it's becoming more and more clear that, while the cause of the smell is gas entering the unit from the sewer via the cleanout, and likely faulty p-traps, the thing that's actually driving the pump that sets in is temperature. i'm seeing this as the temperature comes up and down this week.

when it's a lot colder in the sewer than it is in the apartment, there would be a transfer of energy into the sewer, which would displace the air and send it up here. i suspected that earlier, but it's only becoming that much more clear as we're actually doing this experiment.

the correct answer, for now, is to turn the heat up to better dissipate the energy. and, when the heat is on, the issue actually mostly resolves itself. the thing is that it isn't 20 degrees in here - so by refusing to turn the heat on when he's obligated to, he's worsening an existing plumbing problem. and, i really have no option but to compensate by trying to find ways to put more energy into the ground, which include: running the hot water through the pipes, dumping hot water into the cleanout.

as far as i can tell, he actually hasn't come home yet.

and, i really need a plumber to tell me (him) how to stop that from happening, asap.

if he doesn't stop ignoring me soon, he's going to have a messy, expensive lawsuit on his hands.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this