Areas We Serve

Areas We Serve

Why Does My Shower Drain Smell Like Sewage?

Walking into your bathroom for a shower should feel refreshing—not like you just opened a sewer lid. If your shower drain in Bellevue smells foul, you’re probably wondering what’s going on. At 2 Sons Plumbing Bellevue, we hear this complaint all the time. Don’t worry—while it’s unpleasant, the cause is usually something simple.

What’s Behind That Smell?

If your shower smells like sewage, it’s usually a sign of a small plumbing hiccup. We run into this a lot in Bellevue homes, and here are the usual suspects:

A Dry P-Trap

There’s a U-shaped pipe called a P-trap right under your shower. Its job is to hold a little water and keep sewer gases from sneaking back up. If the shower isn’t used much, that water evaporates and—bam—your bathroom smells like the street outside after a storm.

Buildup in the Drain

Hair, soap, shampoo gunk… it all slides down the drain and sticks. After a while, that buildup starts harboring bacteria, and the smell that rises up can be nasty. If the water is draining slowly, that’s a pretty good clue this is happening.

Vent Pipe Trouble

Every plumbing system needs airflow. That’s what the vent pipes are for. But if a vent gets blocked by leaves, dirt, or even a curious bird making a nest, gases can’t escape properly. Instead, they come right back into your bathroom through the shower drain.

A Few Quick Fixes You Can Try

Not every smelly drain needs a plumber right away. Before you call, give these simple steps a try:

Run some water: If that shower doesn’t get much use, just let the water run for a minute to refill the P-trap.
Baking soda & vinegar trick: Pour in half a cup of baking soda, then the same amount of vinegar. Let it bubble, then flush with hot water. It can clear minor buildup.
Cover unused drains: A cheap drain cover will stop odors from escaping in a bathroom you don’t use often.

These little hacks often help. But if the odor keeps coming back, it’s usually pointing to something bigger.

When It’s Time to Call for Help

If you’ve tried the quick fixes and the smell won’t quit—or you notice it in more than one drain—it’s time to bring in a pro. In Bellevue, we see this all the time. Sometimes it’s a stubborn clog buried deep in the line. Other times it’s a blocked vent or a worn-out seal somewhere in the system.

That’s when 2 Sons Plumbing Bellevue comes in. We use specialized cameras and tools that let us see exactly what’s going on and fix it fast. Most of the time, a professional drain cleaning or vent inspection (usually around $200–$450) clears the issue for good.

Get Rid of That Smell for Good

Nobody wants to shower while holding their breath. Call 2 Sons Plumbing Bellevue today at (206) 487-1757. We’ll track down the cause, clear it out, and leave your shower (and your nose) feeling a whole lot better.

2 Sons Plumbing, Electrical, Heating & Air

4.9

Based on 3632 reviews

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Oksana Naidu

21:38 04 Mar 26

Highly recommend 2 Sons. We had a leak in the master bath due to some malfunctioning fixtures and needed to install shut off valves on the hot and cold water lines to prevent further leaks while we waited on the faulty part replacements to be delivered. It was a treat to work with a professional and honest plumbing company that also does quality work. A great experience from first call to post-completion follow ups. Marcos, who was assigned to our job, was just awesome - thorough, efficient, knowledgeable, professional, courteous and helpful. He took his time to fully assess the issue, provided great options and then quickly repaired the problem. Thanks so much for great service in a stressful situation.

Oksana Naidu

21:38 04 Mar 26

Happy Lemon

01:28 04 Mar 26

We had an outstanding experience with this company! They provided incredibly fast, careful, and professional service for our commercial business. From start to finish, their customer service was absolutely excellent-responsive, friendly, and truly attentive to our needs.

A special thank you to our technician, ADAM, who did an exceptional job fixing our clogged hand sink. He was knowledgeable, efficient, and extremely professional & polite. He quickly resolved it with great skill and attention to detail.

Highly recommended!

Happy Lemon

01:28 04 Mar 26

Louisa

21:24 25 Feb 26

Trung our tech and his apprentice Cole did a fantastic job yesterday. They worked tirelessly to replace our old CPVC pipes, install our new shower, and replace our kitchen sink. The job had a multitude of delays due our pipes not being plumb and some extra wall demo. They worked for at least 13+ hours yesterday and left our home at 11 pm. Trung wanted to ensure that we didn't have our water off longer than necessary. We could not be more thankful and grateful for their efforts in the rough in for our bathroom remodel. We look forward to having them back to install the shower/ tub combo, new bathroom faucet, and new toilet with a bidet seat. Trung always went out of his way to explain what was going on and helped us make informed decisions about our home. This is our 3rd or 4th time using 2 Sons and we couldn't recommend them more!

Louisa

21:24 25 Feb 26

Kathy Cook

18:02 19 Feb 26

I have to say Bob was amazing!!! I had a clogged drain in my kitchen sink. Bob came in and took every precaution to be neat & clean. He explained to me what he was going to do and gave me the pricing and I agreed and he got to work. He was super kind and polite and fixed my drain issue. He was a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend using 2 Sons!

Kathy Cook

18:02 19 Feb 26

Emily Speakman

22:53 16 Feb 26

Had issues at home with water backup. Dave was prompt, professional, and genuinely kind. He communicated between myself and my landlord, explaining the issues and next steps. He quickly put an interim solution in place and outlined the long-term needs. Felt super reliable and easy to work with — highly recommend 2 Sons Plumbing.

Emily Speakman

22:53 16 Feb 26

Frank Church V

22:16 15 Feb 26

We contacted these Plumbers on a Friday using Yelp quotes, and they were the fastest to reply and the fastest to engage with us when we had questions. We felt that warranted to give them the opportunity to give us the first consultation. Sometimes we get multiple consults if we get any icky feeling from the people doing it. We didn’t feel that way with this company.

Our toilet was leaking, and we expected we probably could use a new one. But wanted a professional estimate and options.

We got hooked up with their team to schedule it and they were able to give us a time only a day out. We asked for a 8-1pm window and received automated text and a formal phone call from a dispatcher saying how far out the plumber technician was.

The plumber who showed up was named Carey. We also a received a picture of him before he arrived for safety concerns which I thought was a good touch of care from the company. Carey was lights-out the best guy we could have asked for.

He showed up within the approximate eta and was kind, gracious, considerate of our space and gave us a myriad of options. He quoted us prices that felt quite fair, and we chose the option where he removes the toilet and chooses a toilet for us: though we talked about the various options beforehand.
All and all he left for 30 min to get the toilet: and returned to install it. Installation was complete within another 30 minutes.

He was so good man. And we just felt like this is how service and care and things should be in this world. It’s always refreshing when you get that. Because so many outfits just: make you regret everything.

The work was quick, professional, and he was happy to be there and gave us information every step of the way that we respected and appreciated.

We will use this company in the future. You earned our respect and business.

Frank Church V

22:16 15 Feb 26

Sitong Liu

07:46 04 Feb 26

I initially hired this company to address a leak in my water service line. Due to repeated misdiagnosis and unsuccessful repair attempts, the work ultimately escalated into a full water service line replacement, resulting in a final cost far higher than what I had initially expected. While the replacement is now completed and functioning, the overall experience was frustrating and poorly managed.

From the start, pricing and expectations were unclear. I was told repair costs couldn’t be determined until excavation, yet on the day of work—before anything began—I was asked to sign for a high fixed repair price based on assumptions that were never discussed during the estimate.

The first repair attempt failed, and the leak clearly continued. No further investigation was done, I was required to pay in full, and I was told a discount would only apply if I committed to a full water service line replacement the same day, before the issue was properly resolved.

After paying for a second leak detection myself, the original leak was confirmed to still be present. Management involvement was requested but delayed, and during a follow-up visit I was asked to sign a new agreement stating the work was only a “repair attempt” with no warranty, despite the original repair being sold as warrantied.

I later proceeded with the water service line replacement based on specific assurances about the final cost, but the estimate I received did not align with those assurances. Throughout the process, I had to make multiple phone calls and send repeated emails over several days just to get responses.

While the final replacement works, the lack of technical competence, shifting pricing and warranty terms, and consistently poor communication made this an unnecessarily stressful experience. I would not use this company again.

Sitong Liu

07:46 04 Feb 26

DyAndreye Wray

20:14 03 Feb 26

Carey and Mycha came over to do some plumbing work at my residence and did an amazing job from beginning to end.
I appreciate the great communication and great service and it was done in a timely fashion. Thank you for the service & I look forward to doing business with you again!

DyAndreye Wray

20:14 03 Feb 26

Tanya Hines

18:09 02 Feb 26

Dave from 2 Sons Plumbing was fantastic! He arrived on time, quickly diagnosed the issues and turned out nothing needed to be fixed so was honest about that. And that’s appreciated! Very professional and Excellent communication! I will definitely be using 2 Sons Plumbing again for any plumbing needs and also I have already recommended to my parents! I will also be Highly recommending to my friends, family and acquaintances!

Tanya Hines

18:09 02 Feb 26

Ashley Arata

23:22 29 Jan 26

Carey and Micah came out on short notice when our tankless water heater started leaking unexpectedly. They were able to provide an extremely competitive quote on site and schedule us for installation the next day. We had some other pre-scheduled contractors in our home when they did the installation and they were extremely professional and courteous in making space for them to share space. I also appreciate how they cleaned up after work was completed. Overall wonderful guys and our second time using 2 Sons (once prior was to have a sewer line cleared) and we'd absolutely use them again. Thanks, Micah & Carey for the work!

Ashley Arata

23:22 29 Jan 26