Quizzes & Puzzles81 mins ago
Seriously smelly drains
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Does anyone know how I can remedy smelly drains. I've had every man hole cover up, and looked at all the drains that guttering and down-pipes are running in to, and there are no blockages. The water is running freely and the water is clear, but there's still a horrible smell and it permeates through the house. Any ideas what I can do, it's been like it for weeks, and I don't want to just mask the smell. I also put powerful plug hole unblocker down the bath plug hole, but none of the plug holes are blocked anyway. Any good ideas gratefully received, thanks.
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.It is very difficult to diagnose. The down pipe's drain hole near my front door is a particularly bad one, but the gulley from that is only a foot away from a manhole cover, and when I pour a bucket of water down that I can immediately see the water running away down the gulley under the man hole and it's clear with no obstructions. It also stinks in the garage where there is a down-pipe drain but that is fairly near another man hole cover too, so I can see that's fine too. Thanks for all your help.
I have flushed everything out and if there was a mouse or somesuch it would've been flushed out.
I've lived in the house for years and this smell has been going on for a couple of months. The smell isn't coming from the kitchen sink, I've just had a good sniff around there, and no problems. I am appreciating every answer cos it's giving me some new ideas, and hopefully I'll crack it in the end. Thank you.
I've lived in the house for years and this smell has been going on for a couple of months. The smell isn't coming from the kitchen sink, I've just had a good sniff around there, and no problems. I am appreciating every answer cos it's giving me some new ideas, and hopefully I'll crack it in the end. Thank you.
how old is your house?..........assuming you are on mains drainage and not tanked.....in the old days surface water (rain) and foul water ( toilets ) both used the same drain......but for many years now this is not the case....every house has two separate drain runs and it is against the law for one to run into the other......when the drains cause a smell its usually because of water leaking from a broken pipe or fitting and the water is running into the ground and rotting......toilets, sinks etc have traps on them that hold water and prevents the smell entering the house.......on soil pipes if the soil stack is inside the house and not outside..there can be a valve fitted on the top with a rubber diaphragm in that can stick open after time.....this would be on the toilet drain and can be in the loft of your house on in a boxing somewhere ..... I would suggest getting a good independent surveyor to have a look round, don't be duped by rouge trades creating expensive solutions to your problem and achieving nothing.
Does it only happen when the wind blows from a particular direction. Sometimes water traps in drain pipes from sinks, baths and shower dry out because of lack of use. When this happens the wind when blowing from certain directions can suck air from the drains up into the house through the dry trap. This usually has a stale urine smell. You could try running a cupful of water down all the waste pipes or close all the doors and check each room after an hour or so for the smell, the wastepipe in the smelliest room is probably the culprit.
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