Septic smell - isolate to shower on main level

[HDTV101]

Use the Drano foaming pipe snake !!!!

[mr weather]

"foaming pipe snake"

Must. Resist. Cracking. Joke.

[thebone]

time to revisit this

it's not so much septic as it is stale water ONLY from the standup shower, not the sink or wash machine in the same room

First pic shows the P trap and another piece of piping connected. As far as i can tell, it is the sink next to the shower and the second pic shows it going into the floor

the third pic shows where it all goes.

Now the good news is the large piping is sloped downward so settling may or may not be the issue.

However, just past the p trap there is this piece that is capped. not a clue what that is.

Could I maybe add some sort of check valve or something between the p trap and shower drain as I have to wonder if maybe the sink usage pushes the water out of the p trap

or maybe a p trap with a deeper curve as this one is not that deep

[Jake]

Very odd plumbing. The sink p-trap should be right under the sink not tapped into the shower one.

[57]

Was this house inspected before purchase, or are you renting? I've never seen any proper plumbing that looked anything like that. The wiring doesn't look "professional" either. Bunch of other stuff in various locations at all angles... Holes in floors that look like blind rats chewed them, instead of being cut with a proper hole saw, etc.

Just realized you're the poster with the oddly wired stove. If you own this home, I seriously suggest you get a proper wiring and plumbing inspection. Probably a structural/mechanical inspection too (since part of the joist is cut) Who knows what else there is in this place.

[LONSat]

I would think picture 2 is the vent for the shower. It may be a wet vent for the shower / drain for sink but I agree the plumbing and electrical don't look tidy. Easy enough to see if there is a P trap for the sink in the expected spot under the vanity.

[thebone]

This is the crawl space that is in the closet entry of my mancave room.

In the closet before the crawl space is the hot water tank, the anti rust tank, the water conditioner and the big salt drum thing and that is part of the wiring you are seeing in those pics; in pic 3 you can kind of see those things on the right, that's what the wires are.

There is a p trap inside the vanity under the sink

It was inspected and it received a strong mark, the only "deficiency" was a recommendation of beefing up the insulation in the attic.

Any thoughts on how I should go about dealing with the stale water issue ?

[jayoldschool]

I'm going to guess that it wasn't Mike Holmes that inspected it.

[caper_26]

This thread made me LOL a few times! I would use a plunger and coat hanger/snake FIRST, before any chemicals, to avoid back splash and blindness. Since you can actually get under there, it migh even be worth getting a bucket and removing the trap and cleaning it there. (wear some sort of mask for the smell, *gag*). Now to add my lulz: A recent contractor who helped me with my tub/shower decided he would remove my p trap, even though I suggested I do it... he ended up showering in years worth of shower gunk collecting in it.. black clumpy stinky water. gross!

One last thing, I don't know what that capped off piece of pipe is for, but I would look into removing that as well. It is probably collecting stuff that once seen, cannot be unseen.