Tips for Preventing Your Toilet from Smelling

This article provides tips for preventing your toilet from smelling.

Toilets are a great invention that freed us from the need for outhouses, but do typically come with their own host of problems. An outhouse might have been a pain in the butt to get to, but it wouldn’t clog and flood your bathroom. One of the major disadvantages of an outhouse, which toilets occasionally suffer from as well, is odor. There is nothing worse than a stinky toilet odor, and the bottom line is that it shouldn’t smell at all. Assuming the smell isn’t due to a lack of cleaning or a pile of stinky clothes, here are some reasons your toilet might smell bad. This article provides tips for preventing your toilet from smelling.

Lack of Use

If a stinky toilet is one that is in an often-unused area, such as the basement, this could be the cause of the bad odor. Toilets have water in the bowl that forms a seal, keeping sewer gases trapped in the pipe network. If toilets are not used regularly, the water evaporates, allowing the gases to escape into the bathroom. Prevent your toilet from smelling by periodically flushing it so the water level remains up.

Pipe Blockages

Blockages in the pipes can accumulate over time, and then when you flush the toilet, you smell them. These can eventually lead to full clogs, which is a major plumbing problem. If you suspect that pipe blockages are causing the bad smell coming from your toilet, call B&D Plumbing and request a plumber master to come out and inspect your pipes and clean your drains.

Contact B&D Plumbing at 301-595-1141, your local professional plumber in Beltsville, Maryland.

Broken Wax Seal

There is a wax ring that creates a seal between the toilet and the sewer pipe at the floor. This seal prevents air from the toilet and sewer odors from being pushed through the pipe when someone flushes the toilet.

If the wax seal is broken, those odors can escape and return into the bathroom. If this is the case, water damage is likely the next consequence you will notice. Another sign is that this is your issue if the toilet rocks, even just a little. If you have a broken wax ring, please replace it as soon as possible.

Get in Touch With B&D Plumbing, Inc. Today!

Dealing with any plumbing concerns that require a professional to step in? Struggling with an absolute plumbing emergency that can’t wait? Let B&D Plumbing know. B&D Plumbing Inc. services the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area, including Maryland and Northern Virginia. Get in touch with us by calling (301) 595-1141 or follow us on social media including FacebookXLinkedIn, and Pinterest. As a small, family-owned business, we understand how important your home is—and we offer exceptional service that matches!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026 at 3:28 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Well respected in the industry, Bob and Dave are both members of the Master Plumbers Association WSMPA. Additionally, we have long-standing and personable relationships with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission WSSC, and Better Business Bureau. We stay on top of rules and regulation changes, so we are always equipped with the latest information about the how and the why. When you hire a B&D Master Plumber, you are hiring a quality plumber at a quality price.

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