Help! My drains stink!

themightystu

I moved into my house about 3 months ago and all was well for a couple of weeks, after that every time any water goes down the drains a horrible smell is released. I have 2 grates at the back of the house, 1 for the kitchen sink the other for the bathroom and gutters.
This Monday I had Dynarod out to have a look at them. The guy said there was no blockage but a heavy buildup of silt in one of the drains would cause smells like that and he cleaned them both out. He did say that he couldn't guarantee the smell wouldn't come back at some later date but it's Thursday teatime and the stink is as bad as ever!

I honestly don't know what to do anymore and it's driving me insane. My first thought was to call the council but since the drain is on private property they don't want to know

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Let me get this right.

Are you complaining about a smell that comes up a sink or bath?

Or is it a smell outside only?

themightystu

Sorry, wasn't very clear there - the smell does seem to come back up through the kitchen sink but the main issue seems to be that some bright spark at some point decided it would be a good idea to put air bricks right above one drain and next to the other, which bring the smell right into my kitchen/dining area.

roger196

Is there a U bend under the sink?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

If you get smells coming back up you sink it is the plumbing under the sink that is the problem.

You should get no smell coming up the plug hole no matter what the problem is with the drain.

Most likely the trap needs cleaning out or the waste pipe has not been put in properly causing the small amount of water that should always stay in it to drain out. This lets air from the drain up through the plug hole.

It there is a trap (u-bend) you need to take it off by unscrewing it & clear it out. A picture of it in place & the pipework would be good to advise further.

Any hair, dirt etc in the trap & waste pipe you can see needs to be removed & run some water through it & put it back on & ten run the tap for 10 seconds. If that doesn't solve the smell coming up the plug hole then its not plumbed in properly under the sink or elsewhere before the drain.

If you can take a picture of the pipes & drains & air bricks etc outside to & put them up.

themightystu

Yep, plunged the sink... The smell definitely comes from the outside drains... I put some jayes fluid down them (on the advice of an older thread I found on here) and that seemed to take the smell away for a week or so... Whatever I do the smell just comes back

themightystu

Thanks, I'll take some pictures and get them on here soon as I can...

1984ReturnsForReal_2

themightystu wrote: »

Yep, plunged the sink... The smell definitely comes from the outside drains... I put some jayes fluid down them (on the advice of an older thread I found on here) and that seemed to take the smell away for a week or so... Whatever I do the smell just comes back

If you have smell coming up your sink no matter how much plunging you do or how much jayes fluid you put down it will not stop smells coming back up your sink.

Did you read my last post or this a reply to the poster before?

If not for me read my last post & come back to me.


Edit: just seen your reply to me... I think you have 2 problems. Will wait for pics...

themightystu

ok, lets try inserting some pictures...
seems it wont let me upload anything but I can link to pictures on a google album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/themightystu/Drains#5489028089612917330 is the trap under my sink. The gray pipe in the background comes from the washing machine and the white one comes from the sink overflow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/themightystu/Drains#5489028153875546818 is the drain that the kitchen sink goes into

and http://picasaweb.google.com/themightystu/Drains#5489028229710914130 is the one that upstairs water goes into. The downpipe from the toilet is just visible on the left in that picture...

1984ReturnsForReal_2

themightystu wrote: »

ok, lets try inserting some pictures...
seems it wont let me upload anything but I can link to pictures on a google album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/themightystu/Drains#5489028089612917330 is the trap under my sink. The gray pipe in the background comes from the washing machine and the white one comes from the sink overflow. - Undo the U have a look in it & clean it out if need be. When its off stick your fingers up the 2 pipes it joined to see if there is any hair or gunk in it. The overflow pipe need raising a bit because water could be stagnating in there (a part of it is lower than where it feeds into the main waste ). Where you washing machine goes in I cant really tell the height difference between that & the pipe exiting the wall. Really it could do with being a little higher but cant tell.

http://picasaweb.google.com/themightystu/Drains#5489028153875546818 is the drain that the kitchen sink goes into Pull/twist apart the long straight pipe off the bend & shove you fingers up there to make sure nothing is trapped in the bend.

and http://picasaweb.google.com/themightystu/Drains#5489028229710914130 is the one that upstairs water goes into. The downpipe from the toilet is just visible on the left in that picture...

Then get 1 ltr of drain unblocker that contains sulphuric acid.

Tip half in each drain outside. Straight onto the grill & down the drain. Do not make it spash on you or anything else. Keep all kids & animals away. Wear gloves & glasses.

Go out for as long as possible without using any water in the house (any any water means including your washing machine).

It will kill everything organic in the drains.

If the problem comes back in a couple weeks your drain is probably broken & waste water is seeping into the ground around it & that is where the smell comes from.

If you still have the problem the next day after you do it it is likely to be toilet waste & you need to check out how you get access to clear that.

Don't know about the air vents but keep in mind the weather will not be helping.


Someone will tell me not to use chemicals now & say I am all wrong...

But for £10-£12 worth of chemicals is better than £200 on dynarod....

themightystu

Thanks for helping, I'll try to get some tomorrow and then go round to the girlfriends for the weekend after I've put it down the drains. Is it something that I'm likely to find in the local supermarket?

When the Dynorod guy came out this week he just put a lot of water down there and used a long plunger type thing to agitate it all... I had kinda expected him to do more to identify the problem but he seemed confident it was just dirt... One thing he did suggest though was that I should re-cement around the grates to stop any splashes soaking into the ground around them, so thats on my DIY list too.