When you get home from work or an outing, do you notice an unpleasant smell? If it’s strongest in your kitchen or bathroom, chances are it is emanating from one (or all) of your drains.
If you notice your drains have any sort of odour, then it’s a symptom that can lead to other problems like blockages, breaks and, in the worst-case scenario, floods. Drains should not have any scent at all, so at the first sign of an unusual scent, it’s important to act quickly.
We’re going to discuss three of the most common causes of bad-smelling drains, as well as what actions you can take to restore them to normal. And if all else fails, the plumbers from Sven’s Blocked Drains are always on call to help you out!
Causes of Bad-Smelling Drains and How to Fix Them
We have collected three of the most common reasons why your bathroom, laundry or kitchen drains may have started to smell. But don’t worry–we’ll also go into detail on how to fix them!
You can read up on how to keep your drainage system healthy in our blog on the Top 5 Tips for Maintaining Your Home’s Drainage System Efficiently.
You Have Sewer Gas In Your Drain’s P Trap
Look under your kitchen, laundry, or bathroom sink, and you’ll see the P trap. This pipe runs down from your sink, curves and then runs back into your wall. When flipped on its side this pipe will vaguely resemble P, which is where it gets its name.
The role of the P trap is to hold a small amount of water which acts as a barrier between the smells from your sewer line and the rest of your home. If you drop something down your drain, like some jewellery or a fitting, then it will usually land in the P trap, as long as you aren’t running water down the pipe as well. You can unscrew the P trap to retrieve your lost item easily.
Causes
Gases can make their way through the water in your P trap when it dries out, or if you have a leak in this particular part of your pipe.
If your P trap is damaged and has a small crack or hole, then the water barrier may leak out of it, lowering the levels enough that the stinky gasses from your sewage system can slip through.
If you haven’t run water through your drain in a while, then the water in your P trap may evaporate. This effect can be hastened in very hot or dry areas. Once the water is gone, sewer gasses will easily be able to come up through the pipes and out into your property.
Solution
You can easily see if you have a leak in your P trap by pouring some water down your sink and seeing if any drips out of the trap. If this is the cause, a repair using plumber’s tape can help, or you may like to just completely replace the trap itself–you can easily buy them from most hardware and plumbing supply stores.
If the water in your P trap has evaporated, all you need to do is run fresh water through the system. Doing this every few weeks is a good idea for sinks that aren’t always used, like a laundry sink or a guest bathroom sink. If you are going away for an extended period, make sure to run all your taps when you get home to replenish your P trap’s water levels.
Do you have blocked drains in Oakleigh, Northcote or Kew? Contact Sven’s Blocked Drains to book in a visit from one of our plumbers who can clear your drains quickly.
Material In Drains
Food, hair, soap scum, fats, and all sorts of other materials can all accidentally make their way down the sink–and unfortunately, out of sight, out of mind won’t help in this matter.
Organic and synthetic materials can easily get caught and form partial or full clogs in your drains. Organic materials can start to rot and cause a horrible smell in your home, while other non-degradable materials may cause blockages that prevent your sinks from draining and cause the old water to sit and turn nasty in your sink.
Causes
Materials can get stuck in your sink pretty easily–after all, the only thing that is really meant to be going down your drains is water and liquid soap. Food scraps like vegetable peels, meat offcuts, bread crumbs and cooking oils can all easily jumble together in your P trap or beyond and form a clog.
Clogs will get bigger over time, catching other scraps that come past and smelling worse and worse before eventually fully blocking your sink and preventing any water from flowing through. Not only will the material in the clog smell terrible, but the backed up water can sit and become stagnant too, leading to a mouldy mildew aroma.
Solution
Learning how to clear a blocked drain is an essential skill everyone homeowner or renter should have. Whether it’s in your kitchen sink or toilet, the unclogging process, at least at the beginning, remains the same.
Using a plunger is your first method of clearing a blockage. Using a cup plunger (flat surface like a sink), or a flange or accordion plunger (toilet), create a seal over the drain and then pump the plunger up and down to create suction force inside the pipes. The blockage will either be forced through your pipes into the larger sewer system, or it will be pulled back up to the surface, where you can dispose of it in the bin.
You can also use a drain snake, which is a handy tool that can enter your pipes and break up the clog within them. You probably won’t need to own one of these, but you can rent them from many places across Melbourne. Simply crank the snake to push it through your pipes until it reaches the clog, then move it back and forth until the clog has been broken up.
You will either lift it back to the surface when you wind it up, or the separated clog will now be able to be pushed through your pipes with water.
For more information about the best tools to use when clearing blockages in a toilet, make sure to read our blog on the Top 5 Tools Every Homeowner Needs for Tackling a Blocked Toilet.
A severe blockage that you cannot remove yourself will need to be addressed by a qualified plumber, like a member of the team at Sven’s Blocked Drains.
Are you searching for a reliable drainage plumber in Balwyn, Burwood or Richmond? Every member of Sven’s Blocked Drains specialises in clearing the drains of homes and is fully licensed and insured for your peace of mind.
Sewer Line Problems
Your sewer line is the term we use to refer to all the pipes used to direct waste away from your home. It encompasses the drains and pipes in your bathrooms, kitchen and laundry, as well as outside ones in your garden and connected to your pool or spa if you have one.
A breakage, block or other problem further down in your sewage line can cause a bad smell to come out of multiple drains in your home, not just one. You might also notice a loud gurgling noise coming from your pipes.
Causes
Problems in your sewer line can be caused by all the common culprits we have discussed, like trying to flush or drain solid materials or by a crack in the pipes. Cracks can be caused by older pipes getting weaker, movement in the earth or from a damaging intrusion, like a digger or a tree root.
These differ from damages to your immediate drains as they happen ‘lower down’ in your sewer line, where the pipes can converge. This is why a problem in your sewer line can be detected from multiple drains rather than just one.
Solution
Unfortunately, due to how far down blocks and damages to your sewer line can be, your only course of action is to call in the professionals to help. If you try to dig down and access your sewer line, chances are you will damage the pipes and cause potential flooding and water damage to your property.
An expert blocked drain plumber in Melbourne, like Sven’s Blocked Drains, has all the tools and expertise needed to help get to the bottom of a sewer line issue. Make sure to give us a ring if you suspect yours is giving you some trouble!
You can find out more about what can cause a blocked drain in our blog, What Causes Blocked Drains – Top 5 Reasons.
Get Professional Help from a Blocked Drain Plumber in Melbourne
If you have smelly drains in your property and can’t get to the bottom of it, you’ll benefit from enlisting help from a professional. Sven’s Blocked Drains are your local experts in everything to do with blocked drains–we can find, diagnose and repair blocked drains all across Melbourne.
We can fix your blocked kitchen, sewer and stormwater drains, as well as blocked toilets and downpipes. No matter the time of day, we can help–our emergency blocked drain services are available 24/7!
Call 1300 3 DRAIN (1300 337 246) or use our online booking tool to schedule a visit from one of our team members. We are based in Hawthorn but service all areas of Melbourne!
