//Quick answer
- One room, rarely used drain: dry trap. Run water for a few seconds.
- Several rooms, or the yard: vent or sewer line. Camera time.
- A wet, green patch in the lawn is a lateral leak until proven otherwise.
01Definition
Why does a drain smell?
The P-trap under every fixture holds a plug of water that seals the drain against sewer gas. If that water evaporates (a guest bath, a floor drain, a shower nobody uses), the seal is gone and the smell comes up. Refilling the trap fixes it. A trap that is used daily and still smells is broken or the problem is elsewhere.
When is it the vent or the line?
A blocked or broken vent stops air flow and pulls trap seals; a cracked or leaking sewer lateral lets gas and sewage into the soil, which you smell in the yard and sometimes see as an unusually green, wet patch. A gurgle from a toilet alongside the smell is the line talking.
02When it applies
What can you try first?
Run water in every drain in the house for a few seconds, including floor drains. Check that a garbage disposal's splash guard and a washing machine standpipe are clean. If the smell is gone in a day, it was a dry trap. If it persists or is in the yard, stop guessing.
What does the visit involve?
A camera inspection of the sewer lateral to look for a crack, a joint separation or a belly holding sewage, and a check of the venting. Done-Rite offers a free video inspection so the cause is on screen before any repair is quoted.
03What goes wrong
What does a leaking lateral do if it waits?
It saturates the soil, undermines paving, and eventually the pipe fails fully with sewage backing into the house. The green patch in the lawn is early information; the collapse is late and expensive.
04Proof
- A camera goes down the line before anyone quotes a drain or sewer repair, and the camera inspection is included with the $99 drain snaking.
- No trip charge, a 1-hour response time, and 24/7 emergency service.
- 4.9 stars across 1,720+ Google reviews on the Orange profile, checked September 17, 2026.
- Six plumbers averaging more than 9 years in the trade each, plus a General Manager with 25+ years.
05Action
Put a camera on it
Free video inspection, no trip charge, and a plain answer: a trap, a vent, or a line that needs a spot repair or more.
//Keep going
Learn
//Terms used in this guide
Where this applies
Done-Rite runs these calls across Orange County from its shop in Anaheim, CA, with no trip charge in any city it serves.
Common questions
The trap water evaporated and the seal is gone. Running the tap for a few seconds refills it.
A leaking sewer lateral feeds it. A camera inspection confirms it and locates the break.
