What to do when your sink is stinking

Holidays are normally interesting times because inmost cases we are likely to have the company of friends and relatives visiting. Most of us don’t just want to be good hosts but we also want to create an impression. You don’t want to have your guests over only for them to wonder why your sink and shower drains are stinking like a sewer. Some simple maintenance work to keep your pipes flowing may be all you will require to keep things working without any offending odors in your house.  

Should your nostrils be hit with any offensive smell, the first place to check is the sink bowl or the floor drain to see whether the stopper is choking from a buildup of sludge. If you are dealing with the sink, you only need to pull the stopper and you will definitely get the answer. This problem will seem to disappear at some point only for it to surface when you run some warm water. All you need to do to deal with such an issue is to try flushing a kettle full of hot water every once in a month.   

If that does not solve the problem, you may want to consider checking inside the drain for a build of sludge and hair. This problem can be solved by inserting a stiff wire that is about 10 inches long which is bent like a ‘U’ at the one end. Once it is in place, you can twist it a little bit before pulling out any obstructions that may have been in there. Once you pull out any stuff don’t place it back in the drainage system but rather place it in the trash bag. Finish up by flushing the drain using some hot boiling water. 

The next thing you may want to consider is the way your drain, waste and ventilation have been configured. You can easily accomplish this by checking under utility, kitchen and bathroom sinks.  Checking this out may not be as easy with tubs or showers because they are likely to be found deep inside the walls. On checking those drains you should expect to see a trap, which is what is meant to keep any sewer gases away. Water is normally trapped in the U- shaped part of the pipe and forms what is known as a water seal. It is this water the stops any movement of sewer gases upward and blocks them from going through the trap and finally into your house. 

This type of plumbing depends on gravity such that when water moves downward the air will move upwards. Since water and air cannot move inside the pipes separately, the function happens simultaneously. This means when the air fails to escape upwards through those pipes and go out towards the roof, the water will fail to move downwards and this will be the cause of a number of challenges including back up flooding and the pungent odor escaping through the interior exits such as bathtub drains and sinks. You can solve this problem by cleaning up the ‘P’ traps in your house or upgrading them in case you live in old houses that don’t have them. If all these interventions don’t work, you may want to look for a professional plumber.

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