Smell from Bathroom Sink

DieHard

Every time I rinse the bath with the shower after I have cleaned it, a foul smell comes from the bathroom sink. How could cleaning the bath cause a smell from the sink plughole?. The smell coming from the sink is definitely connected to showering the bath because it always comes after I have done that. How can I fix it?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Put proper internal drain cleaning stuff down both plugholes.

There's probably a load of manky soap and hair festering down there. (and they probably Teed into the same outlet pipe, which is why the water going down the bath forces the manky air out of the sink overflow)

vacheron

Agreed. Sounds to me like there may be a problem that the water running down the bath drain is pushing air up the sink trap, causing the trap to partially empty and allowing foul air from the drains into the room, especially if the bath and sink share a common waste pipe.

After you notice the smell, shine a light down the sink plug hole to see if there is water in the sink trap. If there isn't or the level has reduced you may have a blocked air inlet.

This could be confirmed if the smell persists until you run the sink taps for a short while?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Its the air pressure caused by the water from the bath/shower rushing past the trap of the sink & pulling the water out of the trap of the sink.

You can either fit an anti-vac trap to the sink or re-route the drainage for each of the cause & effect appliances or just turn the tap on for 2 seconds after the sink or shower has emptied.

DieHard

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Put proper internal drain cleaning stuff down both plugholes.

What is the name of a proper internal drain cleaner and where would I get it?

vacheron wrote: »

Agreed. Sounds to me like there may be a problem that the water running down the bath drain is pushing air up the sink trap, causing the trap to partially empty and allowing foul air from the drains into the room, especially if the bath and sink share a common waste pipe.

After you notice the smell, shine a light down the sink plug hole to see if there is water in the sink trap. If there isn't or the level has reduced you may have a blocked air inlet.

This could be confirmed if the smell persists until you run the sink taps for a short while?

The smell does go when I run the sink taps. If I am away for any length of time (like a weekend or more noticeably after a week) the bathroom smells of drains when I return even though it didn't before I left (and I also put the plug in both the sink and the bath). Obviously if I have been away there has been no water run from the bath or the sink. Would this be another symptom of a blocked air inlet?

How would I fix a blocked air inlet? Also last year they had to do a power flush of the main soil pipe.

keystone

My first thought was to agree with 1984 completely but there is also a possibility that the vent might be blocked too. Birds have been known to drop stuff down em which blocks them. The vent part of the stack not only allows nasty niffs to go into atmosphere well above smelling range but also allow air in.

Its the "after a holiday" bit that intrigues me.

Is this a secondary bathroom? In which case the installer might have fitted a Durgo valve on the soil. This provides the vent function of allowing air in to compensate for all the liquids (etc) rushing in the opposite direction but does not let the smells out - its effectively a non return valve. If you have one and it has failed open that would account for smells even though the basin (pleeease, pretty pleeeeease) trap has not been emptied by a vacuum forming as things gallop off to the seaside.

Do you share the stack with another property?

I think you mean jetted rather than powerflushed but thats bye the bye. Why was it necessary to jet the stack? There may be a clue in the reasoning for this.

Cheers

frankthetank1664

Try replacing the basin waste with a non return trap , h2o ....... this clever little waste allows the water our one way and prevents water and nasty smells coming back up.

You could also place this on the horizontal between the sink and bath for future problems.

Hope this helps

keystone

frankthetank1664 wrote: »

Try replacing the basin waste with a non return trap , h2o ....... this clever little waste allows the water our one way and prevents water and nasty smells coming back up.

True but they are also a lovely obstruction to the passage of soapscum and hair and all sorts of other unmentionables. They are also subject to syphonage and evaporation both of which render them useless - even the manufacturer admits that.

Cheers

ormus

just clean the bloody waste pipes out. (or replace em). that cures all the problems.

sunflower_2

OP I have exactly the same problem with my en-suite shower/loo???
is this what yours is?

when i use the shower, the smell from the sink is like a sewer
its a detached house so dont share waste pipe

when not used for a few days (holiday etc) i can only describe the smell as like a hamster cage :eek:

am gona try the cleaner as recommended on here, touch wood.

x

1984ReturnsForReal_2

sunflower wrote: »

OP I have exactly the same problem with my en-suite shower/loo???
is this what yours is?

when i use the shower, the smell from the sink is like a sewer
its a detached house so dont share waste pipe

when not used for a few days (holiday etc) i can only describe the smell as like a hamster cage :eek:

am gona try the cleaner as recommended on here, touch wood.

x

You should listen to Keystone & ..... well me....

See above for answers

If you think it really is from grim buy some sulphuric acid which will dissolve anything organic. But chances are its not. Could be long hair doing it in there but if its not its air pressure