(Patience, please. This is a weird one)

Last week we had new carpet installed in our home and after the crew left I found water in my kitchen ceiling - not much but enough to swell drywall tape). I traced it to upstairs where I found the master bath toilet had been knocked off the seal - it was rocking a good 1.5 - 2" side to side. I figure when the staged furniture in the bathroom they knocked the toilet. I shut off the toilet and no more water in the ceiling. Check... However, later that evening, my wife noticed that there was a really foul smell coming from the toilet. I figure seal is broken, gas escaping, etc... Later, I notice that the smell also comes when running the master bath shower as well as the sinks.

Next day, we notice that this smell comes not just from master bath, but from all outlets in the house. All sinks, showers, baths, etc... Once the water runs for about 5-10 seconds, here comes the smell. I assumed sewer gas but it has an acidic almost urine like smell. I figure reseat the toilet and close the circuit and all will be well. Saturday, I do just that. I also ran every faucet / outlet in the house to try to fill all P traps. No joy. Still the same - I get the smell everywhere in the house once water has run for 5- 10 seconds - down the drain. If I fill a bucket, no smell.

Next step is call the carpet installers and tell them what is going on and that I am going to call a plumber from a good, well known firm. Plumber comes on Saturday. Checks everything and cannot see any cause for the smell. He did not believe it was a sewer gas smell and questioned if it was a venting problem as there are three independent vents - one for each bathroom. Hard to figure one vent could be clogged and cause all drains to expell a gas. He questioned whether someone on the crew had flushed any chemicals down the drain. My wife did notice that the one toilet the crew used was in her words "really disgusting" and she had to thoroughly clean, but after more thought she wasn't sure that what was coating the bowl was human waste - she described a black spattering like if someone had a very upset stomach... The plumber inspected the vents in the attic and saw no evidence of a clog from attic floor to roof vents - you could see sunlight through the PVC. He didn't have much in the way of recommendations other than cut into the vents and run a camera up and down to look for a clog.

On Sunday I tried running baking soda and vinegar down the drains, flushing with hot (not boiling - just tap hot) water in enough volume that I know the P-Traps were filled (unless there is suction on the vents). No change.

So I have the carpet installer coming today to look around but things are not real good here... How would a single vent issue cause a housewide drain smell. COuld this be a chemical issue, and if so, what would I do next.

Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated.

Todd
Stinky in Acworth, GA

The odor could be in the water, since there is almost NO SINGLE "failure" that could cause all the drains to have an odor. Even the original problem, the loose toilet, could NOT have been caused by the furniture movers bumping it.

Have your wife wait outside, fill a bucket with water and take it outside and let her smell of it.