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Does Your Home Smell Like Rotten Eggs? Here Are Several Reasons Why
Why is that smell of rotten eggs? Was the gas stove, with its unnecessary burning? Or has an animal dies in the center, in the living room of the home? What can it be? But I do not have a gas instalment in my home.
These are all questions if you consider the probable reason. But, the precautions measurement must be taken. If somebody have installed a gas installation in their home, even for the slightest smell of rotten eggs, must leave the home and call the company that installed the gas system in the home.
Here is description for this kind of smell in more details. You should consider them when handling this tricky situation. This is how to fix them:
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Gas leak
This can occur if there is a gas or propane instalment in the home – and is a sign of a gas leak. Some of the pipes are broken or leaking gas.This is a serious matter and the person that detects this kind of smell should call the company that installed the gas system or must call to the fire station nearby. This kind of smell can be coming from several things like gas line problem, stove problem, furnace issue, or water heater.
The gas itself is odorless, but the smell comes from the chemical mercaptan. The gas companies inject it manually, so the gas can be detected if there is an issue. If someone detects smell like this and have a gas instalment, should leave the home and call professionals. The professionals will take care of this problem in timely manner. They are equipped with appropriate equipment and know how to handle this kind of situations.
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Drain pipe
If the homeowner has a bathroom, not used a lot, some methane can be smelled from the sewer gas which is filtering inside. If the bath is normaly used, this should not be the case. In the plumbing terminology this kind of situation is called dry p trap. This p trap is actually the u-shaped pipe under the sink. In this situation, sometimes there is no water siting in it, which will allow the gas from the sewer go inside the bath and the home.
But, this problem is not very big. If you want to isolate this problem, go where the smell takes you. Where you smell the worst (like a rotten egg) there you should start interviening. Just put a water in the tub or in the sink for several minutes to full the p trap. This will block the gas to get in the bath. If the problem is still there, you should call the plumber or professional plumbing company.
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Well water
There is still households that use well water instead of treated water from the system of the city. If the home uses well water, the rotten egg smell can come from the hydrogen sulfide buildups in the water. This chemical come from decaying of the vegetation in the ground. It is not a huge and dangerous problem, but the smell can be bad for the home.
If you want to check that this is the problem, the hydrogen sulfide, turn off the water in the home for 6 hours to build up the gas, and fill the sink with some inches of cold water. Discover if the smell is strong, you have found the source of the problem. If you want to be sure of that this is the problem, you can send a sample of the water to the local laboratory office. You can ask to get a testing kit at a low cost, and then send the water for testing. I
f the test is hydrogen sulfide positive, they will also send you instructions for resolving the problem. They can recommend hypochlorite to treat the water and reduce the hydrogen sulfide production. This you must check every 6 months, and also you may also install a cargon filter on the drinking pipes or ask a plumber to install a reverse osmosis drain under the sink, just to remove the bad odor.
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Rotten eggs – real ones
One of the main causes for this kind of smell is because you have rotten eggs in the fridge or another spoiled food in it.
The fixing of the problem is easy. By throwing out the rotten food (and taking away the garbage), also take away the other food and treat the area. Plumbers usually recommend any kind of multipurpose cleaner, for easy cleaning the place and to kill any germs. If the smell is still there, it would be best to use air freshener with mild odor – do not use any type of perfumey ones, they can smell funny in the kitchen. The smell should be fabreze one or similar. This can solve the smell in the kitchen.
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Dry wall
If the house is built between 2001 and 2009, there could be because the drywall. This drywall could be imported from China, because there was a shortage of other types of drywall. This drywall from China had a lot of sulfur, and can cause odor of sulfur (rotten eggs). It is a very unpleasant situation.
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Sewer pipes
If you cancel any other reason, the reason can be broken drain – pipe, allowing to come out sewer gasses. The main point to consider is that the smell is stronger outside than it is inside. If this is the problem, you should call a plumber or professional plumbing company.
So, here are some of the potential problems that may occur, making your house smell like rotten eggs. But, keep in mind, exit the house immediately and call plumbing company. Make sure that everyone exit the house and is on safety place. Take care of the gas piping in the house and prevent any leakage.
Plumbing of the gas installation must be made by professionals. No home owners should install this kind of pipes.
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