My wife's really getting on my case about this so I gotta ask if anyone can give me some advice. I have a house that's not even 5 years old. In it I have a powder room that continually smells like the men's room at the Vince Lombardi Rest Area on the NJ Tpke at Friday rush hour. I don't think it's a case of anyone missing the mark and the bowl is definitely no leaking or anything like that. I suspect maybe it wasn't properly vented; the builder and his contractors were worth s%&*. I was pretty sure sinks and toilets are supposed to be vented by those small black pipes that come out the roof (as you can tell I'm not much of a construction guy which is why I need advice). There was a fan put in the cieling which vents out the side of the house, but by the location of this room there is no way a run straight up thru the roof could be made.
Is there a way I can check or who would be the best kind of professional I could call to come take a look? There could be a book of funny fishing stories on its way to you if you solve my problem.

Check the trap in the sink drain. The "plug" of water in the u-shaped pipe should keep sewer vapors from coming up the sink. If the trap is not deep enough or leaks, this could be the problem. I'm not a plumber, but I'm pretty sure the "vent" to the roof for the drain pipes is to let the water flow when you flush or run the sink, not to control odors? (like the vent on a gas can)

Roof vents along with the trap send the stink up the roof instead of into the house.

I had trouble with my spare bathroom till I dumped a gallon of water in to fill the trap in the shower.

Maybe we're onto something. We have another small bathroom in our bedroom where my wife says sometimes she smells the same kind of smell. I know there's no leaks, but I will pursue this idea. Thanks.

OK, So you can flush the toilet and run the sinks, and there's no leaks or backups. Are you connected to town sewer? If so , the odor could be coming in from the street. Call the town and explain to them your problem and ask that they flush the line. Also check with your neighbors and see if they are having the same problem.

*Just a little advice from an old sewer guy*

Good Luck:cool:

let us know if the smell was extinguished!

I'm having the same problem but the smell comes form the front of the house. It's very sporatic thought. HighTide that's a good suggestion. I'll call the town and see what can be done.

Thanks for the idea.

if that sporadic front of the house smell coincides with either heavy rainfall or heavy bathing or other house water use...
that makes your septic tank perculate upwards instead of outwards thru the leachfield

jimbo : that toilet may have been installed incorrectly on top of
the wax gasket (super cheap to replace) or it has shrunk in time - creating a gap that allows sewer pipe fumes to enter into the bathroom area - but not liquids... thats always a suspect!
toilet installers ( having installed many myself ) sometimes goof there and squash it during the install -> creating the gap.
i would buy the orange citris oil cleaners for starters and swab the deck profusely with them. also vent pipes can become clogged with debris from leaves & sticks. i also firmly believe in activators for septic tanks that help digest the waste materials.

I'm still appreciative of all the advice and was hoping it wouldn't come down to replacing the seal on the bowl, but I'm checking everything you guys tell me to. The town is going to send someone over with a camera on a cable they can send down the PVC into the sewer they installed for that purpose when they built the house. You think when you have a house built it's going to be perfect but when you have a builder who was basically asked by the township never to return because of the problems and shoddy work his guys did on the entire development. And god forbid you want to talk to one of them all of a sudden no one speaks English. I should have entered one of the nightmare stories about having my house built into the Plug for a Story thread on the other forum. Like when the guys came in and spackled over where every switch and outlet duct was going and we come to check it out and I hear my wife saying, "Wow, these walls are so perfect. Nothing on them at all."
Hey, gotta get back to an especially crappy day in the satellite business, but thanks again.

Do you have pets? Sometimes a cat or dog takes a wizz in the room and it dries up before you find it, then in hot humid weather it moistens back up and rekindles the smells from the bacteria etc. Get down on all fours and use your nose to find the spot and clean it with bleach and water. let us know if this worked.

Define pets. I have a wife, two daughters and a cat. I consider them all my pets. I will say since my kids have been away for a week now we have not noticed that smell, but I wouldn't bet that's the reason. Town says we're good from the house to the street. I've been up in the attic and it seems everything's vented, although there's two showers and and the toilet in question tied in together in one pipe out. I had always thought as with A/C and heating ducts, elbows are not good and there's three from the powder room to the roof?!?!?! I'm starting to lean toward it just being a high volume toilet in and around which needs to be cleaned twice instead of once a week. Outside chance it might be the cat, as I think he's still feeling vindictive over my wife having him fixed...of course, I got over it after she had me done, but the cat still has some issues. I got some Ajax Orange, Clorox wipes and the weekend plans are to pick up the kids and get everyone in there for a GI Party and a lesson on periodic bowl maintenance.

Good luck teaching the kids how to clean a toilet bowl.. can't hurt to teach them how to aim into the towel bowl properly too! and maybe you can teach the cat again on where to take a leak.

:)