Stale water smell in kitchen/hall

[babaduck]

This has only happened in the past 2-3 weeks. The house is 9 years old, part of a housing development (i.e. no septic tank), we've no water filter system.

In the kitchen, we have a washing machine (5 months old, professionally installed), a sink & a dishwasher. I've cleaned the sink, poured bleach down it & cleaned out the dishwasher. Nothing is helping. It's a really stale smell that is drifting into the hall & the upstairs landing. Both myself & The Hubs are utterly useless at DIY by the way.

Does anybody have a clue what is causing this? I've also checked all the rads in case one was leaking... they're all fine!

 

[Bessa]

Your drain outside could be blocked with leaves and this can cause the smell.

 

[ophelia]

Your drain outside could be blocked with leaves and this can cause the smell.

Or worse still, the drainage pipe outside your house may be cracked or broken causing a back-up and smell. Try calling your local council and they will deal with it by checking the main drains out of your property, (which you probably share with others). Call out is free, but if it needs fixing you and others who share the drain will have to pay for it.

 

[ladybird]

OP,

have you a downstairs loo you don't use or, upstairs, a bath you don't use as you use a separate shower? Or a bathroom you don't use as you use your en-suite? It could be from the water trays under your unused showers/bath/sinks drying out. Run water down them for a few mins. And repeat every month.

Just a thought,
Ladybird

 

[Blossom]

May sound a little strange but you should check all your light fittings. My brother had a similar problem last year and he found that one of the light fittings had a problem (something had melted) and it caused a really bad smell which he thought was water related.

 

[PetrolHead]

OP,

have you a downstairs loo you don't use or, upstairs, a bath you don't use as you use a separate shower? Or a bathroom you don't use as you use your en-suite?

I have to do this in our house and it took me ages to work it out. We had an open trap in the downstairs loo (designed to take a shower) that used to dry out. Also, the en-suite doesn't get used much so I have to run water through every now and then...

May sound a little strange but you should check all your light fittings.

This isn't as strange a suggestion as it sounds. Again, it took me ages to work it out but our hall used to smell 'fishy'. I finally realised it was the light bulb. When it got warm it gave off the smell that I had been convinced was coming from the bins or the drains...