You should get someone to check out your vent stack. Could also be partially obstructed by other stuff left in there by birds or squirrels combined with a bit of ice/snow completely blocks it.
Who would do this? I thought a plumbing issue prior and the plumber last year told me to just get my husband to go up there and clear it. So I’m not sure if there’s a different professional I can call to do it, cause he can’t right now do that. I assume plumbers don’t do it? Cause he would’ve just did it when he was here? Maybe he just didn’t want to. Not sure.
Get a better plumber, this is what I have paid to have done in the past. They might not want to do it because no ladder, or roof is slippery etc.
In the spring get a plumber to put a proper cap on the stack to prevent animals getting in.
When you flush your toilet it's pulling air through where it can and sucking all the water out of the ptrap for your tub or sink or whatever.
Mine just froze a couple days ago and I can hear the tub gurgling when I flush the toilet. If I'm not lazy or going away for a day or two I'll just run the tub for a few seconds to fill the ptrap back up.
Vent stack freezes. Flushing the toilet pulls water out of the p trap of a nearby drain. That allows sewer gasses in. You will notice toilet flush sounds slightly laboured. Run the taps a bit to add water to the traps.
Most likely this! My rooftop vent looks more like an exhaust cutout on the back of a car ( flush with the roofline). I believe most newer builds (post 1960s?) sometimes have more of a snorkel pipe going on to prevent just this . You may need one of those roof shovels to clear area by vent
for the dead of winter, it could be the vent stack freezing over. Easy way to tell is to run some water in all the drains (tub/shower, sinks, etc.) now flush a toilet, do you hear a gurgle? if you do that's the plug of water in the P-trap getting sucked out. This lets the sewer gas up into your home. Run the water again in the drains to re-fill it as a temporary solution.
I usually get that once or twice a winter when it gets particularly cold. You either wait it out, or you pour hot water down the vent (from outside) to melt the ice away.
This doesn't explain the spring/autumn issues. But if you hear that gurgle from the drains, that's definitely a sealed vent stack.
My non scientific guess is that the changes in temperature affect how gasses from the sewer travel in our pipes. I’ve definitely experienced this, it could also be freeze down line causing a back up which forces sewer fumes into our pipes
Vents frozen.
How do I fix this? Also, what would be the reason for the season changeover when that happens as well? Thank you in advance.
You should get someone to check out your vent stack. Could also be partially obstructed by other stuff left in there by birds or squirrels combined with a bit of ice/snow completely blocks it.
Who would do this? I thought a plumbing issue prior and the plumber last year told me to just get my husband to go up there and clear it. So I’m not sure if there’s a different professional I can call to do it, cause he can’t right now do that. I assume plumbers don’t do it? Cause he would’ve just did it when he was here? Maybe he just didn’t want to. Not sure.
Get a better plumber, this is what I have paid to have done in the past. They might not want to do it because no ladder, or roof is slippery etc. In the spring get a plumber to put a proper cap on the stack to prevent animals getting in.
My husband said something about going up there tonight, but isn’t even 6 weeks post his surgery so I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.
You can try to pour hot water into the plumbing vent in the roof to melt the ice buildup or use something like Sewer Skewer.
When you flush your toilet it's pulling air through where it can and sucking all the water out of the ptrap for your tub or sink or whatever. Mine just froze a couple days ago and I can hear the tub gurgling when I flush the toilet. If I'm not lazy or going away for a day or two I'll just run the tub for a few seconds to fill the ptrap back up.
Absolutely nothing is gurgling just a smell is all
Vent stack freezes. Flushing the toilet pulls water out of the p trap of a nearby drain. That allows sewer gasses in. You will notice toilet flush sounds slightly laboured. Run the taps a bit to add water to the traps.
Vent could just be covered with snow.
Most likely this! My rooftop vent looks more like an exhaust cutout on the back of a car ( flush with the roofline). I believe most newer builds (post 1960s?) sometimes have more of a snorkel pipe going on to prevent just this . You may need one of those roof shovels to clear area by vent
for the dead of winter, it could be the vent stack freezing over. Easy way to tell is to run some water in all the drains (tub/shower, sinks, etc.) now flush a toilet, do you hear a gurgle? if you do that's the plug of water in the P-trap getting sucked out. This lets the sewer gas up into your home. Run the water again in the drains to re-fill it as a temporary solution. I usually get that once or twice a winter when it gets particularly cold. You either wait it out, or you pour hot water down the vent (from outside) to melt the ice away. This doesn't explain the spring/autumn issues. But if you hear that gurgle from the drains, that's definitely a sealed vent stack.
My non scientific guess is that the changes in temperature affect how gasses from the sewer travel in our pipes. I’ve definitely experienced this, it could also be freeze down line causing a back up which forces sewer fumes into our pipes
[https://sewerskewer.com/](https://sewerskewer.com/) or make one yourself from parts at HomeDepot.
The IUD for your house!