A customer that had recently moved in to their new home I built for them complained about a smell in their ensuite bath. They were in about 2 months when her husbands sink only(2 sinks in the same cabinet) had a fowl smell. I took apart the pop up and drain which were basicaly clean an that did not help.When he turns on hot/cold combo or hot only does the smell happen, cold only does not bring on the smell? My plumber has been there and he is stumped to!Does anyone have any suggestions. She has recently phoned again and said her husband is losing his patience. I’m not sure what to do.
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Replies
Often such mystery smells are from the overflow drain system.
Not sure what you mean rjw. If I dont here back from you I will ask my plumber. Thanks
Bathroom sinks (usually?) have an overflow drain from the front top of the sink to the main drain line. Sometimes ugly smelling stuff grows in there.
I don't know if that problem is typically associated with running water, though.
What is the smell? Can it be sensed in the hot water directly (poured straight to a cup and not the drain)?
Thanks for your reply xxPaulXX.
I would say the smell is kinda like rotten egg smell.No,the water has to be going down the drain. If you fill the sink with the pop up closed...no smell?
This sounds exactly like a case of hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) being produced in the WH.
The archives have cases where this was discussed in the past, but, briefly, this often happens in new houses where the WH sits unused for a time, and a colony of bacteria gets established in the tank. They give off hydrogen sulfide as part of their waste.
That's why the hot water smells, but not the cold. The worst dose of the smell usually comes out at the first fixture to be used in the morning, which is usually the master bath sink.
You treat it by dosing the WH with chlorine and then flushing it out. Persistent re-occurance can be helped by changing the anode rod in the WH from a magnesium rod to aluminum.
I just talked the customer and the smell of rotten eggs happens even with cold water only. She also said it happens throughout the day only on that sink.Wierd!
I would change the flex line to the faucet, and remove the valve or cartridge in the faucet to inspect for anything obvious. Also see if the shutoff valve has a problem like a deteriorating washer or obstruction. I'd also try a ball valve if the shutoff is a washer type.
DUPLICATE POST
http://www.inspectapedia.com/water/Water_Odor_Diagnosis.htm
DANG DUPLICATED POST AGAIN!!!!
To me, the rotten egg smell indicates the WH problem. The gas can collect at a point where the tee takes off to the sink, and it can also happen even when the cold only runs because single-lever faucet typically allow a small amount of cross-mixing.
Could be wrong. But you can easily test this out by disconnecting the hot side connector at the WH to see if the same smell shows up there.
What is the drain hook-up to the sinks? does it have one trap or two?, thats where I would look for something not hooked up correctly.
I would lay my money on the overflow in that sink being gunked up but surely your plumber would be good enough to figure that out.
#1 you said you didn't smell it when the stopper was down, that tells me its not the water and they don't smell it elesewhere.
#2 you tell us its always hot or warm water but then come back and say you can also smell it with cold. Since the hot/warm air coming off the hot air rises more quickly, your customer first noticed it then. The stink is being picked up better by the warm air which isn't surprising.
#3 I'll lay money his sink is the one connected to the trap with her sink dumping into his drain line. I have to take my kitchen sink like this apart at least twice a year to clean it out when it gets funky.
Pull the stopper out and stick your finger in the drain and root around for the overflow outlet. You'll probably find it full of junk and possibly even partially blocked by a drain not lined up correctly. Clean out the junk and run water down the overflow. You can even hit it with bleach water but don't bleach out the floor.
You'll likely find the stopper lifter (technical name?) and the hole it passes through full of crude too.
I would also disassemble the entire trap system back to both sinks and clean all the pipes out.
Q 1: Do both husband and wife smell it more or less equally?
Q 2: Just to verify, this is a NEW home, right? All new components?
Q 3: How long was it from turning on the water to the point that the complaints started?
Q 4: Do they claim that the husband primarily uses his sink, and the wife hers, or do they switch around a lot. 4a: Does the husband shave with shaving cream?
My guess is that it's H2S coming from the water heater. Very often when this is the problem the symptoms seem to move about mysteriously. This is partly psychological -- you tend to smell what you expect to smell -- and partly due to the fact that people quickly get desensitized to the smell, so, eg, if they smell it in one sink and go over to check the other, the smell won't be there because their nose isn't as sensitive.
Plus, the H2S smell will generally be the strongest right after you start running the water.
If it's not the water heater then:
-- Buildup of shaving cream in the overflow tube.
-- Something in the way the drain lines are coupled that causes the trap on one side to get sucked dry.
Yes they smell it =
New home,new everything.
2 months after moving in.
They use their own sinks always.
Husband does use shaving cream.
Thanks to everyone for your advice..I will try these suggestions and hopefully I get more tips and finally solve this.