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Cheap OS remedy for drain smells??
LydiaJ
Posts: 8,083 Forumite
Hi everyone.
In my (rented) house, there's a family bathroom and an en-suite shower room. My kids tend to come and use the shower in my en-suite (which is much nicer than the shower over the bath) and they prefer to brush their teeth in there too. So the basin and bath in the "family bathroom" don't get much use. Every so often they start to smell an awful drain sort of smell.
I've checked that the water level in the sink U bend hasn't dropped low enough to let air out of the drain, so maybe the smell is because the water in the U bends is stagnating(?). Sometimes I think the smell is coming from the overflows rather than the actual plug-holes, but it's hard to tell.
I try to make sure that they get used every few days to keep this from happening, but life is busy, and sometimes I forget for long enough for the drain smell to get going. When it does get going, it takes ages to go away again. Anyone got any OS ideas for what I can put down there to clear the problem?
In my (rented) house, there's a family bathroom and an en-suite shower room. My kids tend to come and use the shower in my en-suite (which is much nicer than the shower over the bath) and they prefer to brush their teeth in there too. So the basin and bath in the "family bathroom" don't get much use. Every so often they start to smell an awful drain sort of smell.
I've checked that the water level in the sink U bend hasn't dropped low enough to let air out of the drain, so maybe the smell is because the water in the U bends is stagnating(?). Sometimes I think the smell is coming from the overflows rather than the actual plug-holes, but it's hard to tell.
I try to make sure that they get used every few days to keep this from happening, but life is busy, and sometimes I forget for long enough for the drain smell to get going. When it does get going, it takes ages to go away again. Anyone got any OS ideas for what I can put down there to clear the problem?
Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
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Comments
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plumber-hubby says just run hot water through the drains on a regular basis to flush them out. Hope that helps!0
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Put some soda crystals down the drain and leave for 20 mins then pour boiling water from the kettle down to flush the drain out.
If you do this weekly you should have no problems with smellsBlessed are the cracked for they are the ones that let in the light
C.R.A.P R.O.L.L.Z. Member #35 Butterfly Brain + OH - Foraging Fixers
Not Buying it 2015!0 -
How did you check this?I've checked that the water level in the sink U bend hasn't dropped low enough to let air out of the drain, so maybe the smell is because the water in the U bends is stagnating(?).Sometimes I think the smell is coming from the overflows rather than the actual plug-holes, but it's hard to tell.
We used to both work away from home a lot so sometimes our home bathroom would not get used for a week or more. Particularly in the summer months we used to get "trap loss", which is where the water in the trap (or u-bend) dried out. It was worst in the bath but sometimes there with the shower tray too. It was not so much of a problem with the sink, but I think baths and shower trays sometimes have much smaller traps which makes them more likely to dry out.
The smell was awful, but it would go away a few minutes after I had run some water down the bath, shower tray and sink. I couldn't use bleach etc. even if I wanted to because we were on a septic tank. But plain water seemed to do the trick. I would add a bit of washing soda to try and get rid of the residue which was causing the smell, as I knew it would dry out again the next time I was away, if the room got warm enough.
Liitle Vics' husband will probably be able to confirm, but I think that the overflow feeds back into the trap in any case, so the bad smell is coming from the same place, it's just that the overflow hole is a bit closer to your nostrils!0 -
hi my friend is having a smelly drain problem - and is also on a septic tank. She has tried bicarb but think after this is going to give the crystals a go. anyone any other suggestions?A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men :cool:
Norn Iron club member #3800
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