Help .... Gas smell but no leak

Jcook_2

We have a boiler in cupboard by front door  but no additional gas  in the house, just hot water going through central heating. This stink has been in mums house she is (90yrs old) for the whole of lockdown. We have called national grid and British Gas twice, no readings of a gas leak even though the last gas man said he could smell it. This week environmental Heath came, no reason found using a PID, on c02 or VOC but he could smell it. He suggested it could be mercaptan or disused pipes, is this so? How do you know, who do you call. My mums on pension we can’t keep calling different trades... We have a British Gas home cover , would this be someone who would do this, but, they just keep saying no gas registered twice, (4 times including national grid) can anyone help, suggestions please as we are desperate now. Thank you

Silvertabby

Bit of a wild guess, but stagnant water can smell 'gassy'.  Does she have any pot plants, for example, that have been over-watered and are now sitting in old water?

rach_k

We once had a gas hob installer shut off our gas because he could smell gas.  

What he actually smelled was an egg that had been cooked earlier in the day.  Do any neighbours cook strong/weird smelling foods that could be making their way into the house?

jefaz07

Jcook_2 said:

We have a boiler in cupboard by front door  but no additional gas  in the house, just hot water going through central heating. This stink has been in mums house she is (90yrs old) for the whole of lockdown. We have called national grid and British Gas twice, no readings of a gas leak even though the last gas man said he could smell it. This week environmental Heath came, no reason found using a PID, on c02 or VOC but he could smell it. He suggested it could be mercaptan or disused pipes, is this so? How do you know, who do you call. My mums on pension we can’t keep calling different trades... We have a British Gas home cover , would this be someone who would do this, but, they just keep saying no gas registered twice, (4 times including national grid) can anyone help, suggestions please as we are desperate now. Thank you

I’d be asking national grid for a chemist to test some samples of air. See if it’s natural gas. 

Had there any mains replacement taken place locally? Old slotted unsealed mains can emit smells sometimes. 

But I’d go with the chemist first. You will know what it is then....or rather what it isn’t 

To add, you wouldn’t believe how much dead rats smell like gas! 

Jcook_2

Thanks I will ask for a air test, environmental health suggested this but I didn’t know who did it. Thanks for heads up on national grid I will call them out again, anything else comes to mind please let us know thank you

Emmia

I'd be checking the drains - we had an intermittent " gas smell" that was caused by scaled up, less than free flowing drainage. 

elsien

rach_k said:

We once had a gas hob installer shut off our gas because he could smell gas.  

What he actually smelled was an egg that had been cooked earlier in the day.  Do any neighbours cook strong/weird smelling foods that could be making their way into the house?

Swede. I called transco out once to a care home because a colleague had left a bag of chopped swede out overnight. It did smell remarkably like gas.

Is it possible something has fallen somewhere obscure? 

jefaz07

Jcook_2 said:

Thanks I will ask for a air test, environmental health suggested this but I didn’t know who did it. Thanks for heads up on national grid I will call them out again, anything else comes to mind please let us know thank you

Finding gas escapes is literally part of my job....for Grid. 

First an air sample needs to be taken to ascertain if there is a presence of natural gas. Most of the time I have seen a chemist test done it hasn’t been natural gas as the seekers will generally pick it up. Hence my comment they can tell you what it isn’t, this may settle your nerves on the gas side. 

Like a I say, rats under the floor is another. 

We get asked a lot after we say it’s not gas ‘what is it then?’ The reply always is ‘I don’t know, but I can tell you what it isn’t’ 

You allude to costs, you are ringing the free phone 0800 number aren’t you? 

WeAreGhosts

We thought we had a gas leak under the stairs - turned out to be a spray paint can that had leaked. It really smelled like gas! 

Jcook_2

Thanks so far, there are no rats, concrete floor, no eggs as we have cleaned everything, drains running well, no decorating or paint, my husband stuck his nose everywhere, couldn’t locate the smell except in the air, did get a headache though, please keep suggesting. Anyone know how to locate and test old disused gas pipes?

JIL

We once had to call the gasman out at work, again as with others a false alarm and caused by Percy's pickled shallots. 😂