Sewage/rotten-like odor coming from batroom faucets

[Anonymous]

Cleaning out the u trap is pretty simple to do yourself, esp for newer houses that have quick release valves. Just get your largest bowl (I think we use the 5 quart Pyrex one) to catch any water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I am not really sure If the house uses well water. I have checked under the sink and there isn't any leaks. The smell definitely comes from the faucet after water has been running for 30 seconds and it dissipates after a couple of minutes.

Would you please recommend a plumber? How much do they usually charge?

If you really don't know if you have well water or municipal water, it might be worth having a plumber come out to teach you some things about your house. I just can't imagine you'd be on well water and not know about it so chances are, you are on municipal water which is treated city water and shouldn't have any smell. The other option is if it's only the hot water that smells. Sometimes, the hot water heater can make the water smell very strange. If you only smell it while you are running hot or warm water, then you might want to have your hot water heater checked out. The plumber can do that for you as well.

[Anonymous]

Does it come from the kitchen faucet as well? Or the outdoor hose bibs? Try flushing the toilets to see if the smell occurs in the tank.
Does it occur every time you use the faucets, or does it lessen when you use them frequently? Is it worst in the morning after no water has been used all night?
Check to see if it is hot or cold water (or both).

The more information you have to give a plumber, the more informed (and faster) their answer can be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are handy, snake the drains. You will be grossed out by what you find. Also, regular cleaning with baking soda and vinegar helps keep pipes smelling fresh. Just dump some soda down the drain and follow with some vinegar.

agree - most likely it's not the water or faucets that smells, but when the water hits the nasty gunk in the pipes below the smell wafts up. once you clean out that old hair/soap stuff it will smell fine.

I was about to write this as well. We had a slight odor issue in our bathroom pipes. The baking soda/white vinegar treatment was cheap and effective.

[Anonymous]

We just dealt with this and on a relatively new sink. The drain had hair stuck in it - not enough to clog it, but enough to catch organic matter that then broke down to make a smelly situation. Clean the drain as best you can, then call a plumber if it doesn't fix the problem.

[Anonymous]

Another place where smell can occur is in the overflow holes on the sink. Those holes also operate as a vent when water goes down the drain so when the water runs down the drain, air comes out of the holes. If there is gunk down in those holes, it can cause the smell.

[Anonymous]

Is it the sink the a/c overflow goes through? Look under it and you'll see a small additional pipe the other sinks will not have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I am not really sure If the house uses well water. I have checked under the sink and there isn't any leaks. The smell definitely comes from the faucet after water has been running for 30 seconds and it dissipates after a couple of minutes.

Would you please recommend a plumber? How much do they usually charge?

If you really don't know if you have well water or municipal water, it might be worth having a plumber come out to teach you some things about your house. I just can't imagine you'd be on well water and not know about it so chances are, you are on municipal water which is treated city water and shouldn't have any smell. The other option is if it's only the hot water that smells. Sometimes, the hot water heater can make the water smell very strange. If you only smell it while you are running hot or warm water, then you might want to have your hot water heater checked out. The plumber can do that for you as well.

+1 to having a plumber come in to show you the basics.

I had a plumber come to snake my kitchen sink once and asked what the best way to avoid clogged drains is.
He suggested enzyme clog clearer monthly and also filling each sink with hot water and then draining weekly to flush the drains.
It's also not a bad idea to know how to clean a trap--it can be a little stinky/dirty, but it's not hard and takes less time than you might wait around for a plumber.

[Anonymous]

Your pipes are farting.

[Anonymous]

Possibly an easy fix: run hot water down to drain, shake some baking side down, our vinegar down until it looks like a volcano erupting. Let sit overnight, then run with hot water again. May help.

[Anonymous]

Bio-Kleen. My plumber recommended it. It seems to be a little more thorough than the baking soda-vinegar routine.

[Anonymous]

I had this exact problem last year. Thought it was the water coming from the tap but it was really odor wafting up from the drain. I am not very handy but I still was able to clean the u-shaped trap and get all the gross black goo out -- basically built up shaving cream, toothpaste, mouthwash residue. Then I went to hardware store and bought something called Pequa drain opener and followed the instructions. Smell gone, as is the "slow flow" drain-- now drains normally.

[Anonymous]

I would try this first.

get from home depot and work on each drain/trap. gets disgusting crap out.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zip-It-Bath-and-Sink-Hair-Snare-BC00400/100665735?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D26P-Plumbing%7c&gclid=CJ31z5Sq_M4CFVNbhgodVGcHyQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

if that does not work, call a plumber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would try this first.

get from home depot and work on each drain/trap. gets disgusting crap out.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zip-It-Bath-and-Sink-Hair-Snare-BC00400/100665735?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D26P-Plumbing%7c&gclid=CJ31z5Sq_M4CFVNbhgodVGcHyQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

if that does not work, call a plumber.

These things are awesome. I used them in a rental home years ago, but just came across them at Dollar Tree last month and bought a couple "just in case."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just had this problem. We had to call a plumber to remove some 20 years of soap, beard hair, gunk. It gets caught in the U-shaped valve, collects and creates bacteria. We tried all sorts of chemical solvents but in the end called the plumber. Check to make sure there is not any leak under the pipe - we didnt know it but we had a small leak so the water had permeated the wood under the sink. We had to treat that wood with chemicals and air it out to get rid of the smell.

Do you seriously not know how to clean out a sink trap? You had to call a plumber? We do this as part of yearly house maintenance.