Horrible smell beneath the kitchen sink?

Question

I just rented an apratment in San Francisco.  This is a horrible smell in the cabinets beneath the kitchen sink.  It may be the garbage disposal or something behind the wall.  The management company hired a plumber who said the smell was due to some areas near the pipes that needed to be patched.  That didn't fix it, but the plumber claims he could no longer smell the odor.  The mgmt company then sent a contractor and a third guy, both smell the odor.  I think it may be coming from the garbage disposal, but they are unsure.  One guy said it is likely that something died behind the wall and to remove it they would need to remove the sink, tear out the wall, remove the offenseive smell, then replace everything.  The last guy also said that instead of doing all that work, "the smell should disspiate eventually."

Sounds like some BS. to me.  Not my problem if they have to spend money to fix it, I can't be living with a smell.  So my questions:
1.  How long is reasonable to wait for the smell to dissipate? (Before I call back and complain some more)

2.  What should their next step be? (Replace the disposal?, etc?)

3.  When they fail to rectify it, what is my next step for recourse? (I don't want to be pessimistic, but they don't really sound concerned about the smell, only the money right now.)

Thanks!

XTX · Accepted Answer

=== hire your own guy to rip out the wall and find the source of the ""smells"" ==  I do understand that the smell is unpleasant = moreover to me would be the bacteria build up that is entailed with the problem .... be sure to charge up your camera and get photos of this problem if you get your own heired man to help === get a detailed ticket ((( even if you have to make one and get the tech to sign it))) then you need to go to the rental office with ticket and photos and saved ""bacteria crap in a closed jar""  AND now you have an arguement for reimbursement or at least 1/2 fund return to you or off the rent ....  should not cost more than $200.00 to get it smell less .....

Nico · Answer

You will probably have to deal with it, in a place like San Francisco there are probably 50 people who will live with that smell and not call or complain one word to a landlord, so keep that in mind.  

Wait a week, if it's a dead rat or something in the wall the smell will probably go away.  In the meantime, put baking soda down your disposal and or put bleach down there, maybe also put an air freshener under the sink and/or spray bleach on the wall or wherever you think there might be mold growing.  Maybe an open container of baking soda might help under the sink.  If the bleach doesn't work, wash it all out of the disposal, wait a day and try a baking soda/vinegar combination, it will foam up nice and good and hopefully kill the smell.  If it's still there, then you might want to think about moving.

Redneck Texan · Answer

IF something got trapped and died in the wall the smell will dissipate within a week or so depending on how hot it is.  After it is gone there may be a skeleton left behind but no other residue.  "IF" as one responder says to do, you hire your own people to start tearing out things to find the source without approval from the landlord, you could very well end up in court and be forced to pay for it all yourself.  This will depend on the landlord.  From your statements, especially #3, you have already assumed the worst,  give it a reasonable time before you take any drastic action.

Penny · Answer

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/problems.shtml

This website is the the California consumer state affairs website. You answer can be found here. Good luck we had an issue that we fought on for months.  It was a smell under the sink and it turned out to be black mold in the walls. Our son had formed Asthma because of it. We up and left with in two weeks after finding out. It is not reasonable to have a strong "unidentified" odor. It could be affecting your health with out knowing it.

Anonymous · Answer

I think there is something behind that wall, maybe the pipe is crack.

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Horrible smell beneath the kitchen sink?

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