Waste pipe odor in garage?

Kirsten

I have recently pulled all the drywall in my garage ceiling and walls due to a rodent infestation. Much of the upstairs plumbing is now exposed, including the waste pipes for two toilets, a tub, shower and three sinks. The main waste line comes down a now open wall before exiting into the crawlspace. I mention all this because there is a distinct toilet odor in the garage and I am convinced it is coming from a crack or hole in a waste/ vent line. It does not smell like like septic effluent or what I think of when I think of sewage odor, it smells just an outhouse or a around a leaky toilet flange. It is definitely human, not rodent or cat. I suppose it could be a leaking flange, but we reseated the toilets a couple of months ago (because they were loose - but no obvious signs of leaking when we pulled them) and I see no water staining under the subfloor presently.

I have only owned the house for three months, so I do not know how long the odor has persisted.

How can I figure out where the odor is coming from/ if there is a crack or leak in a line? If I call a plumber, will this be a long expensive process? I am needing to close up the drywall in two weeks, so it's now or never. I definitely don't want to close up septic gas in the walls/ house.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

joasis

You have a hole somewhere, allowing venting into your garage. If you can't see an obvious problem, then you really should call a plumber...it should not be a big job to locate this, but if let go, could have health issues as well as making your house unlivable.

My neighbors had a persisitant sewage (outhouse) smell in their house...just a creep in kind of smell....turns out a cast iron pipe behind a toilet (vent stack) has a rust through hole in it....no big deal, but on windy days, the air would come down the vent (slight pressure) and the house would stink.

Kirsten

Thanks joasis.

Can you or anyone else tell me what is involved in investigating the leak? Are we talking about a smoke test? vbmenu_register("postmenu_24327", true);

joasis

Smoke is the correct way, and a plumber will have the stuff to do it with.