Nauseating smell after drain overflow
September 3, 2015 9:47 PM Subscribe
An old waste pipe in my apartment, that shouldn't have been connected to anything, overflowed earlier this week. The pipe was in the bottom of my interior HVAC closet. I had standing water in the location for slightly over 12 hours. Maintenance came out to repair the pipe and replaced part of it. Now I've got a nauseating smell pervading my downstairs. What could this be from, and what if anything does my landlord need to do about it? More after the cut.
The setup:
Okay, so my kitchen is on the ground floor, and my HVAC cabinet is in the corner of my kitchen on the exterior wall. The HVAC unit (combo furnace & A/C) is vented outside with a pipe. My refrigerator is in this same nook with the HVAC unit (they face each other) and it's so close that I can't open my fridge door the whole way.
The problem:
Sunday night, my cabinet made some crazy gurgling noises, and I had a small puddle of water in front of the cabinet on Monday morning. The cement pan that the HVAC unit sits in had water in it as well. Mopped it up, no biggie, and called in a maintenance request. Maintenance guys came out to fix it, said it was the A/C, put in a new filter, got the water out, and had me run the A/C to dry out the cabinet. That corner of the kitchen slopes downward a little, so the water pooled in the corner and got under the baseboard a bit.
Monday night, same gurgle again. Water was bubbling out of a hole in the floor, the HVAC pan filled again, and water poured out into the same area in front of the cabinet. It was clear water with "brown stuff" floating in it, and to me it looked and smelled like sewage. Some water got under the wall again and I'm guessing underneath the HVAC unit. More water would bubble out of the hole when people on the upper floors ran their water. The emergency voicemail was full and the maintenance guys couldn't get out to my place until 12:30 on Tuesday. They were at a different apartment on the floor above me that morning, dealing with another plumbing issue. While they were working in that apartment, clear water bubbled up out of the pipe for a few minutes.
Actions taken:
They swore the water was from the A/C and not sewage until I showed them that the water was coming from the hole in the floor. They weren't sure what it was connected to at first, and Maintenance Dude #1 said he thought it was probably the original drain for the A/C. He said that these old drains "should have been disconnected" when the new HVAC units were put in. My unit is at least 15 years old, so this would've been a while ago. They shop-vac'd up all of the water and gunk, snaked the drain, and put a new cap or something on it. (Don't know what it's called...the slotted part you would see in a basement floor drain, for example.) They told me to leave the A/C running to get any residual moisture out of the cabinet. I mopped the floor with soapy water first, then went back and mopped again with mild bleach water. (I might not have used enough bleach.) I wiped down the front of my refrigerator and the cabinet door with those Clorox wipes, and have a box fan running continuously pointed at the corner when I am home.
My questions:
For the past two days, there has been a faint but nauseating swamp gas-y sort of smell pervading my downstairs. It's coming up through the vents upstairs. I've had my windows open and have been burning a candle to cover up the smell. It's kind of a gross smell that stays in your mouth, if you know what I mean? Like a taste you can't get rid of. I am also hearing a brand-new metal-sounding "clunk" or bang sometimes when the compressor kicks on.
Can any of y'all with more plumbing-fu than me explain what this smell is from? I looked inside the cabinet earlier and it looks dry to me. The condensation pipe outside is flowing normally. In the meantime, I am going to try mopping the floor again with a stronger bleach solution. Is any of this a health code violation or anything like that? They didn't leave me a note or give me a follow-up call or anything, so I don't really know what else to do other than mop again with bleach and use the fan. I got some of those crystal odor-absorbers and stuck them in there as well. I wanted to get some more input before I put another maintenance request in, because I don't want them to blow me off.
Thanks for your help.
The setup:
Okay, so my kitchen is on the ground floor, and my HVAC cabinet is in the corner of my kitchen on the exterior wall. The HVAC unit (combo furnace & A/C) is vented outside with a pipe. My refrigerator is in this same nook with the HVAC unit (they face each other) and it's so close that I can't open my fridge door the whole way.
The problem:
Sunday night, my cabinet made some crazy gurgling noises, and I had a small puddle of water in front of the cabinet on Monday morning. The cement pan that the HVAC unit sits in had water in it as well. Mopped it up, no biggie, and called in a maintenance request. Maintenance guys came out to fix it, said it was the A/C, put in a new filter, got the water out, and had me run the A/C to dry out the cabinet. That corner of the kitchen slopes downward a little, so the water pooled in the corner and got under the baseboard a bit.
Monday night, same gurgle again. Water was bubbling out of a hole in the floor, the HVAC pan filled again, and water poured out into the same area in front of the cabinet. It was clear water with "brown stuff" floating in it, and to me it looked and smelled like sewage. Some water got under the wall again and I'm guessing underneath the HVAC unit. More water would bubble out of the hole when people on the upper floors ran their water. The emergency voicemail was full and the maintenance guys couldn't get out to my place until 12:30 on Tuesday. They were at a different apartment on the floor above me that morning, dealing with another plumbing issue. While they were working in that apartment, clear water bubbled up out of the pipe for a few minutes.
Actions taken:
They swore the water was from the A/C and not sewage until I showed them that the water was coming from the hole in the floor. They weren't sure what it was connected to at first, and Maintenance Dude #1 said he thought it was probably the original drain for the A/C. He said that these old drains "should have been disconnected" when the new HVAC units were put in. My unit is at least 15 years old, so this would've been a while ago. They shop-vac'd up all of the water and gunk, snaked the drain, and put a new cap or something on it. (Don't know what it's called...the slotted part you would see in a basement floor drain, for example.) They told me to leave the A/C running to get any residual moisture out of the cabinet. I mopped the floor with soapy water first, then went back and mopped again with mild bleach water. (I might not have used enough bleach.) I wiped down the front of my refrigerator and the cabinet door with those Clorox wipes, and have a box fan running continuously pointed at the corner when I am home.
My questions:
For the past two days, there has been a faint but nauseating swamp gas-y sort of smell pervading my downstairs. It's coming up through the vents upstairs. I've had my windows open and have been burning a candle to cover up the smell. It's kind of a gross smell that stays in your mouth, if you know what I mean? Like a taste you can't get rid of. I am also hearing a brand-new metal-sounding "clunk" or bang sometimes when the compressor kicks on.
Can any of y'all with more plumbing-fu than me explain what this smell is from? I looked inside the cabinet earlier and it looks dry to me. The condensation pipe outside is flowing normally. In the meantime, I am going to try mopping the floor again with a stronger bleach solution. Is any of this a health code violation or anything like that? They didn't leave me a note or give me a follow-up call or anything, so I don't really know what else to do other than mop again with bleach and use the fan. I got some of those crystal odor-absorbers and stuck them in there as well. I wanted to get some more input before I put another maintenance request in, because I don't want them to blow me off.
Thanks for your help.
You have already cleaned, bleached and dried the area and further bleaching and drying probably won't improve the situation. This is one of those times when you need to call the landlord. The pipe might be cracked or a seal broken or maybe you just need water in the trap. Whatever it is, it's not going to go away on it's own. If plumbing is broken, then the owner wants to get that fixed ASAP.
Sewer gas is gross and you shouldn't be living with it. Call your landlord.
posted by 26.2 at 12:44 AM on September 4, 2015
Sewer gas is gross and you shouldn't be living with it. Call your landlord.
posted by 26.2 at 12:44 AM on September 4, 2015
This is sewer gas from the drain pipe, and it's why you need a P-trap or an S-trap on every drain. Water fills in the P-trap and stays there (unless more water coming down the drain displaces it), blocking the sewer gas from coming back up the pipe.
You need to call your landlord or maintenance person ASAP. If they refuse to handle it, threaten (in writing) to call your own plumber and deduct the plumber's fee from your next month's rent. Sewer gas coming into your apartment is a health hazard. That's why this is serious enough to call your own plumber. (If it comes to that, keep a copy of the letter and a copy of the plumber's receipt. Submit a copy of the receipt and a copy the letter with your reduced rent check.)
In the mean time, you can take an old rag or towel big enough to wad up into the pipe, and jam it into the drain to stop the gasses from coming into your apartment. Take off the grate first if possible.
posted by tckma at 10:06 AM on September 4, 2015
You need to call your landlord or maintenance person ASAP. If they refuse to handle it, threaten (in writing) to call your own plumber and deduct the plumber's fee from your next month's rent. Sewer gas coming into your apartment is a health hazard. That's why this is serious enough to call your own plumber. (If it comes to that, keep a copy of the letter and a copy of the plumber's receipt. Submit a copy of the receipt and a copy the letter with your reduced rent check.)
In the mean time, you can take an old rag or towel big enough to wad up into the pipe, and jam it into the drain to stop the gasses from coming into your apartment. Take off the grate first if possible.
posted by tckma at 10:06 AM on September 4, 2015
If you close your eyes and consider the smell, does a dank medieval castle seem a match?
If so, it's a dry drain(s). Pour a gallon or two of hot water in any and all floor drains you have access too.
posted by saradarlin at 12:47 AM on September 5, 2015
If so, it's a dry drain(s). Pour a gallon or two of hot water in any and all floor drains you have access too.
posted by saradarlin at 12:47 AM on September 5, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks for the comments, guys. I put in another maintenance request to the landlord yesterday, but since it was a Friday and this is a holiday weekend, I'm sure they won't get out here until Wednesday. :P
Tckma, thanks for the advice about the rag...I covered the drain with an old towel and put one of the odor canisters on top. The smell's still there, but nowhere near as bad for now. Hopefully getting a noseful when they come out to fix it will clue them in to something being amiss. I did some more reading online and saw that some people suggested pouring water or a thin layer of oil down the drain, but without knowing what kind of pipe it is, I am leery of doing that. It's in an awkward location and I can't really see down it. The part that I can see looks rusty and grody like the pics in the article that reeddavid linked to.
Saradarlin, it doesn't smell dank and moldy so much as it smells kind of sickening, like when you get behind a garbage truck on a hot day.
I forgot to ask something in my original post: is excessive humidity a sign of a leak somewhere? My downstairs has always been pretty humid, especially in the summer, and sometimes there is a musty smell that comes up from under the Pergo flooring. I assumed it was due to being an old-ass building with a maybe-badly-sealed subfloor. But could it be related to the pipe situation?
posted by cardinality at 4:57 PM on September 5, 2015
Tckma, thanks for the advice about the rag...I covered the drain with an old towel and put one of the odor canisters on top. The smell's still there, but nowhere near as bad for now. Hopefully getting a noseful when they come out to fix it will clue them in to something being amiss. I did some more reading online and saw that some people suggested pouring water or a thin layer of oil down the drain, but without knowing what kind of pipe it is, I am leery of doing that. It's in an awkward location and I can't really see down it. The part that I can see looks rusty and grody like the pics in the article that reeddavid linked to.
Saradarlin, it doesn't smell dank and moldy so much as it smells kind of sickening, like when you get behind a garbage truck on a hot day.
I forgot to ask something in my original post: is excessive humidity a sign of a leak somewhere? My downstairs has always been pretty humid, especially in the summer, and sometimes there is a musty smell that comes up from under the Pergo flooring. I assumed it was due to being an old-ass building with a maybe-badly-sealed subfloor. But could it be related to the pipe situation?
posted by cardinality at 4:57 PM on September 5, 2015
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I wonder if the maintenance guys either removed the P-trap bypass and didn't replace it properly, or vacuumed out the water that creates the gas barrier inside the P-trap.
Either of those issues would leave a path into your apartment for sewer gas. You could try slowly pouring a gallon or two of water into the drain to create a seal in the P-trap if it's that issue. Can you see into the drain and recognize the bypass that's pictured in that article?
posted by reeddavid at 10:15 PM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]