odor from drains

wamitigu

We have 2 bathrooms, which share a wall. I've been noticing, on and off, a sewer-like odor from the sink drain. Sometimes it's quite strong, sometimes it seems to be there for a day or more. Then it's gone. This has been happening for months. I started smelling it from the shower drain now, as well. I think I smelled it faintly from the second bathroom recently, but only once. That may have been coming through the wall, however. The house is on a cement slab. The drains work fine. Any thoughts?

Javiles

Do you use both bathrooms on a regular bases? sometimes one bathroom get little or no use at all. Reason being that the drains need fresh water run through them on a regular bases to keep the traps filled with water.. What that does is keeps the plumbing sealed from odors and bugs sometimes for example if a shower or tub is not used for several days the water in traps evaporate and the seal is now broken allowing sewer gases in the room. Another item could be a bad shower pan and what you smell is stagnant water that’s collecting in between the shower pan and the tile base. Multiple things could be causing that smell. We have some sharp plumbers on this form aim sure they will add to this. Finally if all else fails have a smoke test performed on your drainage system. Good Luck.

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wamitigu

Thanks, Javiles, for the reply. We do use both bathrooms daily; the shower that's smelling probably gets used at least once every day, and often more. My husband said it seems worse when the weather is hot, but I hadn't noticed that myself. We live in Louisiana, where it's very hot and humid much of the year. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.