sewer smell from basement drain

[jasonz]

I have what appears to be a very common problem and am looking for an answer to my proposed solution. I purchased a 90-year old home in April of 2003 and noticed shortly thereafter a sewage smell present in the basement. This portion of the basement is finished, has been waterproofed, mostly carpeted etc. I quickly learned that it was due to the traps in the bathroom (a small bathroom is present in this part of the basement) sink and shower being "dry" - and it also seemed to come from a floor drain that sits near the back wall of the basement (right next to the bathroom). Periodically pouring water down all three "did the trick" - until about two weeks ago. The smell would not go away, regardless of how much water was poured down all three openings. I quickly noticed that the floor drain itself was the problem. Shining a light down inside, it appears the pipe may have developed a hairline crack that is allowing the poured water to escape within a day or two. My solution: cap the drain. I went to the local Home Depot and bought a cap and rubber "adaptor", which when I put them together and put them over the drain, fits snugly inside. It's been three days running and the smell is still gone. So - the question is - is there any harm to keeping this drain plugged? If the drain is never used (unless of course we had a major flood-like catastrophe), is there any potential problem with this solution? We are a bit strapped for cash right now and the thought of hiring someone to rip up the floor and repair/replace the pipes is not something I would choose to do, should it not be necessary. Any help answering this question would be greatly appreciated.

[LazyPup]

YOu stated that you have other floor drains so there should not be any long term problem with affixing a temporary cover, so long as that cover can be removed in the event of water on the floor.

The common problem with floor drains is that they dont get used, therefore the water in the traps evaporates. The permanent solution and the one most often used in new construction is to install trap primers. A trap primer is simply a small diameter piece of tubing attached to another water source to periodically feed a small quantity of water into the traps.

There is a simple trick that will aid your problem. About every two or three months pour a couple quarts of water into the floor drain. That will fill the trap, then pour a 1/2 cup of ordinary cooking oil into the trap. The oil will float on the water and will retard evaportion.