Finding that smell

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ZEGAR

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I have a dormer with wooden floors upstairs.There are two ensuite showers which have never been used....Recently I have noticed a smell downstairs in the hall.I followed the smell and it led me to 1 of the ensuites...After a few experiments I am positive it is coming from the plug hole of the shower...This shower has never been used had was fitted about 6 months ago.
The smell is not a disgusting smell like a dead animal but more of a drain smell...
Anyone have any ideas what might be causing this..
 
The water in U-trap beneath the shower tray has probably evaporated, allowing fumes from the drains/sewer to enter the house. Just turn on the shower to fill it back up!
 
I will try that but I am afraid it might be something more serious as the shower in the other ensuit has no smell and also has never been used ...

We will give it ago this evening and see how I get on
 
ZEGAR said:
I will try that but I am afraid it might be something more serious as the shower in the other ensuit has no smell and also has never been used ...
Click to expand...

This could still be the problem/solution.
Depending on the heat in the two rooms, the original amount of water, the U tube in place in both etc etc (a good view different variables the water in one may have evaporated faster than in the other.
 
I'm pretty confident that this is the solution. At least it's the most obvious place to start. I have some experience in this area as we have a shower where this was also a problem, although in our case the shower was in daily use. The water was being siphoned out of the trap whenever the adjacent toilet was flushed (both discharged into the same stack). The solution for us was to install an anti-siphon vent on shower waste pipe.

But evaporation can certainly occur in an unused shower. Let us know how you get on.
 
extopia said:
Well, what was the verdict?
Click to expand...
Hi Extopia, I had a similar problem in my downstairs toilet as there is a drain smell since I moved in to my new house about 3 months back. I was having an impression that the problem could be in downstairs toilet itself and tried different type bleaches. After seeing this thread I have convinced that the problem is happening because my Ensuite bath is not in use for last 3 months. So I turned on the shower for few days. That reduced the smell quite a lot. But if I stop using the shower one day the smell coming back to down stairs toilet so do you know any permanent way of getting rid of this ?
 
Is the ensuite upstairs? Not sure how it might relate to the downstairs toilet, but see my post above about anti-siphon valve. This could be the root of your problem. You should not get any smells back from the sewer if there is water in your u-traps. If this water is getting sucked out because of activity elsewhere (e.g. flushing of toilets) the valve is the answer.

Not sure of this but I think sewer gases are sometimes heavier than air so tend to travel downstairs, which can make the source hard to find.
 
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