Smell

[JBean]

This is a long shot but ideas very welcome.

We're in an Edwardian house and, apart from one small patch in the attic bedroom, have had no problems with damp.

But in the past few days we have had a strengthening smell in the main bathroom and adjacent landing. It's foul, like damp or drains. I can't pin down where it's coming from - it doesn't get noticeably stronger as you approach the toilet, bath or sink - and nowhere feels damp, none of the walls or ceilings. I'm not sure how to investigate further. We don't want to start ripping up floors or removing plaster with no idea where to start, but we don't want to leave it and let it get worse.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[a twig]

Check your traps, especially if you have modern shallow ones.

We have an upstairs guest bathroom we don't use often and once a week I go and run the taps in the sink and the bath to make sure the traps are full and not stagnating, otherwise we get a similar sort of smell to what you describe

 

[MikeG]

Could it be a rodent has died somewhere in the building? They only smell for a day or two. DAMHIKT.

 

[Easrow]

If you have an electric shower on a pull switch check that. When these wear put they start to arc inside and it really stinks. Took me ages to find the smell in my bathroom. No amount of bleach or cleaner could stop it. Finally found the issue when the shower started playing up a few days later. Worth a look.

 

[CliffordPope]

Check your traps, especially if you have modern shallow ones.

Is this an upstairs bathroom? Does a bath or washbasin connect into the waste stackpipe or are they separate?
I ask because we can get this problem sometimes if the loo has flushed a large quantity down in one go. The "plug" descending rapidly some 20' can act like one of those old vacuum pipes in a department store and create such a suck behind it that it pulls the water out of the bath outlet trap. The bath outlet and overflow then have no isolating barrier of water in the trap, and all the smells of the septic tank are free to waft into the bathroom.
The solution is to leave the bath plug in when the bath is not in use.

 

[88v8]

...we can get this problem sometimes if the loo has flushed a large quantity down in one go. The "plug" descending rapidly some 20' can act like one of those old vacuum pipes in a department store and create such a suck behind it that it pulls the water out of the bath outlet trap

Hmmm. That shouldn't happen, regardless of height. Your stack pipe if external should be open at the top, and if internal should have a Durgo or similar.
Very surprised that the descending ordure could exert such a suction.

Ivor

 

[MikeG]

As Ivor says, that really shouldn't happen. There are specific regs in place to prevent this, and frankly, if it doesn't happen in an 8 storey block of flats with say 16 bathrooms all on one SVP, I don't think it is going to be an issue in a two storey house unless someone has done something irredeemably stupid with the plumbing.

The general principle, however, is to run a little water into every trap in the house, so baths, showers, handbasins, sinks and so on. If you are still getting the smell, it emanates from elsewhere other than the waste water system.

 

[JBean]

Thanks for the replies.

We don't have an electric shower and DAMHIKT either but I know the smell of a dead rat and it's not that.

The sink and loo are often in use so I've run lots of hot water down the bath - and some disinfectant - and the smell is better but not gone. We'll try running some water into every trap and if that doesn't work, I might try some drain-o or some such.

Thanks again for the ideas.

 

[CliffordPope]

Hmmm. That shouldn't happen, regardless of height. Your stack pipe if external should be open at the top, and if internal should have a Durgo or similar.
Very surprised that the descending ordure could exert such a suction.

All seems in order (pun), but it does happen. Perhaps because it is a shallow trap, as a previous poster suggested. Also perhaps because the bath outlet is close to the stack. If it had a long down-hill run of its own before joining the stack it might perhaps be better.

I've noticed the effect sometimes too with loos themselves - everything gushes out with such speed that it pulls the water out of the s-bend too. It only happens with the loo with a traditional high-level cistern - the flush is all over in seconds. A modern low-level seems to run on slowly afterwards, refilling the s-bend.

 

[JBean]

Pleased to report that the smell has gone. I think it was the trap in the bath. We ran lots of water down there and before I had got round to buying some 'plughole sanitiser' it smelt fine. So we know now just to run water into the bath every few days to stop it stagnating.

Thanks as ever to everyone for the replies.