Gas smell on site

clint_eastman

Hi,
I'm in the middle of a build on a green field site in the countryside. Recently I've noticed that at a particular loaction on the site, between the house and garage, there seems to be a smell of what I would describe as a household gas smell. I can't think of any reason for this smell other than maybe we are down wind of a neighbouring supply. The site is elevated and over 100m from the roadside and neighbours house, and there are no services under the site. Friends have noticed the smell also so there is definitely something, not overpowering or anything, just a smell.

Has anyone any suggestions for what this might be (gas, radon, methane etc...) or how I would approach investigatig the smell eg. an air test maybe?

Thanks

10-10-20

Did you get a ground survey?
Is there a large amount of decaying matter around? Is it eggy?
I'd wonder if it's methane.
Radon does not have an odour.

fuchia

Leaked hydraulic oil from machines can have the same smell as gas.

Regards,

Fuchia

clint_eastman

10-10-20 wrote: »

Did you get a ground survey?
Is there a large amount of decaying matter around? Is it eggy?
I'd wonder if it's methane.
Radon does not have an odour.

Thanks for the reply.

Who would do such a ground survey? Environmental Engineer maybe?
The site slopes to the back and has been dug out to a depth of about 2m and decaying matter is not an issue and also no eggy smell.

Methane would smell really bad I think whereas this really just smells like gas.

clint_eastman

fuchia wrote: »

Leaked hydraulic oil from machines can have the same smell as gas.

Regards,

Fuchia

Thanks.

I'll check this out, mabe some leaked during the digging out and is sitting underneath the stone backfilling that makes up the driveway.

pakalasa

When you say gas, what do you mean?

Household gas or Natural Gas is methane, not pure methane but almost.

clint_eastman

pakalasa wrote: »

When you say gas, what do you mean?

Household gas or Natural Gas is methane, not pure methane but almost.

Sorry for the confusion...

The smell is like the smell from a gas hob in a kitchen.

pakalasa

If is smells like domestic gas then it might be a supply leak.
The point I'm making is that if it's methane from a natural source, like organic matter decaying, then you wont be able to smell it.
Chemicals are added to domestic gas (methane) so that it will smell when leaking.

It's probably the hydraulic oil, alright.

MicktheMan

Is there a bin with rotting organic matter nearby as I had a situation about 10 years ago where we also had a gas smell on a retrobuild site and the cause was a large bin full of household rubbish which hadn't been emptied for a few months!

clint_eastman

I've been in touch with Bord Gais and the site is nowhere near any gas supplies. I'm hoping that you may be right as regards some leaked oil and will look into cleaning this up.
Thanks!