Major Restaurant Sewer Gas Issue

Ok, just finished this sewer gas smoke test, we got a phone call from a large popular chain restaurant in the San Diego area that has been suffering from plumbing sewer gas smell problems for years, literally years. They were referred to us by a property management company that we did an amazing sewer gas leak detection and smoke inspection for a year or so earlier. We had 2 attorneys and 3 or 4 principals following us around at every turn on that one. We nailed it and documented 4 points of infiltration. Everyone went home happy and all the lawsuits went away.

Ok, so we walk in the front door at this restaurant and whoa, no mistaking this one. Most of the time its, " well we smell it sometimes here or over there in the afternoon", not on this one. It was so strong that it was amazing. I can't believe anyone would sit and eat and we were told that it was like this all the time.

As usual, we got the call after numerous plumbers before us had been there and come away empty handed without finding the cause for the sewer smell. We found the little charcoal vent caps on the roof and some plumber had even re-routed vent lines but dumped them into enclosed building spaces. It was a mess.

So, we progress with our test and almost immediately, we determine that XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX when you put your nose up to the hole, it was amazing, it was almost an instant headache from the sewer gas. It was a problem staying there at the top of a ladder. So we continued to XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX. It was incredibly difficult to see. The crawlspace was too tight for human access. We used a sewer camera to get a visual on the area. It told us what we wanted to know. The gas was coming from an attached column, via a crawlspace, that was outside of the restaurant.

Poor manager, here we are telling him, ok you have to bust into that column. It's in there somewhere. To his credit he didn't say it but he just looked at us like "I'm not comfortable with this." He had faith, after permission was obtained from the property management company, we cut two inspection holes into the wood framed stucco column. Don't forget this was outside his restaurant bordering on the walkway that went around the exterior. When we cut into the column, strong sewer gas was clearly evident. The first hole didn't provide a clear view so the second hole was cut on the opposit side and after a bit of searching inside the column, a hole in the concrete slab was located. It may have been a c/o that was improperly placed and broken off or an intended vent pipe snapped off and never fixed. In any event, we nailed it. We properly capped it and informed the property management company so they could follow up. Also I do believe that because the problem originated from the area outside of the restaurant under property management control, they are on the hook for the testing and repairs. This was a difficult one. I was really excited to solve this man's problem.
I called him the next morning to check up on things after the leak was capped. He told me he almost cried. I think he meant it. For the first time ever the smell was gone.
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, we're the ones that know what were doing.Superjet Hydro Jetting Sewer and Drain