Downstairs cloak room smell

11fernsroad

Hi
Our toilet in cloak room downstairs has now developed awful smell,something like sulfur or so.Even though it is not used regularly except for guests,it looks clean and is cleaned and flushed at least once a week.
There is good water level in the trap and I could not make out any bubbling or so when toilets upstairs are flushed.
No obvious leakage or wetness around the toilet seat.
Any ideas what could be wrong?

sew_what

Have you checked the sink - the smell may be coming out of the plughole or overflow.
If you've excluded all those things, could it be a leak under the floorboards?

11fernsroad

Hi
We do have a small washbasin near it.But smell is coming from the toilet and i feel when water in the pan is disturbed(like peeing into it).It is a solid floor but traps and waste pipes are hidden inside the vanity unit.But no water or leakage as far as i can see.

sew_what wrote: »

Have you checked the sink - the smell may be coming out of the plughole or overflow.
If you've excluded all those things, could it be a leak under the floorboards?

Doozergirl

Is it a regular waste and not a saniflo?

dunroving

Off-the-wall thought, but as someone else suggested, I found the source of similar smells to be a leak under the floorboards, in two houses.

In one house, a metal waste pipe had rusted so washing machine water was ending up in the foundations. In the second incident, the prior owner's DIY attempts at installing a bath led to an incorrectly-fitted waste pipe, so when the bath was emptied, it was going straight onto the earth below the floorboards.

In both cases, I thought the smell meant sewage leak.

11fernsroad

Just an update.
Recently one of our guests had difficulty flushing solid waste in the downstairs cloakroom resulting in a embarrassing situation.We never use the room except for occasional wee and we have not noticed ay problem or slowness in flushing.
But room does have a faint awful smell inside.

dunroving

So 3 months after your original post, you haven't brought an expert in to take a look?

I'm hoping your guest was sensible enough not to flush while the pan was still full of water.

Call in a plumber.