Downstairs toilet smell

M

Mopsy

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OK a drain type smell coming from a downstairs loo.There is just a toilet and wash hand basin in this two storey mid-terrace house. The "room" is located off the hallway and to the front of the house. There is a small drain directly outside but it is not blocked or smelling at all. It doesn't seem to be coming from the toilet bowl or the sink. The floor is tiled (ceramic floor tiles)..there is a small window which when opened takes it away but builds up again on closing it. The other upstairs en-suite and sep bathroom is perfect. A plumber checked the loo and said it was fine.

Any ideas?
 
Mopsy said:
OK a drain type smell coming from a downstairs loo.There is just a toilet and wash hand basin in this two storey mid-terrace house. The "room" is located off the hallway and to the front of the house. There is a small drain directly outside but it is not blocked or smelling at all. It doesn't seem to be coming from the toilet bowl or the sink. The floor is tiled (ceramic floor tiles)..there is a small window which when opened takes it away but builds up again on closing it. The other upstairs en-suite and sep bathroom is perfect. A plumber checked the loo and said it was fine.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I had a smell in my upstairs toilet for a long time that would come and go.

I also noticed that if I took a bath and pulled the plug out, the shower in the same bathroom would bubble up, with water spitting up violently from the plughole. This would be accompanied by an unpleasant smell that was worse again than the smell already in the room.

I asked a plumber who lived across the street and he said to put some of the heavy duty pipe cleaner (acid basically) down my shower as there was probably a build up of hair and dirt etc.

This did nothing to solve the problem, even when I also did the bath plug hole.

I then checked the man hole cover in my driveway, and there was a large buildup of toilet paper and human waste in it. This was unpleasant to clear but it solved the problem completely. No smells since.

I now just open the cover once a month and give it a good hosing down. It doesn't build up any more but always good idea I think to keep it clean.

Might be worth checking out your nearest man hole where the toilet waste goes to. Did you ask any neighbours if they are suffering the same type of smell?
 
Had this problem too in a downstairs loo. The plumber had not capped off the 4" waste pipe which he had the sink running into and the gasses were coming up into the room. Just bought a rubber cap with a hole for the 1 1/2" sink waste and that was it.
 
RMCF said:
I had a smell in my upstairs toilet for a long time that would come and go.

I also noticed that if I took a bath and pulled the plug out, the shower in the same bathroom would bubble up, with water spitting up violently from the plughole. This would be accompanied by an unpleasant smell that was worse again than the smell already in the room.

I asked a plumber who lived across the street and he said to put some of the heavy duty pipe cleaner (acid basically) down my shower as there was probably a build up of hair and dirt etc.

This did nothing to solve the problem, even when I also did the bath plug hole.

I then checked the man hole cover in my driveway, and there was a large buildup of toilet paper and human waste in it. This was unpleasant to clear but it solved the problem completely. No smells since.

I now just open the cover once a month and give it a good hosing down. It doesn't build up any more but always good idea I think to keep it clean.

Might be worth checking out your nearest man hole where the toilet waste goes to. Did you ask any neighbours if they are suffering the same type of smell?
Click to expand...




Thanks for that. We must ask the neighbours, hardly see them as we are all out at work during the day! I think we will go with cheking the manhole just to be sure.
 
Checked the threads Leo. One poster asked what is the best product for bio septic tanks but got no reply, I'm in the same situation. Does anyone know?
 
Septic tank doesn't come into the equasion. This house is in Co. Dublin, Dun Laoighre in fact. It is in a mews of 5 only end, mid and terraced 2-storey dwellings.
 
Very common problem and hard to pin point. I would change the plastic elbow that is behind the toilet first. sometimes the rubber lets-by and it's very hard to spot. in my experiance this is the cause of fowl odours in bathrooms 75% of the time.
 
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