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enter image description hereMaster bathroom has a sewer smell. It mainly seeks to come from my wife's sink. I've snaked it, drano, vinegar baking soda, plumber has snaked it, but the smell always comes back. I've been fighting it for a couple years, but it always comes back.

Any other ideas or permanent solutions you've used?

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6
  • do you have a p-trap?
    – Fresh Codemonger
    Jul 10 at 15:39
  • 2
    does it smell if you cover the overflow hole?
    – jsotola
    Jul 10 at 15:41
  • A photo of the plumbing under the sink would be useful. On your question, click Edit, then use the mountain icon to add a photo.
    – MTA
    Jul 10 at 15:49
  • Clogged vent pipe? Knowing how the plumbing is set up would help a lot. It's possible a suction could be siphoning the p-trap under the wife's sink but not the husband's
    – Joe Phillips
    Jul 10 at 18:15
  • P/S trap issues typically shouldn't affect just the wife's sink. They probably CAN install separate traps for each sink but... I don't think they really would go through the trouble. I'm pretty sure the two sinks would just feed into one trap because it's just easier.
    – Nelson
    Jul 11 at 2:38

2 Answers 2

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I had the same issue. Same as you it was in my wife's sink only.

the cure was 1/4 cup of bleach in the overflow hole and another 1/4 down the drain. Leave it all to work for an hour. Then rinse with fresh water.

I have to do this about every 6 months. It probably has something to do with makeup and all the "STUFF" that women use that gets inadvertently dropped in the sink and washed down the drain. Yeah it should all go down to the sewer, I agree. All I know is this works to eliminate the smell.

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  • 1
    bleach is under rated and too often ignored in favor of things like vinegar !
    – Fresh Codemonger
    Jul 10 at 16:47
  • 3
    I think the key here is overflow hole. Something is in the overflow that's causing the smells, otherwise all the other things the OP did would have probably fixed it. Especially since it's one sink out of a double vanity.
    – FreeMan
    Jul 10 at 17:44
  • Diluted bleach or just straight up 1/4 cup bleach from the bottle?
    – Nelson
    Jul 11 at 2:36
  • I added the 1/4 cup Bleach in regular drain and overflow drain tonight. We will see over the next few days. Thank you for the suggestions.
    – Brennan
    Jul 11 at 3:09
  • I used straight bleach. Keep it thick to coat things.
    – RMDman
    Jul 11 at 3:16
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Check that you have a P-trap and not an S-trap under the sink. S traps do not work well in keeping water in the pipes. Also make sure that you have the proper plumbing vents. If not, the use of one sink can pull the water out of the trap in the other sink, and that water is what protects you from sewer fumes.

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  • Picture added above.
    – Brennan
    Jul 11 at 3:10
  • It looks good. The next step is to check if the sink has proper vents. Drop a bucket of water in one sink, then check if the trap in the other sink still has liquid inside, blocking gases. If there's no water in the trap, then the water passing through one sink is making a vacuum, sucking the trap and rendering it ineffective.
    – Cheery
    Jul 11 at 19:05
  • hammerpedia.com/plumbing-vent Here's an explanation I like.
    – Cheery
    Jul 11 at 19:12

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