# Mysterious Smell Under Kitchen Sink



## jimmycrackcode (Oct 21, 2011)

I'm stumped on this one......

The cabinet under my bar/prep sink in my kitchen has a really strange and somewhat strong odor that I cannot pinpoint. Just curious to see if anyone has any ideas.

The entire kitchen (and about 90% of the house) just finished a major renovation about 4 months ago. This sink is completely new (new drain, supply lines). No disposal, just straight basket strainer into P trap. The plumber did use a mechanical (studor) type vent.

The smell I'm getting isn't mold, rotting food, or sewer smell. It's a chemical/powerdy smell. I scrubbed out the cabinet several times. I'm using a stainless sink and heard the insulation pads could add to the smell, so I tried encapsulating the bottom with polyurethane/kilz. Didn't do anything.

I'm using the same sink (larger), same mechanical vent, only with a disposal in my main sink, and no smell.

Any ideas? 

Thanks for letting me vent.

-JimmyCrackCode


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

Dead animal?
Open the kick plate and have a look.
Is this room over a basement or crawlspace?


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## jimmycrackcode (Oct 21, 2011)

Over basement. Dead animal.........interesting. I'll poke around.

Thanks.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

jimmycrackcode said:


> Over basement. Dead animal.........interesting. I'll poke around.
> 
> Thanks.


Even a mouse can stink, though not really a chemical smell.


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## rusty baker (Feb 13, 2009)

Ron6519 said:


> Even a mouse can stink, though not really a chemical smell.


A dead mouse can smell really bad.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

The good thing about dead rodents...well there's two good things actually:
1. They are dead.
2. The odor eventually goes away.


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## Snav (Aug 20, 2009)

Dead creatures smell somewhere between rotting food and sewer - I've smelled my share.

What are your pipes? PVC it sounds like. . . do your pipes go through the floor to a crawlspace or down/up a wall?

Might be cpvc or pvc adhesive, plumbers putty - but if it's getting stronger it might be a chemical that's calcified and activated with humidity/moisture - I'd scrub the area with odo-ban or other such cleaner that neutralizes acids and see where you stand.

Have you removed the trap to see if there's something festering?

But you know - with your studor vent in place as an alternative to a vent pipe out of the house it might just be a release of these gases and vapors - some people swear they're not suppose to odorize your room but I think they do exactly that: funk it up. Does it have a carbon filter - have you tried changing it?


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## Eskaymarsha (Dec 14, 2018)

I know I'm replying on an old post but I'm having the same exact problem! It reeks! But to top it off I have reverse osmosis at that cabinet too and the hot water from that also stinks. What can it be? Did you ever figure out what it was???


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## carpdad (Oct 11, 2010)

If yours is also a new kitchen, could be the smells coming from new building materials. Plywood, esp, could off-gas for a while. I think it is baking powder, but it's supposed to absorb odor. Try a box of it in the cabinet. Also, ask somebody else if the smell is there. Make sure both of you can agree.:smile:


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## HenryMac (Sep 12, 2018)

*The dead zone....*

Just about all cabinets have a space between the floor of the cabinet and the floor of the home. 

So if you're a critter you may be able to go from a crawlspace / basement, up through the hole in the floor for piping, into that space, but not through the hole in the cabinet floor.

You're stuck, you die, you smell.... IN THE DEAD ZONE :biggrin2:


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Is there a vent with a fresh air plate on the outside foundation near the bar/kitchen?


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

Eskaymarsha said:


> I know I'm replying on an old post but I'm having the same exact problem! It reeks! But to top it off I have reverse osmosis at that cabinet too and the hot water from that also stinks. What can it be? Did you ever figure out what it was???


Hot water from reverse osmosis? I'm hoping you mean the cold water from the osmosis pressure tank goes into your point-of-use instant hot water heater and then stinks. Or, you have a reverse osmosis that makes hot water? (please let me know the make and model so I can learn about it.)

Assuming the smell is sulphurous, it's most likely bacteria in the pipes/heater. To sanitize, fill with a mixture of bleach and water (1/4 cup to 5 gallons), let is sit for 8 hours, then flush till you can't smell any chlorine.


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