toilet gases

[gregalinic]

I recently had a bathroom installed in a newly constructed one bedroom apartment. Ocassionally I will smell strong gases or odors coming from around the toilet base. The shower and sink are also connected to the same main sewer line which drains into a septic tank. Toilet, sink, and shower are vented. There are no ordors or gases coming out of the shower floor drain or the sink drain. I'm wondering if the a wax seal was not installed or not installed properly when the toilet was being installed? Or could there be another issue?

Thank you Confused

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[RBM]

[hrhofmann]

You're on the right track. I would remove the two bolt heads that hold the toilet in place, diconnect the water suppply and drain the tank by flushing (before removing the bolt heads) and then remove the toilet. Buy a new wax seal before doing this. You might want to buy a extra thick seak, just in case. The old seal should show definite signs of deformation if it was sealing correcctly. There are a lot of videos on the web about doing this.

[Sonny]

I suppose it's unlikely, but you might also check to see if there is a hairline crack in the back of the toilet, somewhere, also. Strong smells would probably be more indicative of a wax problem, as noted, than through a hairline crack.

An observation and solution: I have a toilet in an unused/remote area. When I've forgotten about it, the water evaporates from the bowl, enough for sewer gases to emerge. At times, it had taken me a while to figure out why the mystery odors seemed to come and go, when my first thoughts didn't take into consideration this unused toilet, until I realized what was enfluencing the fluctuations in the odor prevalence. I discovered the smell was more noticeable when the outside winds were strong. I, now, try to remember to give this toilet a flush, occassionally, to catch the problem before it presents itself. With the absence of an air tight system, mystery odors, as this, may be more noticeable when the outside winds are up.

Sonny

[LSMFT]

It's either that or the vent pipe is disconnected in the wall. Like somebody else suggested, could be a crack or defect in the toilet wall but not likely.

[Pavel314]

Years ago my toilet had strange, untraceable odors. I finally checked under the rim with a mirror and found that at the back of the rim, the holes where the water comes in were clogged with lime build-up. I used a small nail to remove the obstructions and the problem went away. I guess mold and bacteria were living back there, undisturbed by the cleansing water flow.

Paul

[jw]

Quit eating all those beans and you wont smell that gas...... It's called FARTS, or in medical terms, Flatulance......

A bathroom fan would help if you insist on eating them beans !!!!

• P H O O O T *

[EXT]

There is no "house trap", the septic tank vents gases up through the house vent.

Either the house vent is plugged, check for a bird nest or squirrel that fell in, or the seal is bad on the toilet. You may want to invest in a "mushroom cap" that stops things from falling down the vent while still allowing it to vent gases properly.