Mystery Fumes

I pray that someone can help me...For the last couple weeks there has been fumes in the kitchen and bathroom.
They can linger into my bedroom and closet too.
I know this sounds crazy, but it is true. I could not figure out where the
fumes were coming from. I would walk into the bathroom or kitchen and the fumes would be over-whelming. I could not figure out why these fumes were there. They would come and go.
One day I turned on the hot water faucet in the kitchen and the fumes hit me in the face. It was horrible. Since then I have turned on the hot water on and off several times in the bathroom and kitchen and it does not always happen everytime I do that.
These fumes also came out of the shower the other day.
It was so bad I had to run out of the shower to breath.
These fumes are really bad. Its like a bleach or a chemical smell thats is so strong it will Immediately take your breath away and cause you to sneeze and cough and your nose tingles and runs and your chest hurts.
It also can leave a metal taste in your mouth.

These fumes come and go. I dont know why they come and go.
Thank God its not constant or I could not stay here.
I had the maintenance men here several times and of course when they were here there are no fumes. They said they smell a slight Chlorine smell but nothing like I have experinced. I guess they thought I was crazy.
I cannot understand whats going on.
I called the water department and they said I had to take it up with my Condo management. They had not put an overload of Chlorine in the water supply, etc.

I have had many water leaks in my unit. Weeks ago the managment had the plumbers fix a pipe that was leaking in my wall. They also replaced another pipe that feeds the whole building and it runs down inside of the walls of my unit. It almost seems like the fumes started after the plumbers were here.

These units are old and there have been many repairs to the pipes over the yeas. Could it be mildew inside the walls? I dont see any evidence of mildew on the walls. Can mildew produce these kinds of horrible fumes?
What could cause these fumes to come and go?
No one I have called so far can tell me what this is or what to do about it.
I am so worried about breathing these fumes. I am now getting slight headaches from these fumes. I have fans running and I keep the patio door and the window open as much as possible.
Please can anyone tell me if they know why this is happening and how I can fix this horrible problem.
Thank-You for your help

CeCe said:

... fumes in the kitchen and bathroom ... so bad I had to run out of the shower to breath.

Click to expand...

My wife has asthma, and maybe you are also hyper-sensitive to air-borne irritants.

CeCe said:

Could it be mildew inside the walls?

Click to expand...

Not if it comes and goes with the water.

CeCe said:

What could cause these fumes to come and go?

Click to expand...

Variations in the source water and/or cycles in its treatment, disturbing pipes (such as with your own repaired one) or even day-to-day changes in temperature and so on.

CeCe said:

Please can anyone tell me ... how I can fix this horrible problem.

Click to expand...

You might talk with a doctor about possible allergies or sensitivities.

condo.

condo association. group of people with the same interest in keeping the building intact and in good shape.

condo association administrator.



builder.

plans that the builder had made. Architectural plans. Where the pipes go. What they are attached to.




draw your own sketch of the pipes.



many more questions. later.



david

I wouldn't be so quick to put this down to "allergies" and "sensitivities".

Best thing is to take a sample of the water when the fumes are strong and have it analyzed. If the city won't test it, you need to find a private company that will.

Thank-you All, for your opinions...

I have a fan blowing into the bathroom. I turned off the fan when my friends were here today. I didnt want them to ask why is there a fan blowing into the bathroom. I wanted to see if they would notice anything.

When some of them used the bathroom, they said, they got a metal taste in their mouths and the air seemed to have a very strong chemical odor to it.
They all said, something is wrong in the bathroom.

Finally someone else that has experienced the same thing as myself.

I realiaze that I could be sensitve to this, but now I know I am not crazy and its not just me.

I am calling a plumber today and get this checked out.

Also, one of those same friends that experienced my bathroom said its possible that the valve that turns on the shower could be bad.
He had a similar experience in his home with a bad pipe.

Is that possible a bad pipe could emit those kinds of strong fumes?

CeCe said:

Is that possible a bad pipe could emit those kinds of strong fumes?

Click to expand...

A pipe is a conduit for water. It does not create "fumes".

To repeat, you need a chemist--not a plumber.

sewer gas. Search on that term. "Sewer Gas" and "odor". Here and elsewehere. Let us know whether it sounds like what you have.

If the water also has a bad taste, that is a separate problem.

Neighboring units will have similar problems. Talk to the condo admin. Talk to neighbors.

David