smell in flat: gas or sewage?
 

I live on the ground floor of a block of flats in London. I came back
to my flat from holiday and immediately noticed an unpleasant smell. I
thought at first it smelled like ripe cheese like camembert but later
I thought it smelled like sewage.

It seemed to be coming from a storage area where the gas meter is. I
removed everything in the storage area and these things do not smell.
The storage area still smells though. I don't really know what gas
smells like do I don't know if I have a gas leak. There doesn't seem
to be any dampness as far as I can see.

What should my next step be? I don't want to have to put up with the
smell forever.

smell in flat: gas or sewage?
 

On Oct 20, 9:18*am, hazchem wrote:
I live on the ground floor of a block of flats in London. I came back
to my flat from holiday and immediately noticed an unpleasant smell. I
thought at first it smelled like ripe cheese like camembert but later
I thought it smelled like sewage.

It seemed to be coming from a storage area where the gas meter is. I
removed everything in the storage area and these things do not smell.
The storage area still smells though. I don't really know what gas
smells like do I don't know if I have a gas leak. There doesn't seem
to be any dampness as far as I can see.

What should my next step be? I don't want to have to put up with the
smell forever.

Is there a floor drain in that storage closet? If so I'd try pouring
a bucket of water down it and see if the smell goes away. If you
don't, or if it does not, I'd call the gas company - certainly you
don't want to be living in an apartment with a live gas leak!

nate

smell in flat: gas or sewage?
 

hazchem wrote:

I live on the ground floor of a block of flats in London. I came back
to my flat from holiday and immediately noticed an unpleasant smell. I
thought at first it smelled like ripe cheese like camembert but later
I thought it smelled like sewage.

It seemed to be coming from a storage area where the gas meter is. I
removed everything in the storage area and these things do not smell.
The storage area still smells though. I don't really know what gas
smells like do I don't know if I have a gas leak. There doesn't seem
to be any dampness as far as I can see.

What should my next step be? I don't want to have to put up with the
smell forever.

Call the gas company. This is a dangerous condition.

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX

smell in flat: gas or sewage?
 

hazchem wrote:
I live on the ground floor of a block of flats in London. I came
back
to my flat from holiday and immediately noticed an unpleasant smell.
I
thought at first it smelled like ripe cheese like camembert but
later
I thought it smelled like sewage.

It seemed to be coming from a storage area where the gas meter is. I
removed everything in the storage area and these things do not
smell.
The storage area still smells though. I don't really know what gas
smells like do I don't know if I have a gas leak. There doesn't seem
to be any dampness as far as I can see.

What should my next step be? I don't want to have to put up with the
smell forever.

Don't screw around with it--call the gas company to check it out.

They aren't going to get mad if it turns out to be something else and
if it _is_ a gas leak and doesn't get prompt attention then people,
yourself included, could die.

For future reference, if you suspect a gas leak, don't "remove
everything in the area", just leave the area, and call the gas company
from a safe distance (like standing in the street or from a different
building). Don't turn any lights on or off, don't open or close any
doors except those between you and the exit, don't do anything but
leave. You don't want to do _anything_ that has the tiniest chance of
making a spark--a rusty hinge moving can do that, so can a latch
striking the jamb, so can your hand approaching the doorknob, so can
turning a light switch on or off, so can dialing a phone.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

smell in flat: gas or sewage?
 

On Oct 20, 8:18*am, hazchem wrote:
I live on the ground floor of a block of flats in London. I came back
to my flat from holiday and immediately noticed an unpleasant smell. I
thought at first it smelled like ripe cheese like camembert but later
I thought it smelled like sewage.

It seemed to be coming from a storage area where the gas meter is. I
removed everything in the storage area and these things do not smell.
The storage area still smells though. I don't really know what gas
smells like do I don't know if I have a gas leak. There doesn't seem
to be any dampness as far as I can see.

What should my next step be? I don't want to have to put up with the
smell forever.

Get off usenet and call the gas company emergency line, leaks only get
bigger. A house here blew up about a month ago (Frankfort IL) at 5:30
AM when the owner (they think) flipped a light switch. The house was
completely gone and the explosion heard for a 4 mile radius, adjacent
houses were seriously damaged. NG is odorless so they add a chemical
that smells like the rotting cheese you described.

smell in flat: gas or sewage?
 

RickH wrote:
-snip-
Get off usenet and call the gas company emergency line, leaks only get
bigger. A house here blew up about a month ago (Frankfort IL) at 5:30
AM when the owner (they think) flipped a light switch. The house was
completely gone and the explosion heard for a 4 mile radius, adjacent
houses were seriously damaged. NG is odorless so they add a chemical
that smells like the rotting cheese you described.

Here's another- propane, but same scenario & result-
Johnstown NY- Oct 14
http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?s=9173741

[and searching for 'propane' on my local news channel turned up
another explosion in Sept, & one in August. Don't screw around. The
gas supplier would rather make a lot of nuisance calls than lose a
customer.

Jim

smell in flat: gas or sewage?
 

hazchem wrote:
I live on the ground floor of a block of flats in London. I came back
to my flat from holiday and immediately noticed an unpleasant smell. I
thought at first it smelled like ripe cheese like camembert but later
I thought it smelled like sewage.

It seemed to be coming from a storage area where the gas meter is. I
removed everything in the storage area and these things do not smell.
The storage area still smells though. I don't really know what gas
smells like do I don't know if I have a gas leak. There doesn't seem
to be any dampness as far as I can see.

What should my next step be? I don't want to have to put up with the
smell forever.
Hope by now you have called for help, but after whatever your problem is
is fixed buy a gas detector alarm. Should be mandatory (and perhaps is)
to have one everywhere gas is used.