Home Improvement Today?

Ok, so you caught me there. I didn't stack rings. I actually pulled out the old one (which was a jumbo) and replaced it with this one:
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/toilets/toilet-repair-parts/4011429

And I made sure the new flange was flush with the floor.

 

OK, so flange flush with the floor, and an appropriate height semi-reusable ring in place. Details are important

Did you check the tank to make sure someone didn't upper deck you?

 

I removed all the wax residue from the toilet if that's what you mean.
Sorry plumbing is not my world at all, just going off YouTube videos mostly.

 

Urban Dictionary: Upperdeck

 

This is my go to for a wax ring,
Since I started using this I haven't had problems

 

I mean using them regularly will keep them filled. I was more just thinking outside the box that maybe you had an abandoned or retrofitted drain somewhere that no longer gets used where it could have dried out. If the traps dry you have an open vent to the sewage system, so it will smell really bad.

 

um, yeah, that's nothing that i would sign my name to. between the galvanized water pipe, and sewer coupling hell, all of that ought be torn out and replaced..

use this stuff with the oakum to tie in the new pvc to the existing soil stack(ideally, you'd want to replace that as well, but it typically leads all the way up through the roof.


as far as your smell, i would more closely inspect your tub or sink drains. it's more likely that the smell is backflowing when the toilet is used.

my neighbor just had a similar issue with a rogue sewer smell, mostly when flushing the toilet. between me and him, we poured over all of his plumbing system for about 2 hours, not being able to figure out where the smell was coming from. difference being that i had fully remodeled my bathroom, and he hadn't, but the houses were built identical. in both houses, the main 4" cast iron vent stack rises up directly behind the toilet. the toilet connects via a short 90 and 6" of pipe. to be able to vent the toilet drain, there's a small 1-1/4" galvanized vent pipe that connects near the base of the stack where it enters the ground, and then extends up about 4' above the toilet connection to the main stack.

in his house, it turned out that about halfway up that 1-1/4" 'vent/vent', there was a threaded galvanized coupler. that coupler had split lengthwise on the non-accessible back side, so it was easily overlooked, and almost impossible to find.


as far as making the connection into the soil stack later:
https://www.blackswanmfg.com/Category-04/Soil-O.HTML

 

Oh yeah I know. Now that I've finished the electrical, (I've got some great photos of that too) it's time to move on to the plumbing.

Yeah the soil stack is about all that is original here, well not original original.. the original sewer line is a sad little 2" rusted to hell pipe still embedded in the foundation. But the soil stack (and main sewer line) is a cast iron pipe that is in decent shape still.

 

Here is an example of some of the electrical I inherited. Yes I found it that way.


Believe it or not I did have a state licensed inspector take a look at the house before I bought it. Worst $400 I've ever spent. Guy is a straight up con man.

 

You mean a home inspector? Yeah, they're a joke. There's no licensing requirements. It's an association. You pay your dues and they say your legit. Don't worry though. Everyone buying a home pays for those useless inspections. Even I did because my wife insisted on it. Then when we got the "report" I went through and found about 5 errors and 7 things he flat out missed. lol

 

Well now we know. About the only worthwhile thing he found was a huge mold infestation in the attic (failed to notice the rats nest of exposed live wires making contact with insulation up there) and then proceeded to tell me he has his own mold extermination business and would be happy to take care of it for me. Yah bud I passed on that one.

 

Once I found this, I opened every wall with an outlet, switch, or light on it that the previous owners did work on. This was the worst I found, but there was some other sketchy shit.


I have no idea how this house didn't burn down...

Obviously, it was behind a wall, so the inspector wouldn't have had access to it.

 

Behind a wall and not in a junction box. But, it's not like who ever did this had the first fucking clue of how to work on electrical. Good luck find all of the jank.

 

Oh yeah, it was really bad. I've been into as many places as I could find and brought everything up to code. It was easy to see what they touched... Their drywaller wasn't great either.

 

honestly, them at twisting the wires together, instead of just jamming them into the wire nut is literally 70% better than most 'surprises' i found in electrical boxes...

 

Well I figured out the problem. As I was taking a shower the other day, I was thinking about what @6 gearT444E mentioned about p-traps. And then it occurred to me.
So every evening after dinner I take a shower and then my wife throws my 14 M.O. in to join me. Because we don't have a bathtub, I usually cover up the drain with my foot so he can splash around and have some fun with some bath toys. Well, normally I don't think this would be a problem. But since our shitty house with it's non-conforming plumbing doesn't have any vents..
So I ran the washing machine (only thing in the bathroom that isn't run regularly) and voila, smell dissipated after a few hours. So I guess my son doesn't get to have fun splishy splashy time anymore . At least until we (I) remodel this bathroom.

 

I don't see the problem...... Let me clean my glasses...... I would be checking to see if your inspector is licensed and insured. Mostly insured tap his errors and omissins clause. It will make him do a better job. A home on our block a few years ago had a problem when it sold that Stevie Wonder should have noticed. The insurance company covered it all. That plumbing mess you had should have been a red flag for him. The guy I used took off a couple covers to check if it looked good in a couple locations. But that was 30 + yrs ago when people did their job.

 

Spent last week doing a bunch of things for a new customer. Removed a big wall mounted TV and some built-ins in the office/den and the LR. Walls required some serious patching/prep for paint. Added new baseboard trim, cleaned up old cracked caulking along the stairs, painted the top 1/2 the DR (old color was green) and painted walls & trim in the areas I removed the built-ins and along the stairs.

LR:



Office/Den:




DR:


Stairs: