The Stench Behind the Sink: Navigating Noxious Drains with Plumbing Pro Matt Black

What Causes a Smelly Drain?

Ever been ambushed by a foul smell upon entering a bathroom? Matt Black, plumbing guru of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Port St Lucie, joins me, Garfield Bowen, to unravel the enigma of odiferous drains on our latest Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Podcast. Plunge into the murky waters of plumbing as we dissect the reasons behind that pungent aroma lurking in your household drains. Gain the upper hand on this olfactory offense as Matt imparts wisdom on the vitality of regular water flow in your P-traps and the common misconceptions about garbage disposals.

This episode is packed with olfactory enlightenment and maintenance maneuvers to keep your home from turning into a fragrant fiasco. We discuss why even the bathroom that's rarely visited needs a splash of attention and how a misunderstanding of your disposal's purpose could be the culprit behind the kitchen's funky air. Matt Black provides actionable advice on keeping your drains clean and your nose happy. Tune in for these nose-saving tips and be part of the movement that ensures your home remains a sweet-smelling sanctuary!

To learn more about Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, go to:
https://www.benjaminfranklinplumbing.com/port-st-lucie/

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Port St. Lucie
6945 NW LTC Parkway
Port St Lucie, FL 34986
(772) Call-Ben

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome to Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Podcast, where, if there's any delay, it's you we pay. Here's your host and owner of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Port St Lucie, matt Black.

Speaker 2: 0:19

Up. Next we are getting into the bottom of a stinky situation with the owner of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Port St Lucie. Why does your drain smell bad? Stay tuned to find out. Welcome back everyone. This is Garfield Bone, co-host, slash producer. Back in the studio with Matt Black Matt, how's it going today? I'm doing great today. How are you doing?

Speaker 3: 0:44

I am well, I'm well. So, matt, what causes it?

Speaker 2: 0:45

going today. I'm doing great today. How are you doing? I am well, I'm well, so, matt. What causes a smelly drain?

Speaker 3: 0:50

There could be multiple culprits that cause a smelly drain. One of the common ones that we run into is usually in a guest bathroom or a powder bathroom that doesn't get used. So if you're not using that bathroom and you have P-traps that are underneath the tub or the shower and you are not running water in there, all of a sudden that P-trap will, the water will evaporate and all of a sudden you're getting sewer gases that's coming into your home. So people don't understand and don't know that if you've got a bathroom that you rarely use, you should still go in there once a week or once every two weeks and just run the water through it. So you're always filling that trap back up with water so the sewer gases aren't getting back into your home. That could potentially be one cause. The other is what you're putting down the drain.

Speaker 3: 1:35

Some people that have garbage disposals think that they can put anything they want down the drain and the garbage disposal will take care of it. And a garbage disposal is meant for scraping off the plates once the items are disposed of into a trash can or into something else and just rinsing them off. But putting a bunch of food we have. People put eggshells. We have all kinds of things that go down the drain. That starts building up, and if you don't use a preventative maintenance product to keep that from clogging up and stinking up your place, then that's what you're going to have to keep that from clogging up and stinking up your place and that's what you're going to have, so, wow.

Speaker 2: 2:09

So if your bathroom is smelling that, you don't use it. You just need to flush the toilet once a month, huh.

Speaker 3: 2:15

No, actually you need to turn the water on under the shower or under the sink the P-trap's in the shower and the P-trap's in the sink. The water is designed to fill that trap and if you're not using it it evaporates and sewer gases can escape past that trap. The toilet always has water in it because even if it starts to leak out, the water will leak out the toilet. Now if you go in there and have no water in your toilet bowl, then you know that you've got an issue where you've got something that's leaking down below. But usually the toilet is going to auto fill and fill right back up anyway. So if you have a small leak in the toilet it'll just refill itself.

Speaker 3: 2:48

You don't have that ability with a shower trap or a bathroom. You know sink trap Commercial buildings where they have floor drains or they have traps. In bathrooms they have what's called a trap primer. That trap primer is hooked to your potable water line and it will shoot water into that trap every so often, so it always keeps the trap full so you're not getting those sewer gases back into the commercial buildings.

Speaker 2: 3:15

So I guess it's almost like you're leaving a bucket of water outside and you have something the rotten, the bacteria, it's going to smell.

Speaker 3: 3:23

Yep, you're going to get that. The water's going to dissipate, get to a certain level. It's going to let the gases get back in.

Speaker 2: 3:29

Okay, so the takeaway is run the water every now and then. Okay, in the bathroom you see something smelling, you know. And yeah, good stuff, matt, we'll see you in the next episode.

Speaker 1: 3:49

Sounds great, thank you. Thanks for listening to Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Podcast with Matt Black. To learn more, go to BenjaminFranklinPlumbingcom or call 772-CALL-BEN. That's 772-225-5236.