You’re brushing your teeth and you cannot stand the smell coming up from the sink drain. Why does your bathroom sink smell so bad? There are many things that can go wrong with your bathroom plumbing that cause odors; it isn’t just the kitchen drain that can smell. We here at Five Star Plumbing find the following things are the most common culprits for a stinky bathroom sink.
Pipe Wall Buildup
Everything you do at the bathroom sink causes buildup. There’s no way to avoid it. This buildup is called biofilm buildup because it’s made up of you: your skin cells, your spit, and your hair. When you brush your teeth, shave, and style your hair, everything that washes down the sink, including your toothpaste, mouthwash, shaving cream, and styling products build up against your plumbing walls. This can get pretty smelly after a while, especially because it creates a black, slimy mess that’s yucky to deal with.
Sewage Backup
If you have a clogged sewage line or septic system trouble, you might smell sewage in your bathroom sink and other drains because you have sewage backing up into the household plumbing system. This is not good because it not only smells, but it is also hazardous to you and your family. The most common cause of backed-up sewage is a clogged main line or overflowing septic tank. It’s best to have a professional plumber isolate the problem and fix it, as sewage is considered biohazardous waste.
Problematic Traps and/or Vents
Finally, your plumbing in the bathroom sink includes what’s called a “p-trap.” This trap is shaped like the letter U, and it’s designed to hold water so that the natural gases caused by biofilm and sewage cannot sneak up from the pipes and into your bathroom. If the p-trap is dry, you might notice foul odors coming up from the drain because there isn’t any water to block them. Your plumbing system also has vents to release the gases safely outside. If any of them are clogged, you may have stinky drains.
If you do, Five Star Plumbing would be happy to inspect and clean them. We offer this service to our customers so they can avoid this messy job. Call us at 210-446-4570 to reach our San Antonio, TX, location. We’ll dispatch a certified and professional technician to your location to find the source of your smelly drains and fix it.
