already have 3" of snow, so charcoal filter will be first attempt.


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## radarrob (Jan 3, 2009)

When was the last time you had you septic tank pumped out. Sounds like the tank may be dead.


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

> Luke I am your plumber, say it outloud into a fan and it sounds like the real deal.


This is why I keep coming back, to learn things I never would have thought of on my own.:clap:


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