What Causes Your Plumbing to Stink?

What's that smell wafting up from your kitchen or near your water heater? You tend not to notice your plumbing unless there is an urgent problem, like a plumbing leak, a clog, or in some cases an unpleasant odor coming from your drains.

Some of the issues that cause your plumbing to stink may require water heater cleaning. Some may merely need you to be vigilant and practice some smart plumbing habits, like regular drain cleaning. Here are some trouble signs to watch for with smelly plumbing.

Got a Smelly Sink?

One notorious cause of smells coming up from your sink is the buildup of residue just inside the drains.

In your kitchen, you may have an accumulation of food particles from washing dishes or food prep.

In the bathrooms, you get a buildup of hair, skin cells, shampoo, shaving cream, and more. Over time, this organic material binds to your pipes and will start to decompose.

Not only does this material have the potential to cause drain clogs, but it also smells awful when rotting. You can avoid these problems by being diligent and watching what goes down your drains.

In the kitchen put in a garbage disposal to get food debris, or put scraps in your compost. In the bathroom, place hair traps over your drains to gather debris before it has a chance to fall go down the sink.

Every month or so, as a natural deodorizer, sprinkle baking soda, followed by a generous pour of white vinegar down the drain. As these ingredients combine, they will foam, removing debris and eliminating the odor. Make sure to run lots of hot water after doing this.

Sulfur on the Pipes?

Would you identify the odor as the smell of rotten eggs? Sulfur might be contaminating the water or plumbing in your Vernon, CT home if certain chemical conditions in your water, pipes, or soil create sulfuric gases.

The question is, how can you know if it is the plumbing, or if you have contaminated water?

Fill a glass with water from one tap in your home, and check if it smells like sulfur. Now pour another glass from another tap. Does it smell like rotten eggs, too? If it does, your water is contaminated. If not, you can zero in on the plumbing where the smelly water is coming from.

What Can You Do About It?

No question, having these awful smells in your home can be very disruptive. It might lead to avoid certain rooms or entertain less often.

And you shouldn't have to do that in your own home. Your best bet is to call your plumber in right away. They have special diagnostic equipment that can help to determine the cause quickly.

Their help is also essential in keeping this problem from reoccurring. The good news is that once you discover the source of the smell, it is usually pretty easy to resolve. It is recommended that you have regular drain cleaning done to keep the odors away.