Smell coming from our bathroom

Electra_King

Hope somebody can help. We regularly get a bad smell coming from our bathroom.

I think it is coming from the cistern not sure if it is the actual cistern or the overflow pipe within the cistern.

Any ideas what it is and what I can do to stop it from happening?

Also not sure if this is relevant but the overflow pipe feeds out from the bottom of the cistern directly into the soil pipe not out through the wall.

Oldsoak

You might need to put a u bend or trap into the system as this will prevent the back flow of gasses fron the stack. Adescent plumber will be able to do this for the cost plus 1/2 days labour so £80 roughly.

Electra_King

Sorry for my ignorance but when you say into the system where exactly?

Edited
Should of added the reason I ask is that the soil pipe from the toilet seems to feed directly into the "internal" downpipe, which inturn feeds directly out to the sewer. Hope that makes sense.

phill99

If the overflow feeds into the soil pipe, it is probably a poor seal where the two meet. Run a little bit of mastic around it and this will do the job.

Ruski

As oldsoak has said - you need a trap to stop foul air from the sewer/"internal downpipe"/soil stack. Overflow pipe from cistern needs to be modified to form a "U" shape, before going into the soil pipe. Filled with water this will stop gasses coming into cistern from soil.

HTH

Russ

phill99

Ruski wrote: »

As oldsoak has said - you need a trap to stop foul air from the sewer/"internal downpipe"/soil stack. Overflow pipe from cistern needs to be modified to form a "U" shape, before going into the soil pipe. Filled with water this will stop gasses coming into cistern from soil.

HTH

Russ

But that means you need to have water in the overflow pipe to ensure that smells can't come back. Never heard oof that before. Would be easier to seal the join properly or just put the overflow out of the wall.

plumb1_2

phill99 wrote: »

But that means you need to have water in the overflow pipe to ensure that smells can't come back. Never heard oof that before. Would be easier to seal the join properly or just put the overflow out of the wall.

Yes it would be ideal to fit the pipe through the wall, and should have been so on install.
Yes it needs to be trapped, or if there is a flush pipe it can be joined into that and no trap needed.

Electra_King

The smell is coming from inside the cistern I am not sure if it is the cistern itself or the overflow pipe within the cistern. The seal where the overflow pipe meets the soil seems to be fine and no smell is coming from that area.

I agree it would make sense to put the overflow pipe out through the wall but the roof of our attached garage would be in the way. That is why I assume the builders did not do it in the first place but I could be wrong.

I am not sure how or where the trap would go on the actual soil pipe and far from being an expert surely if I put a 'u' bend in the overflow wouldn't the water become stagnant and then start to smell?

withabix

Put a U-bend in the overflow.

Alternatively, you can get a flush mechanism with an internal overflow for most toilets now (less than £20, but requires fitting), so that it goes into the toilet pan instead.

Ruski

phill99 wrote: »

But that means you need to have water in the overflow pipe to ensure that smells can't come back. Never heard oof that before. Would be easier to seal the join properly or just put the overflow out of the wall.

Yep - spot on - but because it is done as Electra has described we have to assume it has been done like this for a reason: i.e. no external wall to pipe out - not unheard of I can assure you.
If the cistern is a low level the as Plumb has sugegsted you could tap into that.
There is no mention of bad seals - although this could be the case.

So - yes - assumptions have been made and the advice offered is in good faith without actually seeing the installation.


HTH

Russ

Electra_King

Sorry Plumb1 must have posted at the same time as I did not see your post until after.

The soil pipe runs out of the toilet bowl along the wall then straight into the downpipe which is internal. The bathroom sink feeds into the same soil pipe along with the bath. As a result I can't see where the trap would go

I do not know what a flush pipe is :huh:

I have done a search since on the internet and it mentions draining the cistern and cleaning it as it could be stagnant water but my gut (for what it is worth) tells me that the smell is coming from the soil pipe back up through the overflow.