Q: Regarding your recent column that featured a question from the new home owner who had a sewage gas smell, I ran across something similar 20 years ago in temporary quarters. The odor was traced to the clothes washing machine.
After two or more wash loads were run, the odor would appear and permeate the house. Frankly, I don’t remember what we did to solve the problem and I have no way of tracking down anyone who might.
But I thought this might put you on the right track for a solution for that homeowner.
A: Thanks for throwing out a possible solution to this (as you can imagine) extremely annoying problem.
And, you are right, if you use too much laundry detergent in some washing machines, the excess laundry detergent can build up in the washing machine, allow mold to grow and create a foul smelling odor to permeate out of the washing machine.
So, if anyone else has any ideas on what might be causing this smell, have at it. I’ll publish comments in a future column.
If you want to read the original question, you can find it here: https://www.thinkglink.com/article/2011/01/14/seller-disclosure-laws-may-allow-you-to-sue-for-fraud-or-damages.
If the person with the sewer gas has any rarely/ never used sinks, toilets, showers etc thye may have had the water in the P-Trap evaporate. Once the water evaporates, it is possible for the sewer gas to get into the house.
I have a problem with new furniture. I bought a brand new bedroom set and sofa, love seat at a major furniture store 11 months ago. It emits a strong formaldahyde smell that has lingered for 11 months. It gives me daily headaches and runny, itchy eyes. I opened all the windows in my house and rant the overhead fans for about one week on a daily basis. The smell remains and is also causing my clothes in the closet to smell. At the time I bought the furniture I didn’t know that the company purchased it from Southeast Asia. Namely, Viet Nam. I talked to the store manager and he stated that the furniture does not contain formaldahyde and it should not stink. Question: Does anybody else have a similar problem?? If so, I will print them out and show them to the store in hopes of getting a fix for the problem or a total refund. i am sitting in my stinky house right now as I type this memo. Thanks for reading. i hope there are other folks out there like me. Maybe we can get this problem corrected.