stale/stagnant water smell in kitchen

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I am at the end of my tether.
We live in a 2 year old house which in June of this year started to have a smell in the kitchen which smelled like a sour cloth had been lying around somewhere.
this smell progressively got worse to the point we called the housebuilders who sent in a plumber and underground drain specialist.

They couldn't find anything wrong and after 3 weeks the smell disappeared of its own accord.

The smell re-appeared 2 weeks ago and it can only be smelled in the kitchen. The drains have been cleaned within an inch of their lives, washing machine on service washes, door left open etc and all pipes and surfaces have been treated with chemicals of some kind and STILL the smell is there.

A small WC is located adjacent to the kitchen and it's been suggested that it may be the durgo valve? I am having this replaced but am sceptical - if it was the AAV/Durgo would I not smell the smell in the WC Too?

HELP!! :(
 
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could be something simple as a trap not holding water ie sink basin.
check the traps all have water in.
if a durgo fails it will pull the water from the trap when sink or basi etc have been used.
 
Thank you for your post.

I am completely new to forums and plumbing! so please bear with me. What's a trap and where will I find it?

Should it be the kitchen plumbing I check since the smell is in there? the plumber visited at 12pm today and he had the covers open in the WC and there is no leaks in there ( he did say the toilet connection could be in about an inch further but it's not leaking and will fix this when replacing durgo valve).

the smell is really driving me nuts.
 
Disconnect all the traps/ overflow and plastic pipes off your kitchen sink and soak in hot ( not boiling) water with bleach as that is probably the source of your problem! :D
 
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Check the plastic tray at the back of the fridge, on the top of the compressor (big black can thing at the bottom, with cable & pipes going into it). Unplug off fridge first. It collects defrost water and the heat evaporates it. You can get a smell when it collects spilt orange juice, milk, beer, blood, etc..
 
BAHCO: Thank you - under my sink I have a multitude of pipes (white plastic) and hoses (washing machine, dishwasher). should I take just the white pipes off to do this? Or, should I take off all the wee hoses as well?
 
thank you to the post from ONETAP - my fridge is an integrated fridge freezer so I can't really get to that? Is there a way round it?

I cleaned out the little hole inside the fridge with the green plastic thing (looks like a kids bubble wand gone wrong!). ??
 
Bahco under my sink I have a multitude of pipes (white plastic) and hoses (washing machine, dishwasher). should I take just the white pipes off to do this? Or, should I take off all the wee hoses as well?

I would just clean out all plastic pipes except for appliance ones.
 
I spent an hour last night soaking all white pipes in a bleach/fairy liquid solution and re-assembled. The smell unfortunatley is still with us this morning.

It was worth a shot.

I also ran 2 finish dishwasher tablets through my washing machine following advice from a colleague who used to have a sideline in washing machine repairs. This has had no effect other than I now need sunglasses to put a load in the machine :LOL:

So, to date, between all advice/plumbers/grounds we have:

Disassembled and cleaned all white piping under sink
Used an industrial drain cleaning product down all sinks in house, and toilets.
Cleaned washing machine by service washes, bleach, dishwasher tablets, manually taking all black gunge stuff from around door seals and emptied filter.
Ran 3 service washes on dishwasher with cleaner back to back.
checked toilet connection in downstairs WC - this is tight, could do with being in an inch further so I'm told but it is impossible now as the housebulder has boxed it in but plumber was satisfied it was water tight.
checked toilet pan to ensure sealed to floor and no leaks etc.
defrosted fridge freezer, dismantled and cleaned all component parts i can get to - it's integrated.
had ground works team out and did all various testing in clean drain and dirty drains. Passed all tests. Flow pressure spot on, no visible leaks that camera could pick up etc.

So, today I await the delivery of my Durgo Valve and hope to some higher being that it resolves the issue.

If it doesn't, I'm really not sure what options are open to me if any....

My questions to myself are a) can it be underground, if so, why would it manifest itself in June for 3 weeks (when it was roasty toasty) and then re-appear at end of October when it's peeing it down with rain. - surely if underground the smell would be permanent and worsen with possible lifting of floors etc?

I really don't know. However, I will post when and if it gets resolved.

Thanks to all for your responses to date - i'm willing to try anythin short of digging up a concrete floor to find the bugger :!: :!:
 
Is the smell merely in the atmoshere in the kitchen or does it get stronger in certain areas? You might need to have a good sniff around - try inside all the cupboards and drawers, the sink drain holes, around any external doors or windows, the cooker extractor, any air vents, remove the kickboards under the cupboards, check around appliances, storage boxes, any food containers or old packaging, the bin area, etc. etc. Maybe ask a friend as well to help try and locate it.
Good luck!
 
thank you to the post from ONETAP - my fridge is an integrated fridge freezer so I can't really get to that? Is there a way round it?

No, you need to pull out the fride/freezer and check the tray. I don't know what you mean by the green thing. Look at the owner's manual for the fridge, probably available on line. If it's difficult to get to, then it has probably never been cleaned out.

This has been the source of an elusive, vile 'drain' smell in several houses I know of, so it's worth checking before you start dismantling or smoke testing drains.
 
In my experience it's always been a dry trap which then lets all the sewer smells come up.
 

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