Smell of Petrol in House

[User0658]

Yesterday when I came home the downstairs of our property stank of petrol. I called the gas company and they came to check there was no gas leak which there wasn't. They said it's likely someone had flushed petrol down the drains, and as the pipes run under our house the smell/petrol would be under the house.

My partner spoke to our neighbour, we are semi detached and our driveways are attached, he said he had spilt a tiny bit of petrol when cleaning out his tools but the smell is still really strong a day later.

I feel uneasy that there is potentially a load of a petrol under the property.

My mum suggested calling the fire brigade to flush the pipes out?

No idea what I should do or how long it will last.

Any ideas?

@Aphantasia we don't have heating oil in our home. But thank you for the suggestion.

We spoke to the neighbour earlier, he came round and said he didn't think it smelt like petrol, said again that only a tiny bit of petrol was spilt outside and doesn't smell out there etc.

Should add, went out 2:30pm yesterday he was outside with his tools, came back 3:30pm and house stunk

I think it’s not unreasonable to call 101 and ask for advice. It’s the non-emergency line.

It is an offence to pour toxins into the watercourse.

The fumes are certainly very flammable
If it was me I wouldn’t hesitate to call the fire service or 101 for advice.

We had a similar situation. We called the local fire brigade who told us to call 999 as that was the best way to log a call out

They came with a piece of kit that tested how flammable everything was and also went to the neighbour who had done it

So in summary I would call 999

@talkalarm thank you, I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and call 999

Why don't you get your hosepipe and run water through your drains, starting above where the smells starts. It'll move any contaminant along into the main drains and the smell will dissipate.

I bet he swilled the petrol off his driveway into the bit between his driveway and your external wall. Idiot.
I hope it hasn’t seeped into your brickwork because that would be very difficult to eliminate.

OP I think it’s time you realised that people lie - and by people I mean your neighbour. I would say he’s gaslighting you but it seemed an unfortunate pun.

@SweetBabyCheeses99 no I know, i do think it's definitely come from our neighbour, it's too much of a coincidence isn't it

Did you call 999?

@SweetBabyCheeses99

OP I think it’s time you realised that people lie - and by people I mean your neighbour. I would say he’s gaslighting you but it seemed an unfortunate pun.

🤣🤣🤣🤣💥

@DobbyTheHouseElk no not called yet, had to do my LOs dinner, bath, bed etc.

Had the stairs open and the window next to it open and the smell seems to be letting up a bit.

We think now, as there are cracks in our driveway maybe the petrol has seeped through the gaps or where it is so windy it's got blown onto the brickwork..

Don't think it has been poured down the drain as no drain or pipe where the smell is

[quote User0658]@DobbyTheHouseElk no not called yet, had to do my LOs dinner, bath, bed etc.

Had the stairs open and the window next to it open and the smell seems to be letting up a bit.

We think now, as there are cracks in our driveway maybe the petrol has seeped through the gaps or where it is so windy it's got blown onto the brickwork..

Don't think it has been poured down the drain as no drain or pipe where the smell is
[/quote]
Jesus Christ you've got kids in the house???? With petrol fumes? In the nicest way possible - are you out of your mind?!? Get them out!!!! Fumes are not only extreeeeeemely dangerous if breathed in for a period of time but also HIGHLY flammable!

Do not use any electrical appliances. A dodgy connection could cause a spark.

@Almostmenopausal of course I'm not letting him inhale the fumes. The smell is coming from under the stairs and in the under stairs cupboard.

Yesterday the downstairs smelt but not the upstairs.

Today the smell is just in the cupboard and where we have removed the board on the stairs to try and locate the petrol.

We will call the fire brigade and ask them to check how flammable it is.

@talkalarm

We had a similar situation. We called the local fire brigade who told us to call 999 as that was the best way to log a call out

They came with a piece of kit that tested how flammable everything was and also went to the neighbour who had done it

So in summary I would call 999

@talkalarm how flammable was yours and what did the fire brigade suggest you do?

Petrol needs quite a precise air to fuel mix ratio to be explosive, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

Still call the fire brigade. I've seen my bales of hay spontaneously combust and that's dried grass, so I would be taking petrol fumes seriously!

[quote User0658]@Almostmenopausal of course I'm not letting him inhale the fumes. The smell is coming from under the stairs and in the under stairs cupboard.

Yesterday the downstairs smelt but not the upstairs.

Today the smell is just in the cupboard and where we have removed the board on the stairs to try and locate the petrol.

We will call the fire brigade and ask them to check how flammable it is. [/quote]
But the fumes are in your house! You should be evacuating Not taking risks with your children's lives

I was once very ill (not hospital but felt extremely ill) after spending the night inhaling petrol fumes over a few hours

Yes, I wouldn’t worry too much about an explosion, but it needs to be sorted. Quickly.

The fire brigade may be able to offer advice.

Sorry OP ours turned out not to be petrol but instead another non flammable chemical the neighbour had used

Fire brigade came out, very embarrassing as we live in a tiny close and a massive fire engine turned up, they don't think it's anything to worry about, thankfully.

He didn't think the smell was petrol, he thought perhaps white spirit. We don't have any white spirit so no idea where this would have come from.

But we are just glad they've given us the peace of mind and now we can relax after two days of worrying. Thank you everyone who made helpful comments.

Glad all was ok. I’m sure the fire service would prefer to go and check a smell rather than have to come to out out a fire.

It was defo the right course of action.

And it may hopefully put off the next door idiot from being stupid again.