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Here's my problem. Can someone shed some light on all this?
We live in a newly built townhome, we’ve only been in for two months. We have three toilets, two on the 1st floor and one on the 2nd floor. The two toilets on the 1st floor give off an odor that I can only describe as dirty ashtray. It’s a murky, muddy, earthy odor. The 2nd floor toilet has minimal odor but it's still there. It’s not so bad first thing in the a.m. but as the day goes on it can be pretty profound. If you stand over the toilet while it’s flushing you get a whiff of it and now that the doors and windows open creating a draft, it is worse. Some days it wafts into the master bedroom or up the staircase and hovers over the front entryway. We are still under warranty and our plumber, the same plumber who installed our fixtures is working with us and he’s as perplexed as we are. He has changed out all three wax rings to thicker ones but it didn’t help. Next step he’s going to put a cap on the vent pipe, maybe extend it first. We had all the necessary plumbing inspections only months ago and they filled the vent pipe on the roof with water to check for leaks. We do have real cheap, builder grade toilets. They’re ProFlo, made exclusively for Ferguson, and we’re wondering if this could be the source. I’d say it smells like sewer gas but I don’t know what sewer gas smells like. As mentioned, we’re an attached townhome and our neighbors to the right and left of us do NOT have this problem. What can it be? Thanking anyone who can shed some light on all this.
To recap…
New house only a few months old.
3 toilets, the 2nd floor has minimal odor, 1st floor – both of them have a strong odor problem.
Plumbing inspection required by the city completed satisfactorily just months ago.
Attached townhome, neither neighbor has a problem.
Cheap ProFlo toilets.
Wax rings have been changed to thicker ones but no improvement.
No odor in sinks, tubs, showers or anywhere else. Just in two 1st floor toilets.
Odor worsens as the day goes on or when windows/doors are open.
Here's my problem. Can someone shed some light on all this?
We live in a newly built townhome, we’ve only been in for two months. We have three toilets, two on the 1st floor and one on the 2nd floor. The two toilets on the 1st floor give off an odor that I can only describe as dirty ashtray. It’s a murky, muddy, earthy odor. The 2nd floor toilet has minimal odor but it's still there. It’s not so bad first thing in the a.m. but as the day goes on it can be pretty profound. If you stand over the toilet while it’s flushing you get a whiff of it and now that the doors and windows open creating a draft, it is worse. Some days it wafts into the master bedroom or up the staircase and hovers over the front entryway. We are still under warranty and our plumber, the same plumber who installed our fixtures is working with us and he’s as perplexed as we are. He has changed out all three wax rings to thicker ones but it didn’t help. Next step he’s going to put a cap on the vent pipe, maybe extend it first. We had all the necessary plumbing inspections only months ago and they filled the vent pipe on the roof with water to check for leaks. We do have real cheap, builder grade toilets. They’re ProFlo, made exclusively for Ferguson, and we’re wondering if this could be the source. I’d say it smells like sewer gas but I don’t know what sewer gas smells like. As mentioned, we’re an attached townhome and our neighbors to the right and left of us do NOT have this problem. What can it be? Thanking anyone who can shed some light on all this.
To recap…
New house only a few months old.
3 toilets, the 2nd floor has minimal odor, 1st floor – both of them have a strong odor problem.
Plumbing inspection required by the city completed satisfactorily just months ago.
Attached townhome, neither neighbor has a problem.
Cheap ProFlo toilets.
Wax rings have been changed to thicker ones but no improvement.
No odor in sinks, tubs, showers or anywhere else. Just in two 1st floor toilets.
Odor worsens as the day goes on or when windows/doors are open.
What's different about the neighbor's townhouses? Do they have the same commodes as you do? Offhand I don't see this being a problem with the fixture, if it has a water seal loop, and that's full of water, this should seal out the sewer gas (if that's what the problem is).
Just to ask - what about the sinks next to the commodes?
The details, as presented, would seem to implicate the actual toilet, not the water or even plumbing HOWEVER I think there might be a couple other things to investigate...
Firstly darned near every newer townhouse I have seen has bathroom fans venting from right near the toilet and maybe that is faking you out. Easy to test -- disconnect fan / check duct.
Secondly I know there are paranoid types that thing every product made in China is loaded with toxins to poison us but MAYBE these bottom line commodes were made in such a way to trap some , uh, stuff, and that is the reason for the stink, or the actual porcelein was fired in a fire fed with cigarettes or the factory workers that they mixed into the hoppers full of clay and workers and their smokes are got ground up to together... ANother easy fix. Buy three decent commodes. Plain old Crane or American Standard or basic Kohler are routinely under $200 a piece. Sheesh it is new house, economize on somethhing else...
Finally maybe you had dirty stinky trades people using your walls as ash trays. If so AND there is something wrong with your air ducts or plumbing that is going to be expensive to fix.
Chet, I really, really want this to be the problem but what are the chances of getting three defective toilets?
I'm copying and posting a response I got in another forum from a plumber in NC regarding the same toilets we have in our house...
Just recently I had a similar problem with some new Pro-Flo toilets in a fire dept. Sewer odor was coming back up thru the toilets, the Ferguson rep confirmed a faulty batch of toilets. I had reset the toilets twice, both times I was sure the seal was not at fault. A smoke test finally revealed that the toilets were bad.
Here's the fix to finding if it is indeed a sewer leak. Have the plumber pull all commodes. Have him ball all the commode sets- he'll know. Close off all plumbing fixtures (sewer side), ball the clean out(main sewer line), go on top of the roof with a hose and start to fill the sewer system with water. You'll need to keep an eye open for incoming water but if there is a sewer leak, like a vent stack in a wall that is not connected, this is the only way to find it. Expect damage like wet carper and drywall that will have to be cut open to fix. The system should be able to maintain the column of water at least 24 hours. If it keeps draining slowly, you probably have a broken a sewer pipe in the foundation and a camera should be used to find it. If there are no leaks found, look to the vent stack location on the roof. Sometimes a roof design causes positive air pressure on the vent stack and that causes gases to be pushed inside the home. These can be a lot of fun to find, best of luck.
Here's the fix to finding if it is indeed a sewer leak. Have the plumber pull all commodes. Have him ball all the commode sets- he'll know. Close off all plumbing fixtures (sewer side), ball the clean out(main sewer line), go on top of the roof with a hose and start to fill the sewer system with water. You'll need to keep an eye open for incoming water but if there is a sewer leak, like a vent stack in a wall that is not connected, this is the only way to find it. Expect damage like wet carper and drywall that will have to be cut open to fix. The system should be able to maintain the column of water at least 24 hours. If it keeps draining slowly, you probably have a broken a sewer pipe in the foundation and a camera should be used to find it. If there are no leaks found, look to the vent stack location on the roof. Sometimes a roof design causes positive air pressure on the vent stack and that causes gases to be pushed inside the home. These can be a lot of fun to find, best of luck.
Trappert, it's a new house and all of the above was done two months ago as part of the plumbing inspection.
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