How do I get rid of a nasty sewage smell coming from my toilet?
There is a terrible sewage smell that seems to be emitting from my toilet. The toilet is not clogged or anything and is cleaned regularly so I suspect it’s coming from the lower pipes.
Help! I don’t want to breathe in the stink anymore!
since the toilet has a builtin water trap that keeps gas out, perhaps the wax seal is totally gone.
that means taking up the toilet and replacing the wax seal ring.
get the kind with the plastic extensor ring
you might want to also check your vent pipe that takes sewer gas air up and out the roof. if the vent is somehow blocked, bird nest etc… sewer gasses can more easily buildup in the sewer lines. then when it flushes, gasses might come back in thru the toilet.
u should check that WAX!
Because no smell should be passing the water P of a Toliet ,
It sounds like your toilet isn’t sealing correctly. The “wax ring” may be damaged or it was not set correctly to begin with. You need to have your toilet reset and the wax ring replaced. When the ring doesn’t seal it allows the sewer gas to escape and possibly some water to leak out when you flush. Get this fixed soon or you may ruin the floor around your toilet.
It’s the wax ring that seals between the bottom of the toilet and the drain pipe. Before you replace the wax ring take some time to look at what you have and research it a little bit.
First of all, can you see any of the drain pipe from the floor below? Is it plastic, cast iron, or lead? Best is if it’s white plastic. Then you probably have a flat plastic flange (closet flange) that the toilet sits on.
The toilet will somehow bolt to the floor. In new plumbing it’s with bolts that go into the closet flange (see above). Older toilets have screws that screw into the floor.
To replace the wax ring you will need to take the toilet up. Is there a shut off valve on the water supply line? Also most (but not all) toilets are two pieces. When you lift up the toilet you don’t want to lift it up by the tank (the water container on top.) The reason is that there are bolts that connect the tank and bowl. If you try to lift up the toilet using the tank then you can break the water tight seal between tank and bowl. Or even crack the tank!
If you search for “replace wax toilet ring” you will find a lot of how-to sites. But unless you are handy with plumbing this might be a job best hired out.
Once the wax ring is replaced the toilet should not rock! Don’t let whoever replaces it tell you that it will settle down in a few days. If they do then tell them that you will pay them in a few days. Same thing with water leaks and drips.
If you hire it out, get some references first. If you do it yourself (or even if you hire it), read some of the web pages about it first. There is more to replacing a wax ring than I have mentioned. Such as: if you have a wooden floor (or vinyl over wood), then maybe the floor is rotted and needs replaced also. Sometimes the bolts are rusty and need to be cut off. This is not a beginner handyman project.
Best of luck.