basic questions from newbie girl

[ELLETHEKITTY]

Hello. Im renting a very cheap basement and am trying to eliminate odour coming from the bathroom. I dont have alot of cash, or landlord support to do serious repairs, but probably simple bandaids to try to cover the problem until I can leave. First, I thought the smell was from the carpets in the main room, so then I ripped them out. i found, to my astonishment, that under the carpet the floor is chippboard over a layer of styrofoam, and dirt underneath.
The floor is rotting around the bathroom, which is the only room that I beleive is concrete. I dont know if it was rotting because of a previous backup, or a leak, but I think a backup occured a long time ago. The wood is still wet due to recent activity in the abthroom, so its safe to say that there is too much moisture in there. Ive removed the rotten wood and caulked the seams to the room to keep bugs and soil out. Im getting a free dehumidifier from a friend. Now Im assuming I should deal wih this pump.


In the bathroom room is a pump. I think its just an ejector pump because it runs when I turn on taps and flush the toilet. I dont know how a sump pump would work in a wood basement... but Im no expert. Its just a guess.
The pump itself I dont see, its down in a hole, with a lose lid, out of which comes one black plastic pipe that leads into a wall, and a hole from which two eletric cords come out. I hope the pipe is a vent, but I have no way of knowing. What Ive done so far is dump Vanish toilet bowl cleaner down the hole, and I gather from a posting on here that I should silocone it shut.
The rest of the moisture in the bathroom that gathers smells like sewage, but I don't know if thats from the just the vapours, or if there is a leak. There is no visible leak atound the lid, infact there is a good margin befor water starts. BUt there could be leaks in the walls, which show considerable rot.

I cant do proper fixes, I just need to know what I should be dumping down there. I dont know if enzyme stuff is safe now that Ive dumped Vanish down there. I live in Toronto Canada, and don't know what kind of sewer system there is-and I dont have the skill or cash to look at traps or valves. Any advice?

 

[Jadnashua]

That pit contains whatever goes down the drain in the bathroom, from the toilet, the shower, and the sink. Once it reaches a certain level, the pump turns on and pumps it into the sewer. If the lid is loose, you're smelling whatever is sitting in that tank, and you can imagine what's there. If you seal the lid, you should go a long ways towards minimizing the smells. Take a good look, see how much "play" you have in the lid. You might want to clean the edge off, then silicon it shut.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cass]

There should be 2 pipes coming from the cover or 1 pipe and 1 hole in the lid where there should be another pipe. If there is only 1 pipe and no hole for another pipe tell us B4 you silicone the lid shut.

 

[Jadnashua]

In the states, living space, especailly bedrooms, are required to have two means of egress. That usually is the normal door, and a window that opens and is big enough and low enough to allow a normal person to get out. My guess is that this probably doesn't exist. A dirt floor wouldn't meet codes either. I'd start looking for another apartment, and if the landlord won't let you out of the lease, talk to the local building inspector...my guess is that the apartment would be declared in violation and uninhabitable until repairs were made...that would normally qualify as a valid reason to break a lease without penalty to you. A few discrete inquiries should let you verify this or refute it, and would solidify your future plan of attack.