Help! Our house stinks!

tumbleweed261

Hello,

I need some advice - our bathroom stinks (and it's no laughing matter). Our landlords really couldn't care less so please tell me I can fix this myself (I'm a girl, so basic explanations required :rolleyes: ). I was woken up this morning by a really strong nauseating smell of rotten eggs coming from the bathroom - I've tried everything I can think of - bleach down all the drains, cut onions in the bathroom, extractor fan on, neutradol... It's driving me mad! Please help! The smell is taking over the house and it's totally miserable. Do we need to call a plumber?

Thanks for your help

ariba10

It might be that you have an open trap or vent to the sewer.

Are you sure that all the traps on the sinks and baths have enough water in them to maintain the seals.

My son boyght a house with the same problem and it was the water seal in the toilet pan.

tumbleweed261

How do we make sure the traps are sealed? We had this problem before and copious amounts of bleach were the only solution - it happened when sewage came up the loo after really heavy rain. Sometimes it smells a bit funky in there but today it was horrific, and we've had no excessive rain or anything like that.

Coupon_Queen_3

Is the bathroom on the ground floor? Do you have any smells from the kitchen sink? It could be a blocked sewer/ drain.

ormus

go outside and lift the manhole covers to see whats happening.

tumbleweed261

The kitchen drain didn't smell but we put bleach down anyway just in case, how on earth do I lift a manhole cover :eek: ? Everything is draining away fine, I think the smell is dissipating now (although according to my googling this morning you lose the ability to smell hydrogen sulphide after a while?) - we've run the taps etc and I think the problem is hopefully clearing up. Quite keen not to be woken up by the smell of rotten eggs again though (this is twice now :mad: ), so is there anything we can do to prevent it happening again?

ormus

a couple of screwdrivers etc will usually lift a manhole cover out ok.
a spade will help too.
careful though, the older cast iron types can be heavy.

tumbleweed261

hmm i think that might be a job for the 5 boys i live with then! thanks for telling me how though, as they're just as useless as me with things like that. thankfully the smell has gone - and oddly enough i think it was the os remedy of cut onions that did the trick? either that or i've permanently lost my sense of smell... hope not though!

vansboy

Our NEW sink started getting REALLY smelly, didn't want to take all the bits n pieces, to it, under the sink, to pieces, so bought some Caustic Soda for £1.49 from wilkinsons & seems cured now!!

But do read the instructions if you've not used it before! THAT STUFF STINGS & BURNS!!

VB

tumbleweed261

again, perhaps one for the boys then!

kittiwoz

tumbleweed261 wrote:

I'm a girl, so basic explanations required...
again, perhaps one for the boys then!

<irony>Oh yes, us weak and feeble-minded women can't possibly do DIY or degrees in mechanical engineering.<end irony>

If you're rubbish at something or you don't understand something don't make out it's inevitable because of your sex or your hair colour. I don't expect all women to be competent at everything but there are plenty of incompetent men too. It is not cute to simper and feign feminine helplessness. It is really annoying and serves to justify and reinforce chauvinist attitudes. I got called "the Barbie doll" by male coursemates who speculated in front of me about whether female students got shagged last night, if they were wearing any knickers, or if they took it up the 4rse, the technicians had page three posters stuck to the lab walls and I had to pretend not to be bothered by any off it because they'd just say I was a typical over-emotional woman over-reacting, or that I had a stick up my 4rse, must be frigid, probably a lesbian, whatever. You know what? It is not funny and it is not OK and neither is you encouraging it.