Sewage & Biohazard Cleanup in Fifth by Northwest, Columbus, OH

The smell comes from the contamination, so the fix is removing sewage and soaked materials first, then disinfecting and deodorizing. Air fresheners only cover it. If the odor persists, hidden material such as subfloor or insulation may still hold sewage.

A very small spill on a hard floor can be handled with gloves, boots, eye protection and a disinfectant used by label directions. Anything that reached carpet, drywall or a large area needs professional cleanup, because hidden contamination is hard to see.

Watch for a rotten-egg or sewer smell, wet spots or stains on floors and walls, unusually green grass over a pipe, and multiple drains backing up at the same time. If any of these show up, keep people away from the area and have the cause checked.

Common signs include a sewer smell in the yard or crawl space, soft or damp ground near the foundation, gurgling drains and slow drains in several fixtures at once. A plumber can confirm the leak. Once it is found, a cleanup team can take care of the contaminated soil, materials and odor.

No. Water from a clean source can often be dried in place, but sewage is a biohazard that requires removal of contaminated materials and disinfection. Drying alone does not make a sewage-affected space safe.

Drywall is porous and holds contamination that can spread germs and odor long after the surface looks clean. Crews usually cut out wall board that sewage touched, and often take out a margin above the wet mark to reach clean material.