Horrid sewage smell coming from wall

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WhatInTheWall

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For the past few months (about 3-4) there has been a sewage/sulphur smell in our house. We could never pinpoint it. Sort of seemed like a ghost smell that we were chasing. It didn't come from any drains, toilets, sinks, etc.

It has gotten progressively worse. I mean, horrid awful worse. I have finally pinpointed it to a wall - a far kitchen wall that is the front side of one of my son's bedroom walls. No sinks on that side of the kitchen. No bathroom in is bedroom. It is absolutely coming from that wall and I can now pinpoint (sadly) exactly where on the wall it originates from.

It comes and goes all day long and the smell will travel throughout the entire house and takes forever to get rid of. By the time it disappears, it comes back again.

I keep telling the landlord, but he says if it isn't coming from a drain, it can't be an issue with plumbing. He has also made remarks which more or less indicate the problem is not actually happening. I haven't been able to get him here at the times it happens, because he is not always available to come over when I call. The only other option is for him to hang out here several hours until it does happen and he witnesses it, which is apparently not an option either.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what it could be. I know it is absolutely horrid and it is getting to the point that when it happens I am opening all doors and windows to get the smell out. I live in PA...it is freezing here! If you're in the kitchen or dining room when it happens, you cannot stay in those rooms because the smell about suffocates you. It then travels all throughout the house. It is horrid sewage/sulphur/rotten egg odor from the depths of hell.

I live in a single detached home. It is a "rancher." All one floor. "Downstairs" is the garage and water heater/electrical room.

The wall that the smell is coming from is, I believe, the same line up as one of the garage walls. The garage extends beyond then, underneath my son's bedroom. There is no odor outside the house and we haven't noticed any other problems with plumbing. No smells, no clogs, no leaks.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! I have been looking online for a while now but everything seems to lead to drains - as in the smell is originating in a drain. It is definitely not coming out of any drain here.

EDITED TO ADD - It does not seem to be related to running water or flushing toilets. It just comes and goes randomly throughout the day.
 
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Reach4

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I think you are saying our son's room shares a wall with the smell, but the smell does not seem to come from the wall in your son's room.
You might try taping a plastic drop cloth to that wall, but I would hope that did not then make the smell come out of your son's room.

You might try watching wind strength, wind direction, and barometric pressure when you are trying to correlate when the smell comes.

husky-drop-cloth.jpg
 
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Smooky

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I’m trying to picture a house that is all one floor with a downstairs….
Maybe a trap dried up where condensation from the air conditioner drains in the summer. Is there an air unit over this area? ….It might be an air admittance valve (AAV) that has gone bad. …..It could be a mouse in a mouse trap or if you use rat poison one could have died inside of a wall and the odor is coming out….. When I was a boy sometimes a duck would fly down the chimney, die in there and stink up the house.
 

WhatInTheWall

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Below us is just the garage and hot water heater/electrical room. All living space is on one floor.

We have no central air or heating.

The smell comes from the wall that adjoins the kitchen and my son's room, but the sell does not release into his room. It releases on the kitchen side of the wall. I can tell the exact area of the wall that it comes from (well, within like a 1 ft diameter space on the wall).
 

Reach4

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I can tell the exact area of the wall that it comes from (well, within like a 1 ft diameter space on the wall).

!!!! Surprised to read that !!!!
How high off of the floor is that spot?
What features are near that spot?
Is there a vent through the roof over that spot as best you can tell?
 

WhatInTheWall

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The spot that the smell is strongest is right about where the counter connects to the wall. That wall is just cabinets and counters, with a few electrical outlets.

The only roof vent that I am aware of is on opposite end of the house.
 

Smooky

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Look to see if there are any signs of drain pipes in the cabinet. Maybe a sink was there in the past etc. Is there a kitchen island with a sink in it? How about a picture of the plumbing in the room such as how it is plumbed under the sink.
 
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WhatInTheWall

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Look to see if there are any signs of drain pipes in the cabinet. Maybe a sink was there in the past etc. It there a kitchen island with a sink in it? How about a picture of the plumbing in the room such as how it is plumbed under the sink.

There are no signs of drainpipes in any of the cabinets that run along that same wall. The plumbing set up is the same as when the house was built. The plumber that usually comes out is the same plumber that has worked on this house since it was built, so he knows everything about it and has mentioned in the past that everything is original, except for a new pipe here and there under a sink etc. No major differences or changes though.
No kitchen island sink either.

At the opposite end of the wall, there is a corner cabinet with giant lazy susan and some plumbing goes through there (for the dishwasher which is also along this smelly wall and the reverse osmosis system that is on the adjacent wall) and then down into the garage, I assume, but no odors seem to come from there at all. No odors come from inside the dishwasher, no odors come from the sink. It is weird.

As for pictures, are you asking me to post pictures?
 

Reach4

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As for pictures, are you asking me to post pictures?
Yes. Put a link to pictures on a service of any size, or if you upload, make the pictures 800 pixels or less and under 250 kilobyte (I think).
 

Kreemoweet

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If you can tell where the smell is coming out of the wall, then for goshsake just pull the darn drywall off and have a look.
Be prepared for the worst! After you clean up the mess, get yer lazy landlord to fix the wall, or hire a handyman to do it and
send him the bill. You can also get a cheap camera-on-a-snake for less than $100. at the big-box-stores and stick it in a
small 1 inch hole and see everything inside the stud bay.
 

Cacher_Chick

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If it is drywall, and I were certain the smell were coming from there, I would have already opened the wall up to see what the cause was. If I cut it open and there was nothing there to cause the smell, then I would carry the responsibility of fixing the wall.
 

WhatInTheWall

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I think we would have to remove the cabinets as well. It seems to come from where the cabinet meets the wall. I really never thought of tearing down the wall because of causing obvious damage and we certainly cannot afford to pay someone to fix everything afterwards. I will have to keep bugging the landlord to get someone out here to take care of it. I don't even understand how the smell is passing through the wall like that and infiltrating the rest of the house from that one point. We have almost 3000 sq ft living space.
 

Irene conroy

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Hello. Have you solved this issue? I have the same problem. Its in my sons closet and a little in my kitchen near the wall.
 

Sylvan

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Sewer gases are not only flammable in many cases they are highly carcinogenic and should not be taken lightly

Get a licensed plumber to do a oil of peppermint test as it is non destructive and may pin point where the problem is
 

TinyRick

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Did something die in the wall and is now rotting? You said you could pinpoint the exact location of the smell to a spot in the wall I'd remove the drywall from said spot and see whats back there. Sounds like your landlord won't be stopping by before you could have it patched back up
 
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