Forum Archive: Posts by: JMT

We think we may have figured out the sewage smell in basement, but I am a little confused. When we open up the floor there are several pipes: one is a large vent line which goes outside, two sewer lines going into ground both have threaded caps, and what is confusing is there is a large pipe that appears to be connected to the drain hole just outside the basement. Within that drain pipe there is a flap that I think goes to the main sewer, is this some kind of rainwater overflow flap made to open if our drain gets too much water so that some can go directly to the city line? I think this is where the smell may be coming in. We are going to try to replace the 5 inch bolted cap that covers the top of the drain line to see if that helps, but it seems difficult to get a good seal as it is not threaded. Any ideas?

A few months ago we had a sewage smell in one of our basement rooms. Never could resolve it, but it eventually went away. Now it is back and we don’t know where it is coming from. We have checked the seals in the pipes under the floor and they seem ok. The smell is only in the basement room at the front of the house. Just don’t understand where it is coming from. Who should I call to investigate?