You all have helped me with my hunch that sewer gas in my daughter's tiny apartment may have contributed to her pneumonia (fluid in the lungs). She has been staying with us now, and today I went to her apartment to see if I could isolate the source of the problem.
Even before opening her door I could detect what smelled like--for lack of a better description--stale garlic smell. It's that smell left over the next morning when you've cooked something really garlicky the night before. As soon as I opened her door the stench hit me. I left her door open to air the place, and sniffed along the floors, the closet, the bookshelves, etc. I couldn't find the source. After about an hour of going back and forth, outside (to clear my nose) and inside, I realized that the odor was everywhere. I couldn't smell the sewer gas smell, though. It was just the terrible acrid odor of garlic. It gave me a bad headache, so I went to McDonald's for lunch. When I returned I cleaned the apartment (took out trash, wiped down surfaces, poured bleach into all drains), and even with 2 ceiling fans going, a/c on, and vents on, the smell remained. My headache came back.
The last half hour I was there I started to smell a slight sewer gas (sweeter, you know, like farts!) again, in addition to the stale garlic "sharp" acrid smell.
I talked to the landlady, who said there has been an ongoing problem with all the plumbing (5 toilets, 5 winks, 3 showers) in the house for years, but it was infrequent, only now and then, and plumbers have come out and told her it wasn't hazardous, and they suggested that whenever the smell come she just flush all the toilets, sinks, and showers, and the smell would disappear. Never affected previous tenants.
However, the gas smell is far more severe in my daughter's apartment and possibly a new occurence? I'm starting to think that there is a pipe leak near her bathroom, where it shares the wall with the garage, because that is the place where the plumbers came 2 weeks ago and did "some work" [never did find out what it was, as it was in the garage].
Thanks for any clues as to the smell.
Even before opening her door I could detect what smelled like--for lack of a better description--stale garlic smell. It's that smell left over the next morning when you've cooked something really garlicky the night before. As soon as I opened her door the stench hit me. I left her door open to air the place, and sniffed along the floors, the closet, the bookshelves, etc. I couldn't find the source. After about an hour of going back and forth, outside (to clear my nose) and inside, I realized that the odor was everywhere. I couldn't smell the sewer gas smell, though. It was just the terrible acrid odor of garlic. It gave me a bad headache, so I went to McDonald's for lunch. When I returned I cleaned the apartment (took out trash, wiped down surfaces, poured bleach into all drains), and even with 2 ceiling fans going, a/c on, and vents on, the smell remained. My headache came back.
The last half hour I was there I started to smell a slight sewer gas (sweeter, you know, like farts!) again, in addition to the stale garlic "sharp" acrid smell.
I talked to the landlady, who said there has been an ongoing problem with all the plumbing (5 toilets, 5 winks, 3 showers) in the house for years, but it was infrequent, only now and then, and plumbers have come out and told her it wasn't hazardous, and they suggested that whenever the smell come she just flush all the toilets, sinks, and showers, and the smell would disappear. Never affected previous tenants.
However, the gas smell is far more severe in my daughter's apartment and possibly a new occurence? I'm starting to think that there is a pipe leak near her bathroom, where it shares the wall with the garage, because that is the place where the plumbers came 2 weeks ago and did "some work" [never did find out what it was, as it was in the garage].
Thanks for any clues as to the smell.
Last edited:
