Some days my husband gets called out to investigate erroneous smells. On one of these said days my husband was called out on 3 different smells. I don’t know what it is about smells, but people always associate plumbing first.
Over the years he’s investigated many such smells, a lot being plumbing related however a couple more interesting ones were not. For example, one time after thorough investigation he found that the leftovers, from a carry out dinner had been left atop a refrigerator in the basement for several weeks.
Another instance proved to be a dead bird in the fireplace chimney.
Most of the time though, a smell originates from an unused fixture where a trap dry’s out. The trap is designed to hold water to keep the sewer gas from coming out. We recommend running water in all fixtures at least once a month even if you have an unused bathroom or other drain. This will help keep the trap from drying out.
Now sometimes when he investigates it is not necessarily a dried out trap but rather an interesting chemistry experiment. When we use a lot of different products that go down our sinks and drains like soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, and shaving creams they will mix together and form a slimy bacteria at the base of the drain. It is not advisable to use harsh chemicals,
we recommend a mixture of baking soda and vinegar to kill off the bacteria.
So if your nose picks up a bad smell call the plumber at Micro Plumbing, Inc. that knows what to look for and how to resolve it.
Drains and Sewers