I live in a unit that has a gas fireplace with no vent to the outside of the house. The heat emanates from a vent in the top of the fireplace. It's the standard rental fare with the glowing fake logs and all. Here's what has been done thus far:

1. Rocks were taken out and vacuumed, base was cleaned of dust.
2. Fireplace unit was replaced.
3. Logs were replaced.
4. Two one-hour burning sessions with windows open to try and "burn out the smell," as encouraged by the maintenance people.

The smell remains. It is distinctly a gas-related smell, but it becomes unbearable to be on the upper level of the house (one floor up from the fireplace) because the fumes just gather up there and concentrate. I am told by the maintenance people that the smell is normal, and that all the places with fireplaces have the same smell.

What I'm wondering is whether this is something I should hire a gas-company technician to come inspect, or whether this is just something that is standard on units like this, in which case I'll not be able to use the fireplace at all. I have a toddler, so the smell is not only unpleasant for us, but I want to be absolutely sure that I'm not harming him.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Will the gas company send the technician for free? It is possible the gas has a fairly high sulfur content. That makes for bad smells, but it takes very high concentrations to be dangerous. The killer CO is odorless. Definitely pick up a CO detector if you don't have one.

Sounds like it might be a gas leak, get dish soap/water and bubble test as much gas pipe as you can

Remove the logs and the smell will vanish.: