really bad (probably drains) smell in house

village_life

Hi

Can anyone help, lived in a barn conversion for about a year now. It's got a septic tank (treatment system) in the garden. The property has 4 bathrooms served from two soil pipes at either end of the house

We noticed after about 10 months that the power to the air pump that is used on the treatment tank wasn't on, which it should be to airate the system. We turned it on but that caused a horrendous drains smell in the house. I put that down to a "backdraft" type effect of the pump kicking in. Opened the windows and the smell subsided

However recently noticed a really horrendous smell from one of the bathrooms. This is the one closest to the septic tank upstairs. It shares a soil pipe presumably with the downstairs loo which doesn't smell. The soil pipe presumably terminates in the loft, but visibility is limited up there so can't see.

The smell has been there for a few weeks now and can't shift it. Prior to the smell starting the bathroom was rarely used, but now we've started to use it to discount the "traps drying up" theory. Outside near the tank doesn't smell at all, nor do the other 3 toilets

Recently though the smell has started to migrate into a bedroom that is on the other side of the bathroom wall. That doesn't make much sense to me? It's a really unpleasant smell that I can't describe, presumably drainage though

I've tried to sniff around the toilet, shower, sink in the affected bathroom but none smell horrendous, I've thrown bleach down them to cleans then but the smell always comes back.

Didn't have this last summer or over winter (but the pump was off), luckily it's summer ish now so windows are open to disperse the smell

Any thoughts anyone?????

keystone

It certainly sounds as though there is insufficient water seal in your traps. Either that or you have a leak. Quite impossible to remotely diagnose. GALMI.

Cheers

roger196

Check whether the soil vent pipe terminates outside or not,
Check whether the u-bend ( trap) under the basin or bath has become uncovered and is thus not working.
Should you be using bleach with a septic tank?
Try a pressure test on soil pipe.

mikey72

If the water is clear, the smell won't be coming thorugh any trap with water in. Where is the smell worse? You said the soil pipe terminates in the loft, does it stink more there? It does sound like the air pump is causing positive pressure that is venting somewhere it shouldn't, so it should be your nose that you find it with, wherever the smell is worse.

mikey72

sangio wrote: »

I think the soil pipe in the loft is the answer. If all of the water traps are OK, it is the only logical answer. I do wonder if the vent valve on top of the soil pipe is faulty.

Yes there could well be positive pressure in the system, but this should not affect the valve as it will (or should) only open to release the vacuum in the system when flushing.

I thought that at first, but if the smell downstairs is that bad, it should have knocked him off the ladder when he opened the loft hatch.

village_life

Hi

Thanks for all the replies. I got notified of the first one but not any of the others.

Anyway.... The smell isnT downstairs at all. It's upstairs at one end of the house only. To my untrained nose it is worst in the bathroom, but has recently become more prominent in other rooms close by on the same floor

I've tried sniffing in the bathroom but nothing smells horrendous, as far as I can tell. Maybe it's originating from one of the appliances but you get accustomed to it in the room

I just went in to look in the loft. Wasn't brave enough to have a crawl round as my ladders weren't totally stable and it's only a crawl space. However I can't see a soil pipe up there at all. There is a lot of insulation that is probably obscuring it. The only place it can be terminating is in the loft as there is no external walls that the soil pipe appears from. It did appear to smell pretty bad up there, but again I find it quite hard to isolate my senses to sniff it out

Any idea who I'd need to ring to sort it? Is this standard plumber territory? Am Cheshire based if anyone knows anyone local

mikey72

Plumber, handyman, but all they'll do is smell it and take their best guess as well. (The last three I looked out turned out to be vermin, one was a dead rat in the cavity wall, the only real option was to leave it, and keep the windown open, or tear out the kitchen or demolish the house wall from the outside)

s_b

village_life wrote: »

Hi




Any thoughts anyone?????

yep get the tank emptied in case its backing up with a stuck chunder:D

village_life

Hi

Yes in the "offending" bathroom it definitely looks like there is a soil pipe within the wall which runs from 1st floor ceiling to ground floor. Are you suggesting the valve at the top could actually finish before the ceiling so not terminate in the loft (I'd put nothing past the people who developed this house, they were clowns!)

keystone

If you have two soil pipes one MUST vent to atmosphere the other may terminate internally using an air admittance (Durgo) valve. They are not 100% bomb proof and do go wrong. Locate it - it may be stuck open, particularly if its been buried in insulation and insulation has somehow got into it and preventing it closing. Get crawling up there - that doesn't need a plumber.

Cheers

village_life

sangio wrote: »

Absolutely!!

The poster says that there are 2 soil pipes, but cant see any venting outside.

It wouldn't suprise me that both stacks are using air admittance valves situate behind a boxing in panel. This may have been done to avoid unsightly pipes poking up beyond the ridge level.


The pressure created by the pump will be drawing air in, and as it is probably sealed, that pressure and air will have to go somewhere - the house!

It will bubble through the water traps, but more likely, vent itself through one of the valves!

It's a bit of a detective job. But first of all the poster must ensure that one of the stacks does vent outside.

I have come across this before especially with conversions of barns etc. Building regs say one thing, the planners say another and the homeowner/builder has his own agenda.

hi guys

thanks for all the advice. Just to clarify, I may have misled,we do have one external soil pipe serving the master BR ensuite and main bathroom, they are at one end of the barn and no smells there. At the other end of the barn is Ensuite 2 and immediately below that on GF is the downstairs loo - both served by an internal soil pipe that is boxed in. No smells downstairs, smell originated in Ensuite 2 (thought it was dry traps in shower etc), but sniffed around everything and nothing too offensive........ then the smell started to encroach into Bedroom 3 (next to BR2) so I got the sense it was an "atmospheric" type problem

So i had a few peeks in the loft but didnt have good visibility or access, borrowed some other ladders yesterday, opened it up and it stank!

been up there again today and had a rummage, and this is what I found





Smoking gun do you think? - it looks like they bodged the flexible hose on the top of it tied with bailstring to vent it outside through the roof, but that has come off - maybe this happened somehow when the pump was turned on or something? could be any reason why it happened, but clearly not a proper job.

With limited space and airflow up there, what is the correct fix?