Nasty smell when hearing or hot water turned on

Emmser

Hi, I live in a three storey estate. We are detached. We have asked our neighbours and this does not affect their houses, only ours.

We bought our house four years ago after it had been uninhabited for five or six years. It was a show house from the Celtic tiger. The water had been drained from all toilets and radiators while vacant, house had never been lived in before us.

So now we are living here for several years, we had the plumbing all checked out, as despite the removing of the water etc there still remained a little which gave way to leaks. We fixed all leaks and replastered etc.

Now, once a week almost, when we turn on the heating (gas) or try to heat the hot water there is a foul disturbing smell. It smells like sewage. Horrific, so much so that all windows have to be open which defeats the purpose of heating.

We have checked our drains etc, no dead animals and have cleaned the gutters out.

It doesn't happen every time, but most times we use the heating. I always have windows open in the house and candles lighting as it's a massive concern. We have had two different plumbers in and they can't seem to located the problem.

Any help or advice much appreciated.

exaisle

Check the flue of your boiler...you may have the remains of a small bird or rodent there.

Emmser

exaisle wrote: »

Check the flue of your boiler...you may have the remains of a small bird or rodent there.

Yeah my neighbour thought the same and he checked it, all clear.

ted1

Is it like a rotten egg? Could be corrosion in the copper pipes leads to sulfer in the pipes and hence a fowl smell

Emmser

ted1 wrote: »

Is it like a rotten egg? Could be corrosion in the copper pipes leads to sulfervib the pipes and hence a fowl smell

Yes, it is like rotten eggs, but it's sporadic enough. Not every day. Very strange.

chicorytip

Hello. I have been hearing a kind of groaning noise recently whenever I turn on the kitchen and bathroom cold taps and whenever I flush the toilet. It seems to be emanating from pipes at the back of my hotpress which, I think, connect to the immersion tank. Also, on a separate or perhaps related issue, three downstairs radiators are not heating up. I have bled all the rads and there appears to be no trapped air.The system is Gas fired. Thank you.

Dardania

Where does the smell originate? Can you track where you smell it first?

It's not unknown for tradespeople, who don't have a huge prospect of getting paid, to leave behind "gifts" to the future occupiers. I had one in a school job, where the upstairs rads wouldn't heat at all - the problem ended up being a coke bottle in the vertical pipework.

Maybe a good root around in the hot press might be in order?

Also, your downstairs rads problem might mean the system simply needs balancing...