# Raw sewage odor



## Boco (May 18, 2013)

Does anyone have a remedy for a septic tank that backed up into a concrete basement? What a mess. Everything has been cleaned up and sprayed with Clorox but it still stinks to high heaven. Air absorbers help but not enough. I was able to get a temp exhaust pipe set up and have a commercial dehumidifier running. Now I need a good cover scent till I can get the walls sealed.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

sounds like a bad SH1Tuation. May want to call a professional

I know my insurance policy has that covered


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

If the basement had carpet remove it and replace with new. Lemon lysol works well, but make sure the sodium hypochlorite is gone. 

Head shops sell some pretty decent inscense. I think the Bob Marley Purple Passion Bud would leave a nice scent.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Yep, like Bill said. Just call a disaster restoration outfit. They have the tools and chemicals to deal with this.


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## Boco (May 18, 2013)

I actually am the pro. Though I only started about 6 months ago. Everything so far has been smoke and flood. This one was actual black sewage. Nasty. Problem wasn't with me the plumber left a vent pipe uncapped in the wall. y He was afraid to drill a hole in the roof. This morning I ended up using the hole I cut out for my temp exhaust to vent the septic. Everything should be permanent now that everyone had time and daylight to get things in order. I am heading back now to do a final clean and check everything out.


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

What made you decide to get into this type of work?

I was going to say call enpro or servepro but since your the pro I won't mention those other companies.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

CApainter said:


> If the basement had carpet remove it and replace with new. Lemon lysol works well, but make sure the sodium hypochlorite is gone.
> 
> Head shops sell some pretty decent inscense. I think the Bob Marley Purple Passion Bud would leave a nice scent.


Figures you would have a favorite. I prefer "Amish cow pasture" myself.


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## Boco (May 18, 2013)

I only really got in to restorations after hurricane Irene. I already had a few commercial dehumidifiers for my drywall business and had been working for several insurance companies prior. At first I was just doing the drywall repairs , painting taping. Then went to being a GC on restorations doing every thing from flooring carpentry. Then last winter I ended up buying 2 air scrubbers from a contractor who was retiring. I really only planned on renting out my equipment and using it for the occasional flooded basement or broken pipe. Ended up being a great investment as I rent my dehumids out at $90.00 per day, scrubbers $110.00. Protec and Serv pro are my best customers. Lately its been slow but when spring rolls around I am sure I will get a call or two.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

The insurance resto business was very good to me. Sometimes too good.


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## akrause (May 18, 2010)

This stuff is amazing. I would def try it. It has helped us many times.
http://www.scoe10x.com/


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## Roamer (Jul 5, 2010)

You could try S/W's Harmony line after all of the cleaning is done. That line of paint has an odor absorbing feature.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

Roamer said:


> You could try S/W's Harmony line after all of the cleaning is done. That line of paint has an odor absorbing feature.


For a while. The little odor absorbing molecules attach to the odor causing molecules. Once there is no more empty odor absorbing molecules it doesn't work anymore. How long until that happens depends on how many odor causing molecules there are to absorb. In a house with heavy smokers that can be as little as a couple of months, then it actually needs to be re-coated to continue absorbing odors. Also if someone uses something like Glade or Febreeze on a regular basis it will become non-odor absorbing quicker as well.

In a situation where you have all of that sewage odor in the air, it won't last long either. In China, titanium dioxide pigment is actually touted as an odor and formaldehyde absorbing feature of interior paints. It does for a while, but then what?

Is it worth paying extra for? I don't know. Seems gimmicky to me. There are very few odor absorbing paints on the market (Harmony and Dutch Boy Refresh are the only two that come to mind), and if it had a great deal of validity I would think Ben Moore, PPG and Behr would be all over it.


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## PRC (Aug 28, 2014)

Boco said:


> Does anyone have a remedy for a septic tank that backed up into a concrete basement? What a mess. Everything has been cleaned up and sprayed with Clorox but it still stinks to high heaven. Air absorbers help but not enough. I was able to get a temp exhaust pipe set up and have a commercial dehumidifier running. Now I need a good cover scent till I can get the walls sealed.


http://www.nilodor.com/m/OnlineCatalog/Nilotron__Full_Release_Odor_Neutralizing_Fogger-details.aspx

I know one contactor that used this to take care of the odor from smokers in a cigar/tobacco shop after they moved out. He said it completely eliminated all odor.


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## akrause (May 18, 2010)

I realize this topic is old and I'm way late to the party but SCOE 10x http://www.scoe10x.com/is the answer to your problem. If you follow the directions properly, ...the stuff is amazing. My company does tons of apartment turnover work and from time to time we get a "cat lady" unit where cat piss by the gallons has soaked through the carpet and padding into either the plywood sub floor or in some cases even the slab itself. It might take 2 treatments if it's really bad, ...but I've never found anything even close to this stuff.


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