Ask a Plumber Blog: Guidance from a Master Plumber

Smelly House?! Discover the Surprising Culprit: Sewer Vent Pipe Nail Holes

nail punctures sewer vent pipe behind wall

If there is a bad smell in your house, it is usually an indication that something has gone wrong – particularly if it is a sewage smell.

If the smell is coming from the kitchen, bathroom or laundry room, it may indicate that you have a back-up occurring in your plumbing system.

Then again, it could be something else, especially if the smell is throughout the house or in a room that doesn’t have a sink, tub or toilet.

Just ask Judy, a Trinity Plumbing customer who had a strange sewer smell appear in her hallway that just wouldn’t go away.

You Shouldn’t Ignore Bad Smells

When Judy first began smelling an odd sewer smell in her hallway, she really didn’t think too much about it. Maybe someone had brought something in on their shoes from outside or maybe it was just an unpleasant scent wafting down the hallway from the bathroom.

After a week or so of putting up with the bad smell in the house, however, Judy realized that something else might be going on. After asking her friend for advice on who she should call, she contacted Trinity Plumbing.

A Small Hole Can Cause a Big Problem

On the day we arrived, it didn’t take us long to track down the smelly problem.

Using a combustible gas detector and a sewer camera, we quickly determined that while trying to hang a picture, in the hallway, someone had inadvertently drilled a hole into the sewer pipe that was inside the wall, allowing the sewer smell to escape.

After cutting the wall open and repairing the section of the sewer pipe that had been damaged by the nail, the bad small in house quickly went away, making Judy one very happy customer.

How to Prevent Household Plumbing Smells?

Obviously, having a qualified person on hand to make sure that someone wasn’t drilling into a pipe inside the wall could have prevented this from happening, but almost all homeowners hang their own pictures.

Truth be told, there is a 1 in 1000 chance of this kind of thing happening to you. In other words, it was just one of those things.

To prevent this sort of thing from occurring, however, we recommend using a stud finder that can differentiate between a stud and a pipe.

Still, if there is any doubt – hiring a handyman to hang pictures could be the best way to go.

Call Trinity Plumbing When You Need a Professional Plumber

If you have a plumbing problem, work with the team you can trust – Trinity Plumbing. We offer fair, upfront pricing estimates with no hidden fees, and we are dedicated to providing you with the highest possible level of customer service.

 Contact us today to schedule service.

Robert (Master Plumber)

Robert (Master Plumber)

Owner of Trinity Plumbing, LLC
Residential & Commercial Plumbing

Serving: Acworth, Dallas, Kennesaw, Marietta, Smyrna, & surrounding Metro Atlanta areas

Full Bio & All Author Posts
Robert (Master Plumber)

Robert (Master Plumber)

Owner of Trinity Plumbing, LLC
Residential & Commercial Plumbing

Serving: Acworth, Dallas, Kennesaw, Marietta, Smyrna, & surrounding Metro Atlanta areas

Full Bio & All Author Posts