3

We have a smell that only comes from the kitchen sink sometimes.

I have tried cleaning it all different ways many times. Have taken the plumbing apart by the Ptrap and have done the baking soda thing all different ways.

We put in a new dishwasher a few months back and the smell subsided. It is now back but only sometimes from the sink, which makes it go to dishwasher also. When dishwasher was installed the guys were told of the problem so I am sure my plumbing is right.

I also had a friend look at it and he told me it looked good. He is a plumber.

Can it be something behind the walls that I would have no clue about?

Alaska Man
  • 13,551
  • 2
  • 19
  • 30
Karin Krug
  • 31
  • 1

3 Answers3

1

I would look at the garbage disposer. In the bottom chamber that is connected to the drain pipe. I would remove the drain pipe at the disposal. If possible look through the opening and see if grind up food and grease has formed a 'paste' on the inter-wall. Fibrous vegetables can also form large gobs of waste matter after passing through the grinder. Water is able to pass through, but the decaying waste on the wall is nearly impossible to flush out. Unplug the disposer. Use a long thin stick, drain brush, or other items to scrape the rotten mess out of the chamber.
Reconnect the drain pipe, and flush with hot water several minutes.

Programmer66
  • 2,744
  • 4
  • 11
0

Funny that you should ask, I just resolved this issue in my old home yesterday.

I found that the source of the smell had been gunk in the drain pipe and especially just under the drain cover piece. To clean it out I used a larger diameter tube cleaner (~1/2" diameter) inserted into each hole and slot in the cover. I found that it worked best to use an up-and-down and twisting motion.

Then I used a bleach mixture of about 1 cup of 1:10 ratio bleach to water and poured it into the drain and let sit for a while, about 10 minutes.

Protip: when pulling the tube cleaner out it will tend to flick nasty black gunk everywhere. To prevent this, cover the drain and tube clean with your hand so that the gunk is contained

enter image description here enter image description here

Ack
  • 5,719
  • 4
  • 19
  • 32
  • 1
    Why the down vote lol? If you're going to down vote an answer such as this one, that worked for the person posting it, and does no harm and so on, then provide a reason or otherwise one must deduce that it is the continuation of the vindictive pattern by a few users that have done it before – Ack Apr 23 '20 at 00:51
  • 1
    I don't think a downvote is necessarily vindictive. The process is supposed to let the most and least valuable answers (as determined by the community) to bubble up to the top or drop to the bottom. Don't take it personally, and don't let it discourage you from continuing to participate. The OP may accept your answer as the right one for their situation regardless of votes; and others may learn from and find value in the information you share. The health of the community relies on folks sharing diverse perspectives, experiences, and opinions as long as it's constructive Keep 'em coming! – Jimmy Fix-it Apr 23 '20 at 04:24
  • @JimmyFix-it thank you Jimmy and you're right and I up voted your comment. I'm not taking it personally, there is a history behind this story that you may be unaware of and I have my suspicions that is related. I hope that I'm wrong – Ack Apr 23 '20 at 06:22
0

"Can it be something behind the walls that I would have no clue about?"

YES- sometimes smelly drains are an indication of a partial blockage or inadequate (or blocked) venting. Sometimes even a partial blockage can cause malfunction of the vent system and allow smelly sewer gases to rise from a sink drain. I would suggest that you run a drain cable down the line, since you do not mention having tried that.

Jimmy Fix-it
  • 35,726
  • 32
  • 57