Ewwwww . . . . nasty smell

[Bucky]

For the last several weeks every time we run the dishwasher or washing machine we get this nasty smell in the house.  Ewwwwwww  (I sit at the computer with my hand over my nose . . it smells terrible!).

We've googled it and see that a lot of people have this problem too.  It's like a sewer smell.  We haven't found any answers yet as to what people did for this problem.

Have any of you ever experienced this?  We have a septic tank and well water.

I started doing laundry tonight and now the house has that nasty smell . . . ugh!  (it didn't have that smell prior to me doing laundry)

Nasty, nasty, nasty . . . . holding nose.  I am super sensitive to smells any how and this just magnifies it.  Yuck!

Bucky

[Joe S.]

Your descriptions makes me think your septic system may need to be fed bacteria to help it digest better.

Check to see if it is your water. If it is you may need to have it further purified.

[season]

One of your drains may not have a trap. the smell is most likely coming from your sewer. Get someone to check and see if all your drains have a trap. A quick fix is to turn the water on in your sinks, bathtub, shower that is nearest your washing machine and let the water run for a few minutes. This will clear up the smell fairly quickly and then after the running water add a bit of chlorox or pine sol to your drain and then run the water a bit more.

This will happen to if you have water that doesn't drain very well and sits in your pipes and is really smelly when you turn your washer on.

I hope this helps. Season

[inga]

Like people said, it could be sewer gas....call a plumber!

[Joe S.]

We had to pore water down the floor drain of our old house to stop sewer gas because the trap would dry out.

[navydad]

Its a trap problem,, pour some water down all floor drains,, or one other possibility might be a clogged stack vent,,

[newhorizons]

BEEN THERE:  If pouring water down drains that are not used often, like basement floor drain, or any other not often used drain in home does not alleviate problem.

Then from experience, ours turned out to be the vent line that leads from drain line, usually a toilet, to roof will get stopped up and it vapor locks when overloaded with surge of water in lines and sends sewer odor to inside  the house.

Be careful Bucky, sewer gases are poisonous when concentrated in closed quarters. Please give yourself fresh air... can cause health issues.

[Carebear]

Hi Bucky,

I had the same problem with a toilet last fall.  Turns out the vent on the roof was plugged up with dirt and leaves, so the sewer gas had no where to escape. 

Actually it escaped into the basement bathroom.

We cleaned out the vent with the shop vacuum, and everything smells like roses!  Good luck.

[Bucky]

Thanks everyone for your replies. 

Today, hubby ran the dishwasher . . no smell.   

I need to do some laundry, but am hesitant as I don't want it to smell up the house tonight before going to bed.

Several people have mentioned about the vent on the top of the house.  We seemed to have the smell when it was really windy outside.  Today, it wasn't windy and there was no smell.  Hmmmmm

Who would we call to check/clean the vent on the roof?  We have a very steep roof and my hubby doesn't do heights anyhow.

Bucky

[irish]

We live in the country and have a tile in the basement that hooks up with a country ditch tile. When the wind blows from the right direction and the trap has no water the smell can be very bad. I have learned to go around and pour water in all the drains in the basement cause if they aren't used very often they dry up.

Also, I have been known to pour outdated pop or orange juice down the drains to let them eat away on some of the crud in the drains. Coke is good for many things isn't it. Irish

[Joe S.]

When I was younger, we used coke to clean radiators. We had to be careful or the acid would eat the radiator.

Jan and I use a product called "Bio Ben" to eat through the crud with out eating the pipes.

Bucky, I would do the job myself but I recommend that you call the plumber if the other suggestion do not help.

[Katybarstool]

Hiya

I'm in the UK, and have had horrible smell from my laundry. I mentioned it to a few people, and they all had the same. My thinking is that some of these 'cool washing' powders are simply not getting rid of the dirt in the water. My mum suggested putting a couple of tablespoons of washing soda in the machine, and BINGO, the laundry smells fine now - and is a lot cleaner.

Worth a try?

Kathyx

[Bucky]

Sorry, if you can't understand me too well, it's hard to type and hold your nose at the same time!   

Hubby ran the dishwasher Sunday - no smell.

I did one load of laundry this morning - no smell.  Started load #2 . . . have that smell again.   

I put a call into a plumber that was recommended to us by a friend this morning.  Will wait for him to call back and see what he has to say.  Hopefully, he can come in the next few days and have a remedy (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg in the process).

I sure don't want to deal with this all winter long when the house is closed up.  I have the screen door open right now . . . a bit chilly outside, but it helps to clear the air.

Maybe, I'll make some muffins this morning and the good smell will override the ucky smell.   

Kathyx - I don't have a problem with the smell of the laundry, it's the smell in the air from the washing machine / dishwasher while it's running or after it's gone through it's cycle.

Bucky

[Katybarstool]

Good luck with the plumber Mrs Bucky.

Kathyx

[irish]

Bucky, I get a stinky smell from my dishwasher at times. We live in the country and have rusty water. Have a water softener but the rust will still stain the dishwasher overy so often.

I have learned to put in a couple tablespoons of baking soda periodically and it does freshen up the dishwasher. I think that a lot of the odor comes from the filler that is put in the dishwashing detergent. The filler tends to settle in and around the gaskets and around the bottom of the door. This can cause a bad smell.

I have also learned to take an old wet rag and wipe down the dishwasher on the inside and try to hit all the crooks and crannies and then put the baking soda in for the next wash. You would be amazed at the crud that can be wiped off the innards of a dishwasher.

Chances are the odor you are getting is more than what I mentioned above. Interesting that you can do several washes with no problem and then it smells. Wonder if water is backing up somewhere or if the air vent is plugged and giving poor drainage plus back up through the lines from the septic tank. Any darn thing is possible. Did you check a vent for a birds nest? This means having your hubby get up on top of the roof and running a small log chain down to see if the pipe is clear.

Also, when your dishwasher empties do you get a girggling in another sink or tub drain??? When the vent isn't open and causing good air flow/pressure you will get strange sounds at times. Hope the fix comes cheap. Irish