Random Smell of Sewage in Home

applefan1995

Hiya all,

Came home last Saturday night to a rotten-egg/fresh-sewage smell on the ground floor of my gaff. There are no obvious causes of this. Spent Sunday morning cleaning the downstairs to no remedy of the smell.

Noticed that the smell comes and goes between 11:00-12:30 and 19:00-23:00 (approximately). It’s not 24/7, which is really strange.

Have had a plumber out who performed a smoke test and sent a camera down all the plumbing. Normal results. Called Gas Networks Ireland- no gas leaks.

Would appreciate any ideas on what it could be. !

thedart

Age of property, town house, rural we need more information?

kippy

Any chance of a water leak/standing water behind/under a sink in the kitchen or in the bathroom?

applefan1995

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551544#Comment_119551544

Property was built around 2014. In a housing estate outside of Maynooth, Co. Kildare ( so an urban-enough setting).

It was used as a model home for the estate. Despite this, it doesn't seem to have been built terribly well.

I've only been renting it since August 2020.

This smell has come out of the blue. Doesn't seem to be correlated to anything- no cause and effect as far as I can tell.

Thank you very much for your help!!!

applefan1995

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551550#Comment_119551550

None that I can see. On Sunday I did a very thorough clean (though I am always fastidious) and found nothing out of the ordinary.

Thank you very much for your help!!!

applefan1995

Forgot to mention it's a three storey, end of terrace home. There are four homes in this terrace. Sorry...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551544#Comment_119551544

thedart

I would have hoped 2014 would have seen better built home post boom.

Is the sewage pumped out of your estate do you know?

@Bass Reeves this is 2014 with plumbing issues.

applefan1995

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551654#Comment_119551654

Yeah I would have too... Some of the finishes as well are appalling for a model home.

I believe the sewage is pumped out, yes. But that would only be an educated guess on my part.

One thing I pondered was whether the house attached to mine's waste pipes flow under my slab and could have cracked... But the plumber said theirs flows directly to the street.

thedart

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551675#Comment_119551675

Very unlikely that neighbour sewer is under yours. That wouldn’t have happened in the boom. Pumped sewage can cause smells. I see it in estates.

applefan1995

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551687#Comment_119551687

The only other thing I could think of would be the walls. If something happened?? But I can't imagine what and moreover, it wouldn't explain why this only happens at certain times.

Bass Reeves

Check your shower water trap. Houses are now connected into sewer pipes directly. If seals are not kept intact you can have sewer smells entering house's and apartments. When it gets it it wafts all over the place.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551654#Comment_119551654

Would not be an issue in a 1990 single one off build. Different plumbing setup. Doubt if it will need complete replumbing

DublinDilbert

Check top of soil stacks in the attic, make sure they are externally vented. I’ve seen these vent pipes not connected. Exactly the symptom you describe, random odours. It depended on the the temperature in the attic and air in the building, sometimes drawing air down around the soil stack

applefan1995

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551695#Comment_119551695

Thank you so much for your help and apologies for the late response!

applefan1995

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119556827#Comment_119556827

Thank you so much!

mp31

We had this a while ago... it turned out to be the washing machine outlet pipe didn't have a trap on it. Funny thing is I installed a new machine a year ago and wondered why it didn't have a trap but there was no smell at the time so I ignored it 🙄. Only this year during the warm weather did we get the smell and I tracked it down to that pipe.

Murph_D

I'd say it's almost certainly a trap alright. Have a sniff of all the sink, bath and shower outlets and you might be able to track it down. Sometimes the water can get sucked out of the u-traps if your system isn't vented properly.