Bad Egg Smell in Kitchen

[mcmoby69]

low temp washing machine washes might save the planet but they dont clean pipes out. also pipes come dislodged from soil stacks underfloor. filling the foundations with standing water. when the washing machine empties it disturbs the stagnant pond under the floorboards.

As previously mentioned.

 

[footprints]

Thinking laterally any chance a car with a catalyst in the exhaust is starting up outside the kitchen?

 

[Alex10]

Last time I seen this was on a radiator I fitted the paint it was painted with was off so when it got hot it stuck the house out!

 

[scott6471]

it will most certainly be a drainage problem identified by the putrid smell which is emanating from the sewers up to the drainage pipe under your sink . I have had this problem exactly as you describe as intermittent .It is caused by the menace of leaves in autumn blocking the drain filter ring that sits on the drain hole that leads the waste from all three sources of waste water to the sewer located outside your property on a pathway at the side of your house .The three waste pipes are from the kitchen sink , the the bath water , and the bathroom sink unit . The cure is to lift the ring and keep broddelling the sump till the standing water in it drains away , then run the cold water at full bore from your kitchen sink to check that the water runs away and does not fill up the sump to overflow back up beyond the level of where the ring sits . There after , boil a kettle full of water to pour it down the drain plug with a bit of washing up liquid . But better still is to use "Sink & Drain Unblocker" from HomeBase costing 99p to pour down the kitchen sink overnight .

The WM drains in to a connection of the underside of the kitchen sink, that in turn runs out through a pipe in to the garden and down in to a trap so does not collect with the waste from other parts of the house, at least not until it reaches the front of the house where there is a drain cover.
The pipes under the garden patio that the kitchen waste runs in to runs parallel to the house and in to next doors garden; I know this as we have rodded it before.

 

[scott6471]

Last time I came across this problem it was the sink waste leaking under the floorboards combined with water from the garden running under the house. Are you positive there are no waste pipes under the floor? If you can lift a board, use a mirror and torch to have a look round.

Also, do you have a macerator toilet in the house?

No macerator, and I don't have floorboards, the floors in our houses are concrete with insulation foam boards then chipboard t&g, on which I have an oak floor. Pretty sure no pipes pass directly under the house.

 

[scott6471]

I think I've narrowed it down to the underside of the WM, the smell there is strongest. I'm going to disconnect it on the weekend and see what's lurks inside.

 

[delmel]

i would certainly suggest sink / waste related. Undo pipework and wastes from any waste water services and appliances, clear the grunge out send very hot wash water through and bleach down sink. Should improve.

Person mentioned electric burning, that is more of a fishy smell than egg.

Waste smell not a pleasant one, but we all have it.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

take out your WM into garden and see if the smell goes away.

Cats can usually pinpoint a source of a dead mice.

 

[scott6471]

Well I've had the WM out and have to say it was clear as a bell (I had already cleaned out the pipes under the sink) we're at a complete loss now as to what it could be.

It does now look like our houses are not solid concrete floors, more likely concrete blocks sitting on concrete T beams so may suggest there is a void below that to the topsoil. I guess it could be possible one of our soil pipes has broken and may be leaking in to this void.

Next step then I guess is to get someone in with a camera to survey the waste pipes.

If it is foul water settled under the house, where I'm struggling with that theory is what starts the smell off (as said initially it is intermittent). We've tried to pin it down but no direct obvious culprit i.e.

a) Has it been raining? Not always no
b) is it when WM is on? Not always no
c) When a bath/toilet is emptied? Doesn't seem so

Sometimes we come down in the morning and it is in the air, others we can just be sitting watching TV and all of a sudden you get the nasty wiff. Sometimes it will last for days and then disappear for a week or two!

P.S. Thanks again for all of your posts.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Check your neighbors, especially if they are elderly and fragile, when was the last time you saw them well outside?