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  1. #1

    Default Serious Drain Fly Infestation in Our New Apartment, Maintenance Seems to Brush It Off

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Ohio

    I recently moved into a new apartment, and from about day three of living here we noticed a really awful, sewage-like smell that seemed to originate from the drains. Upon complaining, we were told that the apartment below us had problems with a water main and had flooded, so the smell would be taken care of within a week after they fixed it.

    About a week later, the smell went away, but a few days after that, an even worse problem showed up: drain flies. SWARMS of them. They're coming from the bathtub drain and the kitchen sink's drain. When I say there's a lot of flies, I mean to the point that the bathtub/shower is unusable: all our loofahs, soaps, etc had to be thrown away because they were covered and infested with black flies, and at any given point there are easily 10-20 of them swarming around in the tub and shower, in addition to the ones 20-something a day that our flypaper is catching (we have to replace it daily). The flies are also all over the sink and mirrors and towels.

    We've tried pouring bleach down the pipes, to no avail. We've tried using Drano to no effect. We sprayed everything down with Raid and within a few hours, there were just as many flies as before. The landlord sent their maintenance guy over today and he did the Drano again, even though we'd already tried that, and seemed VERY resistant to the idea that there might be a problem with a broken pipe or the trap causing stagnant water, or that this could be tied to the broken water main that had flooded the apartment below us.

    My question is, how can I get the maintenance guy and the apartment company to do whatever it takes to fix this? We just signed the lease last month and it's for a year... I don't think I can deal with going to my in-law's house every time I want to shower. It's so bad that I hate even going in there to use the toilet or wash my face!

    And if they continue to ignore us, what legal recourse do we have? Can we hold rent in escrow or break the lease? It's disgusting!

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Serious Drain Fly Infestation in Our New Apartment, Maintenance Seems to Brush It

    id be making a video of it

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Serious Drain Fly Infestation in Our New Apartment, Maintenance Seems to Brush It

    You're talking about actual drain flies (pictured here), and not fruit flies or similar flies that live in drains? For fruit flies, despite what it says in that article (as quoted below) a touch of bleach is usually sufficient to do the trick; but that may not be sufficient for actual drain flies.

    The first question is, why are the flies able to live in your drains. Is it because the drain traps are dirty, or is it because the drains aren't adequately trapped?

    You can't take all of the following steps by yourself, but you can take some of them and see if there is an improvement pending additional intervention by your landlord.
    Quote Quoting Tips to Eliminate Drain Flies
    • The most important task in getting rid of a drain fly infestation is to eliminate their breeding site. If you can remove the stagnant water the larvae grow in, they will have nowhere to reproduce.
    • Spray your drains or rooms where adult drain flies are found with an aerosol insecticide spray labeled for flies. Sprays used on houseflies will work on drain flies.
    • Get rid of any decaying food you have in your home that the flies can feed on. Clean out any areas that drain flies are attracted to, and definitely clean out your drains thoroughly.
    • If found in your bathroom or another room with tile, grout your tiles. This will help remove any moisture that has accumulated.
    • Check for wet lint underneath your washing machine and get rid of it.
    • Get rid of the gunk building up in your drain. Drain fly larvae love to eat this stuff. Do not pour bleach down the drain. Bleach kills bateria. It is not an insecticide. There are products like DF 5000 Drain Cleaner, but it is just as easy to use a toilet brush to scrub out the drain. Really tough cleaning jobs may require some Drano to really clean it out.

    If you have drain flies breeding under the floor slab you may have to open the slab and have all the contaminated soil removed. These flies live in the algae and mold that grows in wet environments. Do not try to spray more liquid pesticides into cracks in the slab. It will only make matters worse. The moisture problem must be located and fixed. Call a plumber, not an exterminator.
    Do any of your neighbors, including the neighbor downstairs, have a problem?

  4. #4

    Default Re: Serious Drain Fly Infestation in Our New Apartment, Maintenance Seems to Brush It

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
    View Post
    You're talking about actual drain flies (pictured here), and not fruit flies or similar flies that live in drains? For fruit flies, despite what it says in that article (as quoted below) a touch of bleach is usually sufficient to do the trick; but that may not be sufficient for actual drain flies.

    The first question is, why are the flies able to live in your drains. Is it because the drain traps are dirty, or is it because the drains aren't adequately trapped?

    You can't take all of the following steps by yourself, but you can take some of them and see if there is an improvement pending additional intervention by your landlord.
    Do any of your neighbors, including the neighbor downstairs, have a problem?
    It's drain flies. It's fairly easy to tell the difference between fruit flies and drain flies.

    We just moved in, so I really don't know what's up with the plumbing, and their maintenance guy wasn't willing to even take a closer look to see if there was a problem with the drains. Nobody lives above or below us, so I have no idea if there are drain flies in either apartment.

    As stated before, we've tried both bleach and drano. Pretty much all the "diy" fixes have been attempted, and there have been no results, leading me to think that it's a problem with the plumbing beyond anything I or my boyfriend can fix, and something that is the landlord's responsibility to fix.

    My question is how do I get them to actually DO something about it? Their maintenance guy came out, disregarded everything I'd told him about what we'd already tried, did the same exact thing we'd done earlier (drano) and then seemed to consider it fixed. There's just as many flies swarming in the bathroom as there were before he did it, and we asked the office to send him out again... and he never showed up. He obviously doesn't want to actually do the work to remedy this situation, my question is how do I get him and his employers to actually live up to their obligations as a landlord?

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Serious Drain Fly Infestation in Our New Apartment, Maintenance Seems to Brush It

    Fairly easy if you know the difference, or are alert to those things. Even considering the size difference, some people probably wouldn't know the difference between a drain fly and a horse fly.

    I'm pretty handy, so personally I would get out my wrenches, put some rags down on the floor, remove the sink traps, and clean them out thoroughly. The bath trap may or may not be easy, depending upon the availability and location of access panels and whether it's a modern trap or an old drum trap. But your landlord may not be happy about your disassembling plumbing, and sometimes gaskets fail or (particularly for galvanized) parts are frozen.

    If your traps are clear and clean, I doubt you'll be getting drain flies coming up from the pipes.

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