Problem Overflow

Smoke, smells and damp getting into your apartment, and how renters stop them.

Drain & sewer smells

A sewer smell from a drain you rarely use

Easy · About 5 minutes

Where I am
The guest bath or spare sink smells like sewer.
Where I want to be
A drain that smells of nothing.
What's in the way
The trap, that U-bend, has dried out and lets sewer gas through.

Landlord's job? Report it in writing with dates, and keep a log. Who fixes what depends on your lease and where you live.

Try this first, free: Run water in the sink, tub or shower you don't use for a minute. A dry drain is the most common cause.

The fix

  1. Run water down the drain for a full minute to refill the trap.
  2. Pour a spoonful of cooking oil in after, which slows water from evaporating.
  3. Do this every couple of weeks for drains you rarely use.
  4. Put a drain stopper in when it's not in use.

What this won't fully fix: Refilling the trap fixes a dry drain. If the smell comes back right away, something else is going on in the pipes, and that's the landlord's to look at.

What to get

Drain cover on Amazon Drain hair catcher on Amazon

These open an Amazon search, so you can pick the one that fits. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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