The laundry room is one of those places where we spend quite a bit of time, and for a very good reason. We always want to ensure our clothes are clean, and using the laundry room to clean up all those clothes is super important. Of course, like every other room, the laundry room also needs some cleanup and maintenance. If you’re not careful, then that can lead to all sorts of issues, and it’s stuff like that which comes with its fair share of challenges.
But what happens when the laundry room smells funny? This is actually an issue that a lot of people are facing, and it can get pretty problematic. At some point, your laundry room can end up smelling like sewage. And while it might not seem like a problem at first, if the smell persists or you just become even more powerful, then there’s definitely a sign that you must do something and not just sit there.
Thankfully, there are ways you can use in order to stop this sewage-like smell, without actually doing a whole lot of work. It all comes down to following these tips and tricks listed below, then seeing what works for you in a situation like this.
Why Is It Important to Identify Any Sewer Gases?
What a lot of people don’t realize is the fact that sewer gases are actually very dangerous. If you have this type of smell in your home, you do need to think about various safety challenges and concerns. Sewer gas is dangerous, it can hard everyone in your family and bring potential sickness.
Gases like these have methane, and they can be flammable. So there is the potential that if you don’t take this seriously and solve the issue, you can end up with a high risk of dealing with lots and lots of fire.
So it’s certainly a crucial thing to focus on staying safe, which is why tackling this issue is crucial and a major part of the entire process.
What Are The Main Causes of Bad Laundry Room Smells?
As you can imagine, every situation is different, so there won’t be just a single reason why the laundry room has a very strange, bad smell. Sometimes it can be a simple reason, other times it can get a bit more complicated. Thankfully, there are ways to get past every issue, you just have to do it properly.
1. Dry Water Trap
Maybe the most common laundry room smell generator is the fact that you have a dry trap. What that means is that the water trap found in the floor drain is not used. When that happens, you will have sewer gases coming in, since there’s nothing to stop them.
Water disappears if you don’t just use the washing machine more often. And while not a lot of people will care about this, tackling the problem knowingly and with the right approach can indeed make a huge difference all the time. This can be fixed if you pour water in the water trap. A good rule of thumb here is to try and see if there are any kind of leaks. There shouldn’t really be any of them, so it’s a very good idea to assess this and solve the issue.
We also recommend that you use the washing machine from time to time. Otherwise, the water trap will continue to dry out and that will lead to the same issue. So yes, adding in some water from time to time is crucial here, if you want to prevent any kind of problems. It’s not going to be simple, but if you do it right, the benefits can be downright incredible every time.
2. Venting Problems
Aside from the dry water trap issues, another thing that might cause sewage-like smells would be venting problems. Not all laundry rooms have the best venting system, and obviously, that will lead to all kinds of challenges. Usually, these gases have an odor that’s really easy to notice, and they will connect to the main drain lines.
A clog in the venting system can actually be an issue and that’s certainly one of the things to think about all the time. Clogs can end up keeping the bad smells inside, and it’s a great idea to prevent that. Generally, this issue is solved if you work with professionals. It might involve the use of various equipment pieces that you don’t really own.
So it makes a lot of sense to hire an expert that will help you solve such problems, and then the benefits can indeed be second to none in the long term.
3. Drain Line Clogs
Other systems can also get clogged. The drain line in particular can generate those sewage smells when it’s clogged. And the main problem here is that it doesn’t even have to be fully clogged for this to be an issue. Which is why you need to take this very seriously and find a way to solve this problem as quickly as you can. It might not be that much of an issue, but the benefits can indeed be second to none in the long run.
Pouring some bleach down the drainpipe can solve the problem, but it can also be very dangerous. This is why you need to be prepared. Handling this on your own can be tricky and filled with challenges, so hiring an expert to help with that is the right approach and it will make things work very nicely. Take the right precautions and don’t hesitate to work with someone that knows what they are doing, so you can avoid issues.
Read also: 5 Ways to Unclog a Bathroom Sink
4. Cracked or Broken Sewer Lines
This particular cause can actually be more dangerous, due to a large variety of reasons. If you have the sewer line cracked or broken, then that means you deal with constant leaks, maybe even some clogs in some places. Needless to say, this is a serious problem and you must try to solve it as quickly as you can.
This is not the type of thing that you can just solve on your own. It will require a lot of attention and care to handle this properly, but there’s definitely potential in managing it with the right approach.
With that in mind, you do need the right equipment to identify broken sewer lines or cracked sewer lines. This is not something that you can identify on your own without any tools. That’s the reason why broken or cracked sewer lines are hard to identify because without the right equipment you won’t really know what to do and how to manage this appropriately. That doesn’t mean it will be hard to do, but in the end, you do want to avoid any rush and truly take your time to hire experts that know how to solve this.
Plumbers have the right tools and ideas needed to solve such a problem. They might have encountered what causes this issue anyway, so it just makes a lot of sense to hire a professional. That’s why you want to ensure you work with someone that you trust and who knows how to really deal with any situation like this.
Sewer line problems are usually harder to solve, they require extensive repairs or even replacements. So it’s safe to say that you are unable to do this on your own most of the time. It’s certainly something to keep in mind, and if you do it right the benefits can indeed be really impressive all the time, just use it to your own advantage.
How to Get rid of that Unwanted Laundry Room Smell
There’s no denying that all these causes can be very problematic, and you want to address the issues the best way that you can.
Thankfully, as we said above, each method has its own fix. If you have a dried water drain situation, you just have to place some water in there and it will be fine.
But there are many situations when hiring a professional is the only real way to solve this kind of problem. There will always be demanding challenges that can arise, and doing that properly can indeed make a huge difference.
It’s definitely tricky to find the right people that can help, but in the end, that’s what you want to strive for all the time. Even if it might actually seem really challenging to do.
Conclusion
Should you just ignore the sewage smell from your laundry room? Not at all, instead, you want to check all the causes listed above and also find the right solution to stop that problem.
Sometimes it might be easy to handle, other times it will actually be super tricky to do. That’s why you have to address that wisely, and once you do that, you will just be much happier with the results than you imagine.
Rest assured that any laundry room smell can be removed with the right solution. Of course, if you can’t solve this on your own, the right thing to do is to hire an expert, that’s what will give you the best value and results in the long run!
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