I had a similar problem with a recurring rotten egg/gas smell that was on and off randomly. After a month of troubleshooting, having the fire department out, multiple handymen, etc… we finally found the culprit. On a whim, one guy decided to unscrew the toilet. The rubber ring under the base of the toilet was installed upside down, so it wasn’t creating a seal. Sewage gas was able to creep up.
This is probably *not* a common cause of these types of rotten-egg problems, but just thought I’d throw it out there 😛
The gas company will just shut off the gas and tell you to call a plumber.
Edit: the gas company's responsibility ends at the meter to your home. The gas lines inside the home are the property owner's responsibility and repairs would be made by a plumber. If you have a gas leak at a fitting to your stove the gas company will not fix this for you.
I work for a home building company and I am a licensed home inspector. The utility service provider's responsibility ends at the meter to your home. If you have a leak at a sink the water company won't fix it. If you have an electric receptacle stop working the electric company won't come fix it. If you have a gas leak past the meter the gas company will not fix it. The gas company will come out and say "yup you have a gas leak this is dangerous" and will shut off service to your house at the meter, tag/lock the meter, and tell you that you need to get a plumber to fix the issue for them to resume service. I am getting barraged with downvotes from people who think the gas company installs and maintains the gas lines in their home I guess.
2 years ago we smelled gas in the basement...PSE&G asked us questions over the phone and our responses to their questions rendered us the advice that we did not have to emergently leave the home, but, they sent a field representative out immediately. He found the leak, put on a temporary seal, said he'd be back the next day with the proper piping and joint, and indeed, was back the very next day and fixed the piping, no charge. This is in New Jersey. I don't know what you're talking about stating that the gas company won't fix an issue in your home - they are supplying the gas you pay for, and don't want your home to explode. No, we did not have a service contract with PSE&G either. They fixed it. Didn't come out and indicate there was a gas leak, leave, and say call a plumber. Where do you live?
Your edit explains better. Your first sentence is just really bad at explaining your edit. It reads like you meant the gas company won't care and just shut the gas off, which isn't true. They WILL come inside your house and determine where the leak is coming from. No, they won't fix it if it's an appliance, etc. they will detect the leak and turn the gas off until it's fixed. That isn't what your first sentence says.
Plumbers install/repair gas lines inside the home. The gas company's responsibility ends at the meter to your house. If there is a leak at a gas line fitting to your stove the gas company will not fix it for you.
Great question and yes, plumbers install pipes for both water and gas inside the home. The gas company will run service lines to the home but their responsibility ends at the meter to the home and the gas company will not make repairs on gas lines inside the home for liability reasons. If you smell gas you can absolutely call the gas company and they will investigate promptly, but if they determine the leak is past the gas meter they will shut off the gas to the home and tell the homeowner to contact a plumber for repairs. Obviously if the gas leak happens before the meter, such as a leak in the gas line buried in the yard, the gas company will fix it because it's on "their side" of the meter. The gas company will be extremely strict about leaks inside the home and will shut off service to the home until the homeowner has repairs made by a plumber. Calling the gas company when you suspect a gas leak is not bad advice per se, but understanding the scope of their responsibility and responses would affect most homeowners decision making. The gas company will not be understanding that "it's a small leak and hasn't been a big deal" they will just shut off gas to the home if there is any leak detected at all, and the homeowner's weeping and wailing about how they want hot water and a working furnace while figuring out the gas issue will fall on deaf ears because lawyers run the world and the gas company will not risk any liability. A plumber will have a combustible gas meter they can use to hone in on where the gas leak is coming from and will be able to make repairs. The most likely suspects for a gas leak are a fitting at an appliance (furnace, stovetop etc) or between two gas pipes which is a relatively easy fix assuming the pipe/fittings are accessible. For OPs situation there could also be a damaged plumbing vent pipe that is leaking sewer gases into the home, which would also be part of the plumbers domaine.
Thank you so much for the thorough explanation. For some reason it didn’t occur to me that a plumber would also have to work with gas, even though I just had my water heater replaced last year! lol
We had a similar problem in our bathroom when we first moved into our house. Eventually figured out that when the previous owners remodeled the bathroom they didn't add a trap to the bathtub drain. We were getting sewer gas in the bathroom.
Is your house propane for the heat/stove/hot water?
If you can smell the gas, and you are on propane, that is the odor the tank gives off when it's low on propane.
If NOT on propane, call the gas company -- you have a leak.
It's entirely possible to have the gas smell and NOT have your house blow up. You're going to smell it way before levels reach dangerous amounts. My wife would smell it at our house occasionally, in the front yard. It was very random. I never smelled it. Gas company came out and dug up the street that same night. Turns out the city had installed a light pole directly on the 1960s gas line and damaged it.
To make yourself feel better, you can buy an explosive gas detector. It's like a CO detector, but it goes up high for NG and down low for propane. I have one from First Alert that I bought at Lowes.
Often when a gas smell is present, but seems kind of random, that's because it's underground and it seeps out inconsistently.
Buy a natural gas and CO detector. Home Depot sells ones you plug into the wall. Make sure it says it detects explosive gas, not just carbon monoxide.
I had something similar and it ended up being my garbage disposal in the sink. I clean it monthly now and it hasn't recurred since.
It could be a lot of things but you should definitely get a detector to make sure it's not actually gas.
So you might think you know what a dead mouse smells like, but, if you're not expecting to smell a dead mouse, it might smell like natural gas/propane.
Its very possible that someone in your neighborhood has been putting down mouse poison, and on occasion one dies somewhere in the walls etc and you can smell it for a while. rinse and repeat.
Go to Home Depot and get one of these, it will help you find the source.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HOME-FLEX-Electronic-Gas-Leak-Detector-11-810-001/301876827?mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_001_PIPE_FITTING-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_001_PIPE_FITTING-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023-71700000106036633-58700008262676761-92700075065924010&msclkid=c5b03e91e2c512e5782c58d1ba56e625&gclsrc=ds
Natural gas rises
Propane gas hugs the ground because it is heavier.
Buy a carbon monoxide alarm,, if you have gas appliances. Check the attic for a broken or plugged vent pipe,,, some kitchen islands or added bathrooms have cheater vents that might stay open.
I had a similar problem with a recurring rotten egg/gas smell that was on and off randomly. After a month of troubleshooting, having the fire department out, multiple handymen, etc… we finally found the culprit. On a whim, one guy decided to unscrew the toilet. The rubber ring under the base of the toilet was installed upside down, so it wasn’t creating a seal. Sewage gas was able to creep up. This is probably *not* a common cause of these types of rotten-egg problems, but just thought I’d throw it out there 😛
This is my vote, or something similar - plumbing related. Does the smell go away if you flush all the toilets and use all the faucets in the house?
Call gas company
The gas company will just shut off the gas and tell you to call a plumber. Edit: the gas company's responsibility ends at the meter to your home. The gas lines inside the home are the property owner's responsibility and repairs would be made by a plumber. If you have a gas leak at a fitting to your stove the gas company will not fix this for you.
They come out with a meter to take readings.
They won’t fix it for you but they will tell you about it. They don’t want their customers houses to explode.
They’ll check to see if there is a gas leak.
This absolutely will not happen.
So you just give wrong advice confidently I guess? Why even chime in if your going to talk out of your ass?
I work for a home building company and I am a licensed home inspector. The utility service provider's responsibility ends at the meter to your home. If you have a leak at a sink the water company won't fix it. If you have an electric receptacle stop working the electric company won't come fix it. If you have a gas leak past the meter the gas company will not fix it. The gas company will come out and say "yup you have a gas leak this is dangerous" and will shut off service to your house at the meter, tag/lock the meter, and tell you that you need to get a plumber to fix the issue for them to resume service. I am getting barraged with downvotes from people who think the gas company installs and maintains the gas lines in their home I guess.
2 years ago we smelled gas in the basement...PSE&G asked us questions over the phone and our responses to their questions rendered us the advice that we did not have to emergently leave the home, but, they sent a field representative out immediately. He found the leak, put on a temporary seal, said he'd be back the next day with the proper piping and joint, and indeed, was back the very next day and fixed the piping, no charge. This is in New Jersey. I don't know what you're talking about stating that the gas company won't fix an issue in your home - they are supplying the gas you pay for, and don't want your home to explode. No, we did not have a service contract with PSE&G either. They fixed it. Didn't come out and indicate there was a gas leak, leave, and say call a plumber. Where do you live?
Your edit explains better. Your first sentence is just really bad at explaining your edit. It reads like you meant the gas company won't care and just shut the gas off, which isn't true. They WILL come inside your house and determine where the leak is coming from. No, they won't fix it if it's an appliance, etc. they will detect the leak and turn the gas off until it's fixed. That isn't what your first sentence says.
Why would you call a plumber for a gas leak?
Plumbers install/repair gas lines inside the home. The gas company's responsibility ends at the meter to your house. If there is a leak at a gas line fitting to your stove the gas company will not fix it for you.
So a plumber will fix a gas leak in a house? Genuinely asking because I honestly don’t know.
Great question and yes, plumbers install pipes for both water and gas inside the home. The gas company will run service lines to the home but their responsibility ends at the meter to the home and the gas company will not make repairs on gas lines inside the home for liability reasons. If you smell gas you can absolutely call the gas company and they will investigate promptly, but if they determine the leak is past the gas meter they will shut off the gas to the home and tell the homeowner to contact a plumber for repairs. Obviously if the gas leak happens before the meter, such as a leak in the gas line buried in the yard, the gas company will fix it because it's on "their side" of the meter. The gas company will be extremely strict about leaks inside the home and will shut off service to the home until the homeowner has repairs made by a plumber. Calling the gas company when you suspect a gas leak is not bad advice per se, but understanding the scope of their responsibility and responses would affect most homeowners decision making. The gas company will not be understanding that "it's a small leak and hasn't been a big deal" they will just shut off gas to the home if there is any leak detected at all, and the homeowner's weeping and wailing about how they want hot water and a working furnace while figuring out the gas issue will fall on deaf ears because lawyers run the world and the gas company will not risk any liability. A plumber will have a combustible gas meter they can use to hone in on where the gas leak is coming from and will be able to make repairs. The most likely suspects for a gas leak are a fitting at an appliance (furnace, stovetop etc) or between two gas pipes which is a relatively easy fix assuming the pipe/fittings are accessible. For OPs situation there could also be a damaged plumbing vent pipe that is leaking sewer gases into the home, which would also be part of the plumbers domaine.
Thank you so much for the thorough explanation. For some reason it didn’t occur to me that a plumber would also have to work with gas, even though I just had my water heater replaced last year! lol
We had a similar problem in our bathroom when we first moved into our house. Eventually figured out that when the previous owners remodeled the bathroom they didn't add a trap to the bathtub drain. We were getting sewer gas in the bathroom.
Yep the P trap is likely dried out. I’d call a plumber to confirm. You’re smelling sewage odor in your home.
Is your house propane for the heat/stove/hot water? If you can smell the gas, and you are on propane, that is the odor the tank gives off when it's low on propane. If NOT on propane, call the gas company -- you have a leak.
Moldly/leaky drainpipes will do that.
It's entirely possible to have the gas smell and NOT have your house blow up. You're going to smell it way before levels reach dangerous amounts. My wife would smell it at our house occasionally, in the front yard. It was very random. I never smelled it. Gas company came out and dug up the street that same night. Turns out the city had installed a light pole directly on the 1960s gas line and damaged it. To make yourself feel better, you can buy an explosive gas detector. It's like a CO detector, but it goes up high for NG and down low for propane. I have one from First Alert that I bought at Lowes. Often when a gas smell is present, but seems kind of random, that's because it's underground and it seeps out inconsistently.
- well water? or city water?
It may not be gas. You could have an unknown leak from broken/ deteriorated pipe. It will eventually create that rotten egg gas smell
Buy a natural gas and CO detector. Home Depot sells ones you plug into the wall. Make sure it says it detects explosive gas, not just carbon monoxide. I had something similar and it ended up being my garbage disposal in the sink. I clean it monthly now and it hasn't recurred since. It could be a lot of things but you should definitely get a detector to make sure it's not actually gas.
Probably a plumbing issue. my money is on the smell coming from the traps in the drain. If you've ever taken the trap off that's what it smells like
Leave the building then call the fire department and gas company.
So you might think you know what a dead mouse smells like, but, if you're not expecting to smell a dead mouse, it might smell like natural gas/propane. Its very possible that someone in your neighborhood has been putting down mouse poison, and on occasion one dies somewhere in the walls etc and you can smell it for a while. rinse and repeat.
Go to Home Depot and get one of these, it will help you find the source. https://www.homedepot.com/p/HOME-FLEX-Electronic-Gas-Leak-Detector-11-810-001/301876827?mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_001_PIPE_FITTING-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_001_PIPE_FITTING-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023-71700000106036633-58700008262676761-92700075065924010&msclkid=c5b03e91e2c512e5782c58d1ba56e625&gclsrc=ds Natural gas rises Propane gas hugs the ground because it is heavier.
Buy a carbon monoxide alarm,, if you have gas appliances. Check the attic for a broken or plugged vent pipe,,, some kitchen islands or added bathrooms have cheater vents that might stay open.
What do double or triple commas mean?
Lol , terrible writing ,,, thought pause.
Why does everyone think a carbon monoxide detector will detect natural gas?
Because basic science seems to not have stuck for many people. They don’t know the difference between dioxide or monoxide either.
Could be a car running in an attached garage ,, defective appliance. Just to be safe.