There is a bad smell coming from under my floor
It doesn’t matter if your sense of smell is good or bad – a sewage smell coming from under your floor boards is hard to miss.
If you imagine your kitchen right now – the sink is up against the wall in one corner. Where does the drain pipe go once the water has drained away from the sink? 9/10 times it goes under the floor before joining the drainage pipes that leave your home. In older homes, these drainage pipes can be just as old as the houses themselves so it come as no surprise that at some point, one of the joins in the pipe will crack, fail and begin to leak.
Now because this is under the floor and is a slow quiet drip drip, you are never going to notice it. That is until the smell begins to build.
It can be quite a shock when you finally go to investigate the source of the smell and discover not only the source but the potential damage it can cause to your home. The wooden floor can warp because of the moisture, the water can seep into the walls creating a dampness which itself can cause mould to build up. There are a whole list of things to consider.
At JSL Plumbing – we don’t just fix leaking taps, we can perform an entire clean up and repair service for situations just like the above. If you have discovered a leaking pipe under your floor, we can source the leak, replace the faulty parts and clean up and sterilise the mess that it caused. All with minimal disruption to you and your daily lives.
If you would like to know more about our sewage cleanup services in the Glasgow area, please call us today on 0141 406 1658
Case Study - Sewage Below the Floor
After a referral from an insurance company we visited the site on the same day as requested. Joiners had lifted part of the bathroom floor due to spongy flooring and a suspect bath leak. They found in addition to the bath leak the soil pipe from the toilet was also separated and raw sewage had been spilling into the solum for some months.
Toilet solids and water had flooded under the bathroom and hallway. Our investigation by lifting carpets and hatches revealed the extent of the contamination was limited to these areas and not spread under the lounge and kitchen but was quite extensive.
Up to 30cm of solid waste and 50 mm of liquid was also contaminated with sewer flies and surprisingly little smell until the floor was opened up. A quote was supplied and accepted and we booked the clean-up for a weeks time as we had to wait for the go ahead.
Our process is as follows:
– Lift the hall carpet and underlay.
– Suit up in disposable white suits, wellies, mask, goggles and gloves.
– Spread copious amounts of absorbent compound over the contamination.
– Cut away remaining floorboards in the bathroom including a rotten joist
– Cut away old pipework
– Cut an opening along the length of the hallway.
– Lift out builders rubble insulation old pipes and loose rubbish. Double bag and remove.
– Dig out solid waste (the smelly bit which had the apprentice gagging) double bag and remove.
– Add more absorbent compound Stamp in to soak up liquids and dig out into double bags.
– Sweep the area clear of absorbent compound taking particular care with edges and corners to ensure no contamination is left behind.
– Disinfect all areas affected.
– Refit floorboards.
– Clean all areas
– Remove bags of rubbish from site.
– Colleagues from another company came in behind us and fogged the area with fly killer on 3 separate visits then refitted the carpet.
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A reliable, professional and trusting plumber in Glasgow and the surrounding areas. For quotations, emergency call outs and commercial contracts please call our head office on 0141 406 1658.
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