Sewage smell in our apartment...

W

walletpod

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We have a groud floor apartment in an apartment block which is about 15 years old. Recently, when we turn on our washing machine a terrible smell appears in our bedroom. I'm not a plumbing expert but there is (what looks like to me) a sewage drain just outside the wall adjacent to the bedroom. Our apartment block employs the service of a Property Management Co.

I have two questions (and realise that the first of these is fairly general but)

1) has anyone had a similar experience, and if so how was this resolved (and more importantly how much it cost to resolve)

2) if it is a drainage / sewage problem, who's responsibility is it to rectify this? the owner of the property / the management co of the property / the local council?

Thank you
 
Sewage smells can be a sign of blocked drains.
Its as well to report this to the management company as a health issue.
If you have children staying with you this should be highlighted to the management company.
As to who pays I am uncertain, but I would expect the management company to pay for problems with drains that are not yet taken in charge.
If the blockage is caused by inappropriate disposal of items in the drain the management company may trace these to the owners and demand payment.
IOW if there is one family with babies on the pipe run and the blockage is caused by nappies down the loo, the management company may come after them for inappropriate use of the services provided.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
Thanks for that ONQ - that's very helpful. We are the 2nd owners of the property but have been resident for 6 years, and have not abused the drainage system so we should not be liable. There are no children resident in the apartment, but we have noticed some health issues over the past week or so. We're obviously really concerned with this - so we'd like to get this sorted asap.

We spoke to the local council this morning who advised that (from the description of where the drain is) this appears to be under the remit of the mgmt co.

I am going to contact the mgmt co. now see what they come back with. I'll keep this thread updated.
 
When you get the drainage checked have a look at the trap seals on the traps fitted to your sanitary appliances. These trap seals may be too shallow for the appliance or the above ground drainage system. This may lead to siphonage problems and sewer gas/smells entering the building.
 
By way of update: the management co. for the apartments reverted today saying that they have engaged a drain contractor to visit the complex today and report with their findings. It appears as though the management co. are now running with this, and will resolve the issue. I'll update this thread again once I have a concrete answer on what the problem was, and how it was fixed.

Also, thanks for your input villa 1, I'll mention this to the management co. as well.
 
To close this off, the problem was identified as a simple blockage in the sewage pipes. There were some leaves / debris etc clogging the free flow of waste water from our apt. This led to the blockage, and subsequent stench. This was fixed in about 10 mins, and thankfully our mgmt co. for the property covered the cost of the contractor.
 
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