Hi - a lot of these posts seem to be slightly different but thought I would share my experience in my home that may prove helpful or be similar. My wife and I moved to our home newly built 5 years ago tomorrow! I can't say I've noticed the smell in the first year but maybe it's poor memory. After the first year, we'd notice this propane/rotten/dead animal like smell. At first I thought the builder put something in the vents - no signs of any rodents ever and ruled this out. Next I checked the line/drain from the AC/furnace and even had a tech check and clean the pump - no help. plumber says there is no issue with drainage or sewer or any back up venting - ok. what HAS helped intermittently is calling the gas company to check the gas lines inside. I've had them 7 times in the past 2 years, each time they find a small leak - nothing major, no reading except with the sniffer right at the source of the leak. {I also have multiple CO and gas detectors on the floor (heavy gas). They have never gone off}. After the gas company repairs the pipe the smell is gone for a few weeks maybe months depending on warm or cold season. It comes back, gas company is back out and repeat. I have replaced two ovens in the kitchen due to them being the source of the leak. I find that the air return on the main level of my house sucks in the smell and returns it to the furnace. When the furnace kicks on we smell it out of the vents. Occasionally I can smell it in the room where the furnace is also. Gas company has done line checks, pressure checks, fixed leaks - I've paid them thousands to come out and fix this over and over then the smell returns - I've returned two "new" ovens due to leaks after minimal use. I have a 2 yr old son and new baby due in a month and NEED this resolved. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or have been through something similar.

No. I am not saying the plumber is a lying. In fact, I now agree that you are getting a good service for $80. I guess my creative writing went over your head. I should have been more careful. Make no mistake: I do not and never would recommend duct tape to repair this problem. It was a playful reference to the Âall purpose repair. But I said it, because that would actually get rid of the odors. The Fernco fitting is a rubber sleeve with a high-strength band that will be a truly adequate remedy and to-code. Since this is a not a professional site, and appeals to DIYers, I was sort of suggesting that you are already doing the most of the work by exposing this repair. It is one small step to repair the pipe. Then again, for 8 dimes, you can let him work in the cramped attic, cut cast iron, if need and make the repair. Probably he will guarantee it. Unfortunately my mind wandered far astray, in pursuit of the truth about corrosion. That I will stand behind. Cast iron pipe and the other black kind (ABS, which you don't have, I suppose) and other pipe rated DVW are especial suitable for their resistance to corrosion. In any case, it has to be an extreme rarity for this pipe to fail in the way you described. I have seen CI pipe corrode and leak where raw sewage has stood for a long time. This occurs when there is a chronic problem, such as reverse slope, or long-term clogging, where the effluent stands in the pipe  always a horizontal one. (A vertical would have to be filled too, but fail later.) So, I am sticking with my statement that sewer gases are not the cause of this huge, gaping hole. It makes no sense that any corrosive agent would be concentrated at one point, and predictably, " at this spot (right above the toilet connection.)" Assuming that a conventional installation, using a closet bend, is how the toilet is connected, that fitting will flow into a sanitary Tee. And the vent pipe just above that is inserted into the hub of the Tee. That, in those years, would have been a lead-and-oakum caulk joint. The pipe would have been cut with a stress-inducing chain cutter, typically. IÂm guessing, that the pipe was partially broken during the installation, years ago. And that the subsequent joint making, which packs lead tightly against the OD of the pipe, introduced a heavy permanent breaking forced. Finally, with aging, vibration and thermal changes, the old damage revealed itself as a hole. If the break-out is small, it may not matter a lot. If one large piece fell to the bottom of the stack, it could create a clog there. Keep your eyes open for that. Sorry to be so hard on the guy. HeÂs probably a pretty good egg after all. But IÂd look out for the other fellow. $400 for a Âsmoke test means heÂs keeping the good stuff for himself. Fine Columbian, probably. Pinoke

Mr. Fudd, How novel, you say that I assume... but you only suspect. ( If anything, I am at least fair.) The Uniform Plumbing code snippet was obtained from the internet. So is now the internet providing misinformation? (I can't post something I can't obtain, again if you have this magical proof of what you're saying is true, where is it?) If people are afraid of misinformation, why should they listen to you and other non-professionals of this board with no proof in what you post? Where is this the Head Quarters of this board located? Why am I able to access it? You have the ability to post your information that proves what you say is true. Don't you? Is my standing as a Professional Member of this board any more favorable to me than to you? (In your ability to post information?) Didn't the OP here, post pictures describing his situation? What is preventing you Mr. Fudd or anyone else for that matter... posting your PROOF of what you say is ACCURATE. Yet it is you claiming that I am posting misinformation? So please post your proof, for the whole world to see. --------------- The way I see it, it's a two way street. We have a single website forum board dealing with everyone coming to it even though things like climate, design and plethora of other differences via location. With that said in terms of someone calling me because they live in or near my service area of Katy, Texas (far west suburb of Houston). I'll use a fishing analogy to answer this with.... 'You can NOT catch a fish, without going fishing can you?' I am always looking for a new AC customer, maybe it's the silent reader of this board who dislikes the politics and theatrics of those that frequent it. It matters not one bit of how or where they find me. Only that they find me. I've gotten calls all across the USA, BEFORE I became active on this board. Assumptions / Suspicions are useless. I do not troubleshoot or 'diagnose' AC systems over the phone. HVAC is a 'in person' service business. I come to you, provided you live within my service area.

-Humidity upstairs is 36%, basement is 33% If these readings are accurate, then the current humidity is not an issue and is actually too low for most people. It is interesting the basement has a lower humidity that the house. I suppose it is because the dehumidifier is in the basement. When I removed the existing wallpaper in several of the lower rooms, I found black mold or mildew. This is concerning. There was a problem in the past that was so bad mold grew behind the wallpaper. After caulking inside the windows, I had the walls sealed and repainted. It is better now, but one room still smells musty when it is closed for a few days. How old is this house? What type of siding does it have? Has it ever been replaced? Given the wallpaper mold perhaps there was water seeping in through outdoor siding and widows that became trapped in interior walls and insulation. You might have to open a section of the interior wall of the room that still smells to see if there is mold and wet insulation in the wall.