ooh ooh that smell

[gene37412]

Not to be confused with the Lynyrd Skynyrd song but does anyone know how to get rid of the foul odor that comes from the floor drains in the Bathrooms?? No matter how much I clean or pour down the drains they still smell like S#*!.....

[jen***]

I'm not sure how you can actually get rid of smells as I would assume they come from the pipes that have never been cleared or cleaned. You can try pouring acid down the drain and flushing it out.
Or most supermarkets sell the drain covers so you can stop some of the smell seeping out

[Elizabeth]

You might want to get a plumber in there. Sounds like something isn't right.

[CancunCanuck]

I was going to suggest the covers too! The smell never really seems to go away, but I have found it improves if the pipes are cleaned with muriatic acid. Be careful with that stuff though, it's killer! Don't use too much and don't get your face close to it at all. Oh, just remembered the English name, lol, hydrochloric acid but it's sold her under "Muriatico" and you can find it just about everywhere.

[T.J.]

Try the Muriatic Acid Gene. It comes in 500 ml plastic bottles and the acid is not clear like in the US, nor does it seem to have as much potency. Let it work for only a minute or two and then flush with lots of water.

If you have ever used this stuff you know it will burn your skin and the fumes are hazardous to your health.

Be careful.

I have also used, AND PREFER, Sulfuric Acid for the same problems in the US but I have not seen it there. This solution is actually used in the treatment of wastewater, BUT the odor is worse than what you have now. But it will go away. Hotels use it all the time to open clogged drains. This is the smell of rotten eggs.
You need to be very careful with either of these chemicals and don't even think about mixing them. HCL + H2SO4 = COULD BE FATAL. If I remember correctly this mixture makes Chlorine Gas, so do not try this at home kids.

When I see you I will tell you what I did with a 1/2 gallon of this stuff when some property manager got on my wrong side. Whew!!!

[LotsaTimers]

Now that sounds like a story I gotta hear sometime!

George

[Drewbert]

Yeah, the muratic acid can help (muratic acid is actual DILUTE HCl).

If the odor is there all the time, you may have a sewer venting problem. They're supposed to vent through pipes to roof level. Someone may have blocked off, or removed said vent to safe/make money.

The open drains in the floors are supposed to have a cover system that has a small water trap in it to prevent gases from venting through it (sort of like a built-in u-bend). Someone may have removed it and not replaced it.

The other potential problem is that there is a large scale blockage somewhere in your sewer system before it connects to the main sewer pipe. The Aquakan guys will actually come to you house and try to sort that sort of think out for free? (possibly it's covered by yoour water bill?). They have the truck with the big poo vacuum pipe on it and all the tubes for running through your sewer line to try and find the problem.

We had a blockage and our neighbour did at the same time. Turns out when the neighbours house was built, they didn't want to go to the expense of paying for a connection to the main sewer line, so they simply connected into our sewer system at the last "register" before it hit the street. Aguakan couldn't find the last register as it had been hidden under the concrete garage floor when that was layed by a later owner. Through varous tests (including sticking my arm into a cocroach invested sewer line), I figured out where the register was and broke through the concrete floor. Sure enough it was blocked and FULL of crap. Jiggled a piece of steel bar around until I managed to unblock the outlet pipe, and there was a woosh as years of clogged poo finally made it out to the street. Since then we haven't had any odour problems.

[Elizabeth]

big poo vacuum

I love it.

[T.J.]

I just figured out Gene's problem.

TOO MANY BEANS ! ! !

[RiverGirl]

Most of the places I've seen that have stinky drains in Cancun are just missing the trap. (People here are lazy.) And if the trap is missing the roaches can climb out of the sewer. Fix the trap the smell and I'll betcha the smell will go.

[Alma Libre]

We sometimes have this problem in a shower we rarely use. The water in the trap dries out and then we get "that smell". To keep the water from evaporating, we dribble a little bit of vegetable oil down the drain after the water. The oil forms a little slick on top of the water and it does not evaporate. Keeps the smell and roaches away.

Love this thread by the way. Especially descriptive Drewbert

there was a woosh as years of clogged poo finally made it out to the street.

Write a book Drewbert...I'll sell it!

[T.J.]

Great thinking Alma Libre. I wonder two things:

1. Is there a chance that the oil would ever harden and create a worse problem?

2. You seem like a pretty clean guy. How come you don't shower often? LOL.

[Drewbert]

The other good thing about putting vegetable oil there is that it prevents that little pool of water from becoming a mosquito breeding ground.

[gene37412]

Originally Posted by T.J.

I just figured out Gene's problem.

TOO MANY BEANS ! ! !

Come on T.J. You know me.....I am retired United States Marine Corps....my S*!# doesn't stink.....its Alicia.....she loves her beans....

[jkmrtv]

Hey Gene :bigwave: Paradise still smell sweet :?: :lol: :lol: :wink:

[gene37412]

hey John....glad to see you back on the board.....yep...the smell hasn't changed since we were here last year....now i just live with it all the time....

[jkmrtv]

Good to be back. Glad to be heading back to Cancun. Still trying to figure out when. Somewhere between end of June -first part of August.