Drainage smells in bathroom. Help please!

[Ian Shaw]

Hi. I live in a bungalow and for weeks now have been having drainage smells in the bathroom. Our plumber has now disconnected all the plastic pipes and removed the toiled and has sealed off the grey waste pipe which goes down to the main sewer. His thoughts were that once this had been done, if the smell was still there, he could be sure it was nothing to do with the internal pipes and toilet connections. He is really busy and Admits he is really struggling to find a solution. We have another toilet and have no problems at all anywhere else. The smell is contained in the main bathroom. The sink and shower and bath all drain separately straight outside and are not connected at all to the toilet fittings. There is no sign at all of any blockage.
Can anyone suggest anything. I am at a loss as to who to contact next. Many thanks for any help.

 

[goz666]

What type of waste is in the shower ??? I've recently been to a similar problem where they had drainage smells and it turned out they had removed the push in hair trap which is part of the waste fitting and had left it out. This caused a drop in water level in the trap,hence smells coming up the pipework.

 

[Ian Shaw]

What type of waste is in the shower ??? I've recently been to a similar problem where they had drainage smells and it turned out they had removed the push in hair trap which is part of the waste fitting and had left it out. This caused a drop in water level in the trap,hence smells coming up the pipework.

Thanks for your help. The shower and bath are completely separate with the waste water draining straight out of the wall on the opposite side of the bathroom. I have checked carefully for smells from the shower waste fitting and the bath and they are both clear. My plumber has now suggested I get someone in to video the sewer pipes to check for cracks etc.

 

[craigy]

Even if the drains are cracked the smell will(shouldn't) is not a problem with the WC pan itself as it's trapped. Is the water level low in the WC pan? By low I mean is the level of water only just above the u bend in the WC pan? This happens if there are strands of debri in the WC pan which encourages the water out of the trap and eventually the level of water is too low to maintain a seal. Try topping up your toilet pan and mark the level before you go to bed and check in the morning. The other reason for trap loss could be Siphonage if your soil vent pipe terminal point is blocked or the air admittance valve is faulty.
your plumber may not have been able to check all the soil vent pipe thoroughly as some must be boxed in/inaccessible. A crack in it? Any DIY done recently and a drill hole in it?
only way to test tightness is with air test kit which can be tricky depending on situation and sitation of pipe work.
is the soil pipe in the building or outside?
if internal then check point it enters the ground for flaws.
I've remedied loads of foul smell complaints in bathrooms and 9/10 it's shower, bath or basin trap loss.
The one occasion it was the toilet I found a push fit bung connected to the boss connector had been pushed out by way of compressed air.
hope that helps, I guess CCTV would rule out issues outside the property but is not cheap and the problem more than likely lies within the property

 

[kris]

Check the old stink pipe to make sure the air is free flowing , sometimes when you have problems with the vent the smell has to go somewhere lol,
Ive also noticed that some of the top access shower traps are rubbish in acting as a good trap , ive came accross a couple of really badly designed ones ,

 

[helpsy]

I live in a Barratt home, smells occassionally, turned out soil pipe was touching the plasterboard ceiling in the soil boxing with an open end! Been to another house down the road exact same problem. Phoned Barratt they said "You're not the first owner, they probably took the pipes with them"!!

 

[Ian Shaw]

Even if the drains are cracked the smell will(shouldn't) is not a problem with the WC pan itself as it's trapped. Is the water level low in the WC pan? By low I mean is the level of water only just above the u bend in the WC pan? This happens if there are strands of debri in the WC pan which encourages the water out of the trap and eventually the level of water is too low to maintain a seal. Try topping up your toilet pan and mark the level before you go to bed and check in the morning. The other reason for trap loss could be Siphonage if your soil vent pipe terminal point is blocked or the air admittance valve is faulty.
your plumber may not have been able to check all the soil vent pipe thoroughly as some must be boxed in/inaccessible. A crack in it? Any DIY done recently and a drill hole in it?
only way to test tightness is with air test kit which can be tricky depending on situation and sitation of pipe work.
is the soil pipe in the building or outside?
if internal then check point it enters the ground for flaws.
I've remedied loads of foul smell complaints in bathrooms and 9/10 it's shower, bath or basin trap loss.
The one occasion it was the toilet I found a push fit bung connected to the boss connector had been pushed out by way of compressed air.
hope that helps, I guess CCTV would rule out issues outside the property but is not cheap and the problem more than likely lies within the property

The WC is completely disconnected now and the shower and bath drain pipes go straight out of an opposite wall to the WC waste pipe. They drain into a drain hole where I can see the water coming out of the pipe. The pipe itself is no where near the main sewer. The water drops out about a foot above the main drain so from my amateur stance, these drain pipes are not connected to to sewer other than the fact that the water eventually drains into it. The air admittance valve has now been removed and the soil pipe has been sealed by the plumber with gaffer tape in his attempt to try to at least establish that there is no problem with any of the pipes in the bathroom itself. Being charged £160 plus vat for an hours CCTV inspection but where I go after that I just don't know. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Ian Shaw]

Thanks for all replies. The WC is completely disconnected now. Plumber has removed all pipes to the toilet and sealed off the grey vent pipe. His thinking is that if smell persists , he can be sure that it is nothing to do with internal pipes. The shower and bath drain out completely separately from the WC connections straight out a drain outside where I can see the water falling out of the drain pipe eventually into the sewer. The soil pipe is in the bathroom. It has a Durgo valve on it which was changed a few weeks ago to illuminate this as a possibility. Not sure how or if the plumber has checked the soil vent pipe. At the moment this has been sealed off to try to establish that smells are not coming from any leaks on the internal piping. Tomorrow AM I have a CCTV company coming. £160 plus vat for an hours survey. Where I go from there I just do not know. Should I get another plumber in for a second opinion. The plumber I am using is so busy, I think he is delighted not to hear from me as he can never get round for a few weeks through pressure of work and admits he is at a loss. If he has no idea then what hope have I got! No air test kit has been mentioned! I've checked where the soil vent enters the ground and it looks well cemented in with no cracks.

 

[TheGasMan1]

Do you have an automatic air vent on the soil pipe or does it go through the ceiling through the roof? I had a situation similar to this and the AAV had failed.

 

[Ian Shaw]

No. It did have a durgho valve on it but now is completely disconnected. Plumber says this proves the problem is nothing to do with the soil stack and it must be coming from beneath the house.