Sewer smell in ground floor bathroom

Louise__3

Hi
Just after some advice re an offensive drainage smell coming from my bathroom the last couple of weeks. 

I’ve lived in my ground floor flat since it was built 20 years ago. Has my bathroom renovated 2 years ago by a trusted builder and I’ve had no problems with it
Back in the summer, the management company were investigating foul smells with drainage in certain flats and also in the outside drains .

At that point I didn’t smell anything and had no issues inside my flat though I did smell the sewerage in my outside drain

The upshot of that was that people had been flushing wet wipes and causing blockages 
a couple of weeks ago I started to smell sewerage in my bathroom and it’s been pretty consistent since. I’ve tried disinfectant etc but the smells just keeps coming back
wondering what my next steps should be? I’m inclined to inform the management company as it may be related to the previous problem but obviously don’t want them to charge me for the investigation using their plumber. At the same time, if it is a building problem and not isolated to my flat, i don’t want to pay for a plumber to investigate and charge me loads, only to tell me it’s a building problem.
Could anyone provide some guidance please? 

shinytop

I have a similar problem in my house  - a bungalow so everything is on the ground floor like you.  In my case I think it's coming through one of the showers.  The shallow drains on some showers don't have a proper water trap and in my case, the shower waste outlet is only a couple of metres away from the sewer and I suspect the smell might be coming back up through the shower waste.  If I move the outlet pipe that is outside the house so it's not going right down the drain the smell goes, move it back and it returns.  If you get down and sniff the shower drains it should be obvious . BTW in my case I have inspected/rodded all the sewers round the house and they are all clear.   I'm going to try one of these somewhere in the waste pipe and see if it stops the pong.  

https://www.toolstation.com/viva-magna-self-sealing-waste-valve/p16545?store=I6&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&gclid=Cj0KCQjwufn8BRCwARIsAKzP697i2_T64DWWzKNrTEaqsGjf_IRJLgm1-HXXGslu211vdVUgPGUMc2saAghIEALw_wcB

Of course in your case it could be something more complicated with a shared sewer but the u bend on your toilet(s) normally keep any smells out.  Does the water in the toilet ever disappear/get sucked away?  That could indicate problems elsewhere.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Louise.

If you have personally been carefully to not put anything down the pan that could cause issues, then chances are high that it's a return of the original problem by others. 

First try and eradicate any other obvious sources of the smell. As Shiny says, if you have a shower in that bathroom (or even a bath), then see if the drain holes of these are the source. It isn't always obvious tho' - smells can be quite evasive and not always seem to be coming from the actual source. But stick your nose there all the same...

Then try gently running a tap to 'fill' these drain traps whenever you have finished with the bathroom, and see if the smell is still there when you return (your nose is usually more sensitive if you give it a few minutes away). 

Look down the loo pan - is the water level comfortably higher than the U-bend level?

Ok, next thing - any unusual sounds when you use the loo or shower/bath/basin? Ie any gurgling/slugging sounds when flushed/drained? If so, is this unusual? (This could be a sign of blocked drain/vent problems which is causing your traps to be emptied, and smells can them come back through).

Finally, can you tell if the smell is coming from inside or outside the bathroom? Any smells noticeable outside? Where is the manhole cover in relation to your bathroom? Are you able to lift the lid and have a gander inside this?