Hello,
First of all, I need to say that I know nothing, absolutely nothing to plumbing.
I am posting in this forum because I am losing my wits here.
I bought a tenement flat (Scotland, high ceilings very old flats, stone buildings) and when I moved in just a few weet ago I noticed that the previous owners had left a room perfume plugged in the sockets above the kitchen worktop, not far from the boiler. I unplugged it, and did not think more about it, thinking that many people seem to like these artificial stuff.
As the days went by, I noticed a bad smell, like bins, a dirty smell, in the kitchen. I started to sniff every corner and found that the wall just bow the boiler, where pipes get in and out, stank. A joiner working elsewhere in the flat pointed at the smell coming from a sectioned copper pipe, within the wall, below the combi boiler. It stank indeed. I asked him to block it all with foam, which he did then he built a wooden cupboard around the boiler, with a door, and open at the top for ventilation... It hardly made a difference! The smell is still there. OK, maybe slightly less strong.
The previous owners had had the boiler changed, a new one installed in December 2016. So this is a new one, brand is Ideal.
The joiner talked of the boiler pipe or flue maybe not well connected to some outdoor pipe and some condensation water dripping inside the wall, possibly causing the rotten smell.
I have lifted off the kitchen floor lino and checked: no bad smell so maybe I can rule out an underfloor leaking pipe. Same for under the kitchen bottom cupboards: Ilifted the loose skirting and smelled and no smell.
Now something strange and depressing happened a few days ago. As the bedroom right next to the kitchen, also at the back of the building (so sharing the same exterior wall) was getting dusty from the joiner cutting laminate, we opened the window and left it opened for days. Soon, that horrible smell came in the bedroom.... And it seems from the window!
I attach pictures taken from outside of the back wall, with all the pipes and flue. The kitchen is where we see lights through the window. To its left, the next window is the bedroom now having that strange smell too, when the window remains open... I live on the first floor, by the way! In the picture, my flat is the only one with the thin plastic pipe extension /arm....
If anyone, anybody has any idea, please can you give me your opinion? This is starting to obsess and depress me.
Thank you.
First of all, I need to say that I know nothing, absolutely nothing to plumbing.
I am posting in this forum because I am losing my wits here.
I bought a tenement flat (Scotland, high ceilings very old flats, stone buildings) and when I moved in just a few weet ago I noticed that the previous owners had left a room perfume plugged in the sockets above the kitchen worktop, not far from the boiler. I unplugged it, and did not think more about it, thinking that many people seem to like these artificial stuff.
As the days went by, I noticed a bad smell, like bins, a dirty smell, in the kitchen. I started to sniff every corner and found that the wall just bow the boiler, where pipes get in and out, stank. A joiner working elsewhere in the flat pointed at the smell coming from a sectioned copper pipe, within the wall, below the combi boiler. It stank indeed. I asked him to block it all with foam, which he did then he built a wooden cupboard around the boiler, with a door, and open at the top for ventilation... It hardly made a difference! The smell is still there. OK, maybe slightly less strong.
The previous owners had had the boiler changed, a new one installed in December 2016. So this is a new one, brand is Ideal.
The joiner talked of the boiler pipe or flue maybe not well connected to some outdoor pipe and some condensation water dripping inside the wall, possibly causing the rotten smell.
I have lifted off the kitchen floor lino and checked: no bad smell so maybe I can rule out an underfloor leaking pipe. Same for under the kitchen bottom cupboards: Ilifted the loose skirting and smelled and no smell.
Now something strange and depressing happened a few days ago. As the bedroom right next to the kitchen, also at the back of the building (so sharing the same exterior wall) was getting dusty from the joiner cutting laminate, we opened the window and left it opened for days. Soon, that horrible smell came in the bedroom.... And it seems from the window!
I attach pictures taken from outside of the back wall, with all the pipes and flue. The kitchen is where we see lights through the window. To its left, the next window is the bedroom now having that strange smell too, when the window remains open... I live on the first floor, by the way! In the picture, my flat is the only one with the thin plastic pipe extension /arm....
If anyone, anybody has any idea, please can you give me your opinion? This is starting to obsess and depress me.
Thank you.