Episode 8: More on Smelly Drains

this just in: now you can block your billa's smelly floor drains without actually plugging them!

you may have already been using smelly billa to smell-proof your house, including a method using plastic cling wrap to cover your drains.  as mentioned in that post, however, this very effective method could be very dangerous in the event of a plumbing or laundry leak (and not to mention inconvenient if you're daily uncovering and recovering your drain before and after each shower).

here are a few more solutions that have come my way which may help you greatly.  the first two are for those of you with three inch drain pipes in your floor.  to determine the width of your drain pipes, just use your fingernail to lift the silver plate off the drain and measure the width of the pipe.  if they are three inch pipes (which is about the length of your thumb), here are two great solutions for you.  first up...

idea 1:  the cup trap

this traditional concept has been shaped into cup-form to fit into your billa floor drains.  it keeps a little water in the cup, and the water actually becomes a floating liquid seal that guards against odour coming up out of the drain and into the apartment.

here's how it works:

Episode 1 Continues

this is part 2. please see part 1 first.

 last time on smelly billa

the realms of the village underworld wreaked havoc on one billa.

despite continued strategizing, the beasts of waters black 

could not be held back in their relentless invasion.

back to part 1



 

 ~ 

now

"who was left standing"

in B minor


(click below)

Episode 1: Help!! My Billa Smells like Poo/Death!!

best viewed on site: smellybilla.blogspot.com

 

Help!! My Billa Smells like Poo/Death!!
subtitle: Smell-Proofing your Billa's Plumbing

A Similitude


Part 1

"i love the way your apartment smells!" it's what my friend John says every time he comes over. i tell him it's just superior pheromones, but he knows better. he knows this billa's been on the long, smelly road to snuggly-soft spring-freshness.*

log:

the toilet was flushed.
the garbage was out.
the sink drains were covered.
the bathroom fan was on.
the kitchen fan was running.
yet the the billa smelled like sewage.
open, raw sewage.

the putrefying fumes wafted up from the deep recesses of the village; a foul, underground network of poo and lies. it always found it's way to me. through the floor drain i thought. i meditated long and hard on how to block that floor drain, and launched many unsuccessful attempts. then, the biggest billa brainwave ever (inspired by the olde journals of french micro-physicist, geordi la forge):

i knew what i had to do was create a subspace field which would function like an infinitely thin --but rock-solid-- forcefield between me and the environmental phenomena i wished to avoid!

it was so simple but it changed my life forever: i could create my own version of a subspace field using nothing other than... 

plastic cling wrap.

For best results and to maximize overall cling, spray a mist of water on the floor before applying plastic wrap. 

Blocking of a floor drain is very unwise if there's any chance that large amounts of water could possibly be flowing onto the floor (e.g., as a result of laundry leakage or plumbing ruptures). This could be catastrophic beyond your wildest nightmares and not covered by anyone's insurance (not yours, not your employer's, and maybe not even your building-owner's).* (all asterisks[*] refer to the blurb at the bottom of this post)  

UPDATE FROM EDITOR: see this new post for other smelly-drain-stopping methods which are just as effective and way less dangerous than this one! :) 

but for some reason, the stench of methane gas and rotten eggs would still visit at random times.

through long and drawn-out months of investigation and people telling me to just move to another billa, several significant factors were discovered.

the following are my findings, broken into five readable parts which you can read over several sittings as you troubleshoot your own billa. [click below to continue reading]