Hi, In my old house, over/near the basement sink, there is a distinct,
*unmistakable* odor of inner-tube air. It smells like there's old bicycle tires jammed up inside the wall. :-)There was a leak from the shower above this area years ago, which has completely dried out now. It still concerns me, so I keep a small fan blowing on this area. Also, there's a clothes dryer and main sewage drain nearby, and the vent stack goes up inside the [outside] wall.
Any ideas?
You have identified three potentioal sources of smell and none of these I would expect to smell like rubber. Assuming the drain stack is sealed then its unlikly to be sewer gas. Check the trap on the sink, make sure a leak is not allowing it to go dry. That bit of water in the bottom of the trap is what keeps the smell out.
The dryer may contribute if you notice it getting worse when its running, the dryer may be drawing air into the area over the source of smell. Unless you are exhausting humid air into the basement the dryer is unlikly the primary source.
That leaves residuual mold mildew odor. You can spray with bleach or mold product and see if that helps. You can also seal the area with paint or polyeurethane.
Fortunately it seems to be confined to the basement so you don't have to put up with it in your living space
re: Fortunately it seems to be confined to the basement so you don't have to put up with it in your living space
Not yet, anyway.
Rubber membrane under the shower pan? Maybe that leak isn't as gone as you think it is, and the membrane is staying wet, but at such a low rate you can't tell from looking at the wood. I'd do some poking around the top of the joists and the subfloor, with an icepick. Some mushy (aka mold-harboring) spots would not surprise me.
-- aem sends....
overheated wiring,,,, espically the old rubber insulated type
Another thought- is the basement sink near the clothes dryer, by any chance? I recently had a similar smell when the drive belt got cockeyed and started slipping. (really need to take that sucker apart and lube things- it now chirps under heavy loads...) Mebbe something near the sink soaked up some of the smell?
-- aem sends...
"Tantalust" wrote in news:9ZWdnSj4D5IH_LbVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
Everyone is overthinking this. Someone shoved an inner tube down the drain.
Or the dog chewed up an old tire and farts a lot........ :)
buffalo ny: which one will it be: ozone from sparking dryer motor causing rubber damage in an old rubber trap, a solution i made up. the rest are real: somebody washed a deteriorating rubber backed bathroom rug in the washer and the rubberback particles are leftover in the washer or its drainage. your new high efficient washing machine front door has a rubber front door gasket that actually collects socks and stuff. your washing machine's fabric softener dispenser assembly on top of the agitator spindle needs to be removed and cleaned. a rain entry point is bringing moisture into the outside wall from somewhere between the smell and the sky overhead. we all want to just fill your drain traps and street traps and downspout traps with some bleach and come back tomorrow to see if they are still wet, but an exotic problem and answer would be more fun. :)
Rubber smell, its mold not rubber, your nose is off target, get a garden sprayer and spray laundry bleach to kill mold
Thanks for all the replies.
Just to be clear, it's not a rubbery smell, it's that bad stale air odor, exactly like when letting air out of a tire.
I'll look into the advice given so far, though.
Please report back if you find a solution.
Lou
on 5/14/2008 6:03 PM Tantalust said the following:
Mold?
Might very well be.... I'm putting the house on the market, so I'm sure the inspectors will report if they find anything really wrong....
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