[janetclegg]

Help we have just rented a house in murcia region for 12 months a found it has a serious drain problem the owner has been several times and just says its because the house was empty a while. We have been here one month a cannot stand the smell anymore. Can we end our contract. Will we have to pay the full years rent if we do.

 

[jojo]

I would just tell the owner that you cant stand the smell anymore, get a plumber in who will verify your complaint and tell you how much it would cost to put it right. If the owners refuse to do anything about it then I would just write and tell them why you're not staying and move out. the chances are that they wont persue you for any money as you could claim the house isnt fit for purpose.

that said, I've rented several properties in Spain and I dont know if we were just unlucky, be we found that it wasnt unusual to have a bit of a smell issue sometimes. For some reason, flushing the loo would help or running the taps - it sort of absorbed the smell????

Jo xxx

 

[Solwriter]

The Spanish system of drainage is rather different to that in the UK (and I think this is a Spanish-wide thing, but could be wrong).
There is no separation of drainage pipes - everything ends up in the same place. Smells from drains can be a problem in these circumstances...
This tends to lead to problems when a property is left empty for some time - especially if the water has been turned off.

When we were looking at property to buy, we were actually advised by our gestor (who went with us to translate), that it can take some weeks at least for smells to clear after the water has been turned back on, so we avoided already smelly places.

Like Jo, we sometimes get 'drainy' smells - especially from the pipe nearest to the end of the row (and therefore nearest to the point where the flow joins the main system). It doesn't happen very often and, like Jo again, a flush of the loo and running the taps (and putting water with washing up liquid in it down the sink) usually does the trick.

That said, I would get a plumber to take a look and see if there is a blockage somewhere and then pass this information on to the Landlord. Hopefully he'll then get it sorted out.

 

[xabiaxica]

Help we have just rented a house in murcia region for 12 months a found it has a serious drain problem the owner has been several times and just says its because the house was empty a while. We have been here one month a cannot stand the smell anymore. Can we end our contract. Will we have to pay the full years rent if we do.

as the others have said, you do sometimes get nasty niffs from the drains here

we were recently away for 3 weeks & came back to smelly bathrooms - after a couple of days I remembered to run the taps in the bidets - the water which had been 'standing' in the pipes was washed away & problem solved

as you've been there a month that's unlikely to be the problem so it would be worth having checked - but if the owner won't do anything do as jojo suggested & get someone in yourself

if you do want to move in the end you absolutely don't have to pay the whole year, & possibly not even a months notice if the place is unlivable - there's a link to the 'renter's law' in the useful links sticky thread above

 

[bob_bob]

Bleach and soda crystals could be your saviour, flush plenty of each down sinks, showers, baths and toilets/bidets.

 

[thrax]

There is a product you can buy from Mercadonna and also Supersol I think called Fossa Septica (or something like that) which looks like tea bags (so I suggest you don't confuse them with real tea bags). You simply throw a couple of these down a loo and flush. We lived in a property that regulalry had foul smelling drains and they did the trick. They cost around €6 or €7.

 

[snikpoh]

There is a product you can buy from Mercadonna and also Supersol I think called Fossa Septica (or something like that) which looks like tea bags (so I suggest you don't confuse them with real tea bags). You simply throw a couple of these down a loo and flush. We lived in a property that regulalry had foul smelling drains and they did the trick. They cost around €6 or €7.

These are for properties that have septic tanks (Fossa Septica) and contain micro-organisms that help 'balance' your tank.

They will do nothing (except damage your bank balance) if you are on mains sewerage!