Whom to Call To Solve Foul Smell in Kitchen Floor Drainage? How to solve it DIY?

Question

In my HDB flat's kitchen, there is a foul smell which seems to be coming from the drainage on the floor right under my kitchen sink.

The sink has been leaking and so the floor is often wet. The leaked water goes to the opening of the drainage there.

Q1: Who would be the best people to call to solve the problem?

Q2: And if I were to solve it myself, what should I do?

Answer 1

There is too little information to give a definitive answer, but you need to start by eliminating the leak in the sink plumbing.

Are you up to a DIY repair? No insult meant with that, but if the leak has been going on long enough that the floor is "often wet" and a smell has developed, then it appears you were unable to deal with it when it began.

As to the repairs, the most likely problem will be either a gasket around the drain itself or a leak in the trap joint under the sink.

When you have water in the sink, look underneath and check the area around the drain for wetness, where the drain connects to the sink. . If wetness is found then a trip to any hardware store will get you the required sink drain. They are simple to install and come with instructions. You should ask the seller if any special tool is required, because some have a large nut on the underside.

If that is dry, then check the trap....if it is leaking you will see water dripping from the bottom of the curve, or at least it will be wet. The trap looks like a "P" or "S" shape and will either be glued or have a threaded nut that permits disassembly.

These traps always have joints and leaks can occur there.

Plastic is used in many newer installations, but in older ones there was solder with brass or copper fittings, and still older used lead, which is not safe to have now.

Some joints may be glued or soldered and others may be mechanically screwed together.

The most likely to leak is the mechanical one, and you can put a pan beneath the trap to catch the water, then open the fitting completely so that you can clean the threads, then check that the gasket is in place and put it back together firmly.

If it is plastic and glued, then you will MAY be able to seal it with more glue, but this will usually fail, because the glue will not seep into the crack to make an effective seal.

Wrapping vinyl tape across the entire joint will usually work, if you stretch the tape as you wrap, and ensure plenty of overlap.

The better way would be to cut out the joint and replace it with new pipe and fittings.

If this is an older installation with copper pipe you need to heat the leaking fitting and take it apart, then clean the end of the pipe, clean the inner part of the fitting, then solder it back into place. When re-soldering the main trick is to get the two parts hot enough to go together, then head ONLY the larger fitting, NOT the pipe, and let solder melt on top of the pipe where it meets the fitting. This lets the solder be effectively sucked into the joint and creates a tight seal.

If you have a much older installation with lead pipe , then it would be best by far to call a plumber and have it all replaced. It is not safe to have or use.



The smell from the floor may be easy or difficult, depending on how much water is involved, and how far it has spread in the floors etc.

If it is mostly superficial then bleach will kill the offending surface spores and also those it reaches anywhere else, however you must determine if there is damage beneath the floor, as this could have occurred if the leak has been going on for weeks or longer.

Answer 2

'Sounds like you need a plumber, pal. Ask him to analyze the problem so that you can decide whether you want to pay him to fix it, or DIY. Good luck. Here's good read: