Areas We Serve

Areas We Serve

Why Does My Shower Smell Like Sewage?

You hop in the shower, ready to relax, and then—there it is. That awful sewer smell again. You clean the drain, pour bleach, light a candle, maybe even blame the kids—but somehow, the smell always finds its way back.

If that’s happening in your Tacoma home, do not worry—you are far from the only one. At 2 Sons Plumbing Tacoma, we hear about this all the time. That smell usually means something simple has gone wrong in your plumbing.

What’s Really Causing the Smell

In most cases, it starts with what’s called a P-trap—that U-shaped piece of pipe under the drain. It’s supposed to hold water to keep gases from coming up. But if that water dries out (especially in showers you don’t use much), the seal is gone, and the smell sneaks through.

Other times, the issue’s a little deeper. It could be:

A drain clog that is trapping old soap and hair.
A blocked vent pipe that is stopping air from flowing through the system.
A cracked or loose seal around a drain that is letting odors escape behind the scenes.

A Few Quick Fixes You Can Try

Before calling anyone out, try these first:

Run the water in any shower or drain you haven’t used lately.
Mix baking soda and vinegar and pour it down the drain. Wait a bit, then flush with hot water.
Cover the drain to slow evaporation and keep debris out.

Sometimes, that is all it takes. But if the smell keeps coming back—or if more than one drain starts stinking—it’s time to call in a plumber. That usually means the problem’s further down the line.

How We Handle It at 2 Sons Plumbing Tacoma

When people call us about a smelly shower, we don’t just pour cleaner down the drain and call it a day. We figure out why it is happening. Our plumbers use small cameras and smoke tests to find the exact source. Once we know what’s wrong, we fix it—whether that means clearing a clog, cleaning the vent, or tightening a bad seal.

We’ve been doing this around Tacoma for years. We know the old houses, the newer systems, and how our city’s plumbing setups tend to behave. We work fast, clean up after ourselves, and make sure that smell doesn’t come back.

What It Usually Costs

For most homes, fixing a smelly shower runs between $200 and $450, depending on what’s causing it. That covers inspection, cleaning, and small repairs if needed. It’s one of those problems that’s worth handling early—it saves you from bigger plumbing headaches later.

Call 2 Sons Plumbing Tacoma

You shouldn’t have to hold your breath every time you turn on the shower. Let us take care of it. Call 2 Sons Plumbing Tacoma at (206) 487-1757 and tell us what’s going on. We’ll check it out, fix it right, and have your bathroom smelling fresh again in no time.

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