Real Estate Blog - Friends should let you know your house stinks!

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Friends should let you know your house stinks!

For

the past month

or so I have smelled the sewer in my house!

It hasn't been an everyday thing.

Just every now and then I get the odor of rotten eggs in different rooms.

I made a few phone calls to handymen

and all I got was that maybe the sink traps were dry?

What does that mean??

Well...the other day I had some friends over and a few of them commented that they smelled something "Funny"(To each other...not me).

Yeah, the funny thing was that they didn't tell me at the party.

I guess they didn't want to embarrass me!

What great friends!!!

Finally in desperation,

I called Richmond Utilities to see if it were a bigger stink problem on my street.

The two experts came out right away.

One expert was holding some odor tester and the other expert wiggled each toilet on the house.

The technical opinion was that...

Two of them were found to have broken seals so when you used the water in the sink the pressure

would push the sewer gas out from the toilet.

Now why didn't I know that??

I bet if I had asked a home inspector he would had told me a long time ago.

I will be getting them fixed today.

Hopefully, minus any drama.

I'll let you know if something funny happens!

Haha!

Posted by Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate on 06/28/2007 04:34 PM

Comments (17)

lizette fitzpatrick, prudential don foster, richmond ky real estate, lexington ky realestate

17 Comments on Friends should let you know your house stinks!

It's amazing what a piece of wax will do for you. Your handyman would have figured that out if they knew their stuff. Those wax seals do tend to get old after a while and have to be replaced each time the toilet is moved. Good luck.

06/28/2007 04:46 PM

by Ray Perry; Realtor, CRS, GRI, e-PRO (CPS Country Air)

Howdy Lizette

Very good blog post you did here. Yes the seals do tend to got old after a while. Yes you do need to replace them each time you move your toilet. I think your friends where great for not embarrassing you.

06/28/2007 04:53 PM

by Dale Baker, Home Inspectior- in NH & VT (Baker Home Inspections and Consulting Service)

Ray - That piece of wax is my new friend. So what's moving my toilet? My house is only 3 years old and I am the only occupant.The toilet downstairs is only 1 year old.

Dale - My friends were working overtime not telling me!

06/28/2007 05:01 PM

by Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate (Central Kentucky - Prudential Don Foster - Richmond KY)

Sorry you've needed to deal with that...that's no fun :(

Scott

06/28/2007 05:18 PM

by Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours)

New toilet seals...old houses should always have the toilets replaced for mor efficient ones...then the seals would get changed.

06/28/2007 05:28 PM

by Chuck "Loans made easy" Christensen

Scott - I'm with you on that.

Chuck - My handy man is working on the second one right this minute.

06/28/2007 06:26 PM

by Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate (Central Kentucky - Prudential Don Foster - Richmond KY)

Lizette, I hate to say it but you need new friends :) If your FRIENDS can't tell you there's an odor in your house, who can?? I was having a party once years ago and in front of everyone, my friend saw these TINY little bugs I had just started getting in my sink. She said "Carole, you've got roaches." Not having ever seen them before I would have never known until they got big and out of control...she'd grown up with them in Brooklyn. I STILL thank her and wasn't embarrassed, just glad she told me! Won't you be glad to get rid of that?!

06/28/2007 08:00 PM

by Carole Provenzale Owner, Feng Shui Long Island & New York (Feng Shui Long Island & New York City)

Lizette--A home inspector would have found the problem...I remember this smell and explanation from an inspection on a vacant home. Terrible smell...I would have a tough time telling a friend during a party...But would have pulled a good friend aside if I detected something that I had an answer for.

06/28/2007 08:57 PM

by Teri Eckholm, Realtor® Anoka County MN (Keller Williams Premier Realty)

I wish for you...and odor free bathroom and less timid friends!

06/28/2007 09:45 PM

by Joan Mirantz- Concord New Hampshire Realtor (Keeler Family Realtors)

Carole - I have laughed with my friends over this. I guess I can forgive them. I KNOW they would tell me if they saw roaches!

Teri - I'm amazed after all this time on home inspections there was no mention of this for me to piece it together.

Joan - I totally agree with you.

Note to all my friends: The new wax seals have been installed tonight....no more funny smells!!! WooHoo!!!!

06/28/2007 09:55 PM

by Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate (Central Kentucky - Prudential Don Foster - Richmond KY)

Good friends should tell you those things. Maybe not at the party but sometime later.

06/30/2007 05:56 AM

by Sybil Holcomb (Re/Max Westside)

Sybil - I agree with you!

06/30/2007 02:09 PM

by Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate (Central Kentucky - Prudential Don Foster - Richmond KY)

I just had a conversation about this with my boyfriend yesterday and we are changing our seals this weekend!!

06/30/2007 04:05 PM

by Stacie Jordan (Mortgage & Title Professional)

Lizette, very good post, we always learn something new :) keep the good ones :)

06/30/2007 11:51 PM

by Aurora Colorado Real Estate Ray Saenz, Colorado Realtor (United Property Brokers, INC)

Stacie - I hope it works for you. So far so good over here! Yippee!!!!!!

Ray - It sure was news to me. I should have run across this during one of the home inspections I have gone through with clients.

07/02/2007 08:44 AM

by Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate (Central Kentucky - Prudential Don Foster - Richmond KY)

That is really actually kind of sick, but good to know. But it doesn't mean that I'm going to stop blaming my younger brother.

07/17/2007 12:58 AM

by Todd Clark (Realtor), GRI (Washington Co, Beaverton Oregon) (Kastings & Associates, Beaverton Oregon Real Estate)

Todd, yeah it was kinda sick. If my brother had been here I would have blamed it on him too. Good idea!

07/17/2007 06:53 PM

by Lizette Fitzpatrick, Lexington KY Real Estate (Central Kentucky - Prudential Don Foster - Richmond KY)

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