Bleach may cut odor coming from sink drain

Q. We have a weird problem. We have a 19-year-old ranch home with a basement in the Chicago suburbs. A few weeks ago, I noticed a mold/mildew smell coming from our master bathroom. I narrowed it down to our cultured marble bathroom sink. We only brush our teeth and wash hands at the sink. I poured mildew remover down the sink and it seemed to help, so I figured I had the right location. All liquids easily drain, and there is no standing water. Then we took off the stopper, and I used a long brush to clean out the drain about 15 inches deep. At first there was a lot of black mildew coming out, then eventually no more came out. The first day it seemed to be better, but now the smell is back. There are no water marks, or mildew on any drywall. There is no water or smell under the sink. What can we do? Not only does it smell bad, but I have severe allergies, and the smell drifts to our master bedroom, and my allergies act up. Is it normal to have black mildew in the drains? Should any regular maintenance be done to kitchen, bathroom sinks in the rest of our home? A. Cultured marble is known for developing such smells. Any environment in constant moisture, as the waste of your sink, is going to develop black deposits. It is also possible that the smell is coming from the overflow. To take care of this, remove the stopper, insert a cloth or wad of paper towels to block the outlet of the overflow in the tailpipe, and pour bleach or your mildewcide in the opening. Let the liquid stand in the tube for a few minutes before removing the block in the tailpipe. The alternative may be to replace the sink with a different material, and regular maintenance is always desirable. Follow the directions on the side of Arm Hammer Super Washing Soda, found in the laundry section of your supermarket.Q. Our new house was built in 2006 by the best builder in the county. It is 90-percent brick and excellently built. In the winter, cold air rushes down through the exhaust-vent fan in the water closet. The exhaust pipe acts like an air scoop, capturing the westerly winds and forcing them down into the bathroom. The tile floor feels like ice. The small plastic damper in the exhaust fan is no match for the winds. I added heavy washers taped to the bottom, inside edge of the damper, but still no luck. Outside access is one option, and cutting and building an "S"-shaped air trap or adding a dryer-vent type of box to the end of the exhaust pipe might help. Is there another option to fix this from the inside? It would be less invasive, less costly and, hopefully, something I can do my self. Any ideas? Also, the same exterior brick wall of the bathroom has an air space between the brick and interior walls. In the basement, where the brick and interior wall meets the poured-concrete foundation, there is a lot of cold air flowing down through a gap between these two walls where they meet the glass-block windows. The windows are flush to the outside, and support the brick wall above them, but are set back from the interior wall above on the inside, thus a 2- to 3-inch gap exists. I have used 2-inch-thick Styrofoam sheets cut to fit the 24-by-32-inch window space, and they block the down flow of air. Since the wall is vented all the way to the roof, mold may not be a problem. What would you advise to insulate and finish these windows as part of a plan to finish the basement? Thirdly, my poured-concrete foundation has seams and pock marks in it that I would like to finish. I would prefer to touch up the concrete walls, then paint them with a high-gloss paint that does not collect dust or appear dirty. Can a concrete, stucco or plaster mixture be applied to provide a finished look to the walls? Would they be permanent finishes? What would you recommend?A. From your photo, it looks like the bathroom fan's exhaust is in the soffit. The wind hitting the brick wall fans out, upward and on both sides, entering the vent. What kind of termination is there on the exhaust pipe? If it is just a grille, you may want to build a box over it with the opening facing outside and equip it with a spring-activated aluminum jack. The problem you are experiencing is why I recommend that all bathroom fans be vented downward and their exhausts terminate with a spring-activated aluminum jack. This positioning will make the wind and the stack effect of the house keep the flap closed until the fan is turned on. This might be a considerable repair and expense for you now. The air space between the brick veneer and the frame wall is necessary to allow the bricks to dry from behind. Can a wood frame be built around the glass-block windows to seal the air space? Filling a few inches of the space with rigid insulation on the top and both sides before installing the frame will also help. Foam any spaces between the rigid insulation and the brick and frame walls. This is not likely to cause any mold problem since there is plenty of ventilation all around.Fill the pockmarks on the concrete with one of the vinyl-reinforced mixes on the market. Two such products are Thorocrete and Top-N-Bond.Q. We put up a modular home at the shore in late April. The builder removed the old bungalow, and due to soil boring, we needed pilings. A cement slab was then poured. The house has a cement-board skirt surrounding it and sits approximately 3 feet above the surface. Fiberglass insulation is in between the floor joists of the crawl space as well as air vents. Since it was ready in July, we've noticed a pool of water in the crawl space that does not go away. It covers about one-third of the cement floor. The builder tried sealing the crawl space. I'm not sure where, but there is still water. We've also noticed the hardwood flooring on the first floor is "cupping." A vapor barrier was placed on the subfloor before the hardwood flooring was put down. The builder said that he will have his floor guy assess the situation and do whatever is necessary. He also said hardwood floor contracts and releases with temperature. If so, what should we set the thermostat at while the house is empty? For now, we are using the house on weekends only and have set the heat at 50 degrees to 60 degrees when we leave. If water in the crawl space is causing the problem under the first floor, would pouring more cement to make it crown in the center help, so if water comes up around the piers naturally, it will drain out to the edges and out of the crawl space? Also, should 8 mil plastic be placed on the crawl space floor?A. I assume that leakage from the house's plumbing has been ruled out. Sometimes, an imperfect seal on a waste line may have a slow leak. Has your builder been able to determine where the water is coming from by the pattern of the standing water and the trail it leaves as it moves to the lowest point in the slab? If it is rain getting under the skirt and onto the slab (you mention that the builder is trying to seal the crawl space), it would seem that the concrete slab was poured too low. It should have been raised several inches above the outside grade. In that case, and if it is possible to do so, change the outside grade, but make sure that it slopes away from the home, which may be difficult if you are on sand, as the pilings suggest, and a flat lot. On the positive side, sand provides good drainage, and you may be able to create a swale a few feet away from the home to store the rain until it is absorbed. Pouring a cap over the existing slab would also do it, and be more permanent, but more expensive. But if the water is oozing from around the piers by hydrostatic pressure or capillary attraction - an unlikely scenario, as the ground would be wet outside - it would seem that the best way to get it to drain is to crown the slab. The joint of the slab and the pilings should also be sealed with polyurethane caulking. The water on the slab, and in a confined space, may be responsible for the hardwood floor cupping. In that case, once the water problem is solved, the floor may eventually flatten out. It is also possible that the hardwood floor is cupping because of the vapor barrier put on the subfloor. Any moisture from the living quarters that's working its way through the flooring would be trapped, causing the underside of the wood to expand. But it depends on what type of "vapor barrier" was applied; any membrane with a permeance below "1" should allow the wood to breathe. If a plastic membrane was placed under the concrete before it was poured, there is no need to put another one on top of the slab, but if none was installed, you could try doing so, as long as it does not collect water. Keep the temperature where you have it, but check to make sure that the fiberglass batts between the floor joists have not collected, and are not retaining, water.Q. My reason for writing is to ask your opinion about a method that is designed to deal with water and moisture in a crawl space. I have a crawl space with a concrete floor that has some water seeping in at a few locations at the perimeter of the floor. I have regraded around the house, and have a sump pump that discharges the water. Since I would like to eliminate any water running along the floor, I have contacted a couple of contractors to look at my situation. One contractor suggested a system that will encapsulate the crawl space by covering the walls and floor with a vinyl material called the Clean Space encapsulation system. I have never seen or heard of this method, and feel it appears as though I would be trying to hide some problems beneath the vinyl. I would appreciate knowing if you are familiar with this system and its effectiveness.A. I am familiar with this system and do not approve of it for the very reason you mention. Any moisture that gets through the walls or the floor is trapped in a sealed space, and severe mold problems can develop. If reworking the grade has not solved your problem completely, you need to ascertain why the leakage still occurs. Does it happen quickly every time it rains or does it take several hours or even days before water seeps in? Since the seepage is along the walls, you could ask one of the contractors you have spoken with to install a fiberglass gutter system that is glued to the floor at the base of the walls and directs any leakage to your sump pump. Expensive, but it should solve your problem. bull; Henri de Marne was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. Write to him in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or via e-mail at henridemarne@gmavt.net.#169; 2009, United Feature Syndicate Inc.