That subject line is horrifying but not nearly as horrifying as the situation in our bathroom all winter long, when the aforementioned sewer gas for some reason escapes into the first floor bathrooms. ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
waxjism told me she had some vague idea that it was a common issue (not common enough for her or anyone to mention it in the summer when we were agreeing to rent this flat I note), but I didn't believe her, because nobody's ever mentioned it to me or on This Old House. Of course, single family dwellings aren't typically that tall, and even the apartment buildings in the places I'm familiar with in the US tend to be 2 stories - I've never lived in an area urban enough for 6- to 8-story buildings before Turku (and our earlier flats were on the 3rd and 4th floors, too high for this issue).
My googling in English suggested any release of sewer gas into the bath was a bug, not something endemic to the design, and something that could be fixed, being typically caused by problems with the trap, and the internet is full of people who fix their problems by tinkering so that previously dry U-traps have enough liquid in them to prevent that escape.
But apparently Wax was right, because when the maintenance team came to check our whole flat for flaws (that time when they scared the bejeezus out of Rowan), I asked him about it and he immediately knew what I meant and seemed surprised but slightly regretful that I didn't know, as if an entire winter swimming in sewer gas in the lower floor bathrooms is simply to be expected, like leaf litter problems with gutters or drafts/leaks with big double glazed windows. ( ?! )
waxjism told me she had some vague idea that it was a common issue (not common enough for her or anyone to mention it in the summer when we were agreeing to rent this flat I note), but I didn't believe her, because nobody's ever mentioned it to me or on This Old House. Of course, single family dwellings aren't typically that tall, and even the apartment buildings in the places I'm familiar with in the US tend to be 2 stories - I've never lived in an area urban enough for 6- to 8-story buildings before Turku (and our earlier flats were on the 3rd and 4th floors, too high for this issue).My googling in English suggested any release of sewer gas into the bath was a bug, not something endemic to the design, and something that could be fixed, being typically caused by problems with the trap, and the internet is full of people who fix their problems by tinkering so that previously dry U-traps have enough liquid in them to prevent that escape.
But apparently Wax was right, because when the maintenance team came to check our whole flat for flaws (that time when they scared the bejeezus out of Rowan), I asked him about it and he immediately knew what I meant and seemed surprised but slightly regretful that I didn't know, as if an entire winter swimming in sewer gas in the lower floor bathrooms is simply to be expected, like leaf litter problems with gutters or drafts/leaks with big double glazed windows. ( ?! )
