[bsc1280]

Hi,

I just moved to Coastal skyline in Tung Chung. When I visited the apartment, I was told that the smell is due to the apartment being kept closed for a while.

Now that I have moved and the apartment is absolutely clean, i still have this weird kind of smell (can not describe it) which comes from bathrooms and the kitchen. whereever we have a drainage I guess. The drains are not blocked. the smell comes and goes away in intervals.

its driving me crazu having to smell this whenver I enter my apartment.
has anyone else experienced this? Any solutions? Any shop/service to help this? I can not bear it any more. Would calling up management office in coastal skyline help (i personally doubt it).

thanks for the help.

[Claire ex-ax]

Try putting very diluted bleach down the drains to ensure the u-traps haven't dried out. When the humidity is low, the drains can dry out easily. Have a friend who lives in CC and she says the drains dry out very easily there – of course CC has worst/cheaper construction than CS. And she has a friend who also lives in CC and has a fetid smell in the kitchen – the management can’t find the source and reckons it is coming from another flat!

[Alby]

The drain pipes with diluted bleach in the mean time to also burn candles particularly in my bathroom seems to help "burn the smell" - I find buring candles works better than air freshner.

Also the humidity can settle on the walls ... I suggest a dehumidifier to help control this.

[bsc1280]

Originally Posted by Claire ex-ax

Try putting very diluted bleach down the drains to ensure the u-traps haven't dried out. When the humidity is low, the drains can dry out easily. Have a friend who lives in CC and she says the drains dry out very easily there – of course CC has worst/cheaper construction than CS. And she has a friend who also lives in CC and has a fetid smell in the kitchen – the management can’t find the source and reckons it is coming from another flat!

Ok I will try that again. I guess our maid already tried it bt it did not work.

[Alby]

Originally Posted by bsc1280

Ok I will try that again. I guess our maid already tried it bt it did not work.

Try a regular schedule of doing this (possibly evey two to three days) and see what happens in 14-days time.

[Claire ex-ax]

I get a large empty water bottle (1.5 l) , fill that with water and add some bleach. Then chuck the whole thing down the drain.

But check with the management, I've heard it's better there than at CC so perhaps they can help. Also they might know if any neighbours have the same problem.

BTW, my friend in CC contacted the management there about a fetid smell in the lift lobby but nothing happened. She could smell it coming from one flat and, over several days, kept ringing the door bell but there was no answer. So she called the police. Much to her embarrassment (and she won’t thank me for posting this ), two policemen arrived – along with 12 firemen and 2 paramedics! The firemen proceeded to use the jaws-of-life to pry open the door. Thankfully the smell wasn’t coming from rotting bodies (the flat was completely empty) but the firemen did get to ‘rescue’ a couple of stinky drains.

[Claire ex-ax]

Originally Posted by Alby

Try a regular schedule of doing this (possibly evey two to three days) and see what happens in 14-days time.

Agreed. It might try several go's to completely kill off whatever is causing the stink which could have been there for awhile busily 'breeding'.

[renHK]

I too have struggled with the nasty smell of drains that permeated my entire apartment. Here's what has worked for me, but not the same solution works every time, for some reason:

Tape up the drainage vents in the bathrooms. (small grills on the wall at the level of the floor)

Whenever you're not using the shower/bath, plug up the drain.

Likewise, plug up your sinks when you're not using them. You can also tape up the over-flow drain in the bathroom sinks.

Basically, I've given up on the bleaching method because that either didn't work at all or didn't last long. Instead, I go through the trouble of blocking up every hole that leads into the increasingly smelly Hong Kong sewer system.

That's worked for me! But it took me a while to figure it out, so good luck!

[Cookie666]

I would try pouring a small amount of cooking oil into the offending drains.
It stops the P trap drying out and creates a longer lasting air seal.

[bsc1280]

Thanks guys. I will try cooking oil + bleach solution first.
If it does not work out, i will tape them up.

btw i am not sure what should be the bleach to water proportion . Also wouldn't pouring this into the draibs on the wall (at floor level ) be difficult.

thanks