Nasty pong in my 1yr old bathroom and it's not me

twopenny

So had a new bathroom with new drywall, floor covering, tiles and fittings.

It's always smelled nice and new until a couple of weeks ago when a horrible smell on opening the door.

I've washed towels and mats, had the window open daily, ran water in case the traps had dried up, sniffed the bits and pieces, bunged up the holes around pipes that hadn't been done, run the extractor in case there was something in there - and it's got worse. Really strong.

Had a bath last night with bubbles and scented candles and this morning it was just as bad.

Can't make a comparison with the smell. It's not sewage. Thought it might be I'd painted over the plaster a bit too early but I had left it quite some time and that was all last year with no problem.

Any ideas please?

Small bungalow and it's bang in the middle so the smell is wafting into the hall every time I open the door.

tacpot12

If the smell isn't sewage, then it could be a small animal or bird (mouse/rat/squirrel/piegon) has found its way inside the wall and died. But unless you have cavity walls and an airvent into the bathroom, it seems unlikely that it would be this. 

My guess is that it is a sewer smell, but it's not quite the smell you are expecting. It might be a problem caused by a blockage somewhere in the soil stack so that it isn't venting properly. I would try to inspect and clean out the soil stack, and the waste pipes leading to each sink/basin/bath/toilet.  Any drains that are slow to empty might indicate a problem, so you could check all the sinks, basins, baths and toilets from inside as a second step (You've already done a lot of senssible checks as your first step ).  

Albermarle

I had the same in a home office ( ex bedroom) and thought it was the gas boiler ( apparently they can give off some unusual smells in certain situations) as it seemed to be coming from the boiler cupboard. Eventually worked out it was coming up through the floorboards that were exposed in the cupboard. Almost certainly a dead animal.
Took a few weeks for the smell to go.

EssexHebridean

We had a bit of a niff in the house at one stage late last year - never quite managed to identify exactly where it was coming from before it faded away...we are assuming the "small creature, now deceased" explanation, while also trying not to think too hard about it! 

I must say though twopenny your thread title did make me chuckle, so thank you for that! 

twopenny

Thanks folks, I think

A small animal is possible as there is a hole still where the old overflow for the old toilet went through the wall. I plugged it with a paper towel to stop mice or nesting insects getting in. Something like a mouse I thought would be able to push it out and escape. But would expect the pong to be before this time.

Thanks to all sorts of reasons I haven't plugged it up properly yet. I may unplug that hole for ventilation and see if it helps but need to find some fine mesh first to cover it.

Tacpot the stack doesn't exit the roof so not sure where the top is. Stuck with an injury that means climbing, sometimes walking is an issue sadly.

Drains are swift to empty. It's a delight. But I will pop outside and listen next time I flush the loo.

Albermarle you give me hope that it will go eventually.

The smell is less like empty trap (experienced on a boat) and more like old, gone off paint. The smell of a half tub of paint you left too long.

So old gone off paint with a hint of sewage.

I've just put some bicarb and vinegar in the basin and bath drain holes on the off chance. At least the smell of vinegar is preferable

I'm trying not to think of a leak behind the bath panel or the boxing around the loo. Something like rot or mould.

Essex you're welcome. Thought I'd get in there first before anyone else

kipsterno1

If your soil pipe does no exit the building then it probably has an air admittance valve. These can fail allowing the smell from the drains to enter.

twopenny

OK so how, kipsterno1, do I find an 'air admittance valve' please and what does it look like?

When my infirmity clears at some point I could get up and look in the loft.

There are two overflow pipes in the eves which I'm guessing are the main water tank and the little one for the heating top up.

The bathroom hadn't been used for years (4-17yrs) before I got the bathroom put in. It was a non functioning disabled shower put in by Heath Robinson.

But it's been fine and smelled nice until about 6 weeks ago. Maybe a tad longer.

Green_hopeful

My old house had a smell in the bathroom and it was hair in the bath u bend. Water still drained but it was really stinky. I got the u bend off and the hair was the size of a small rabbit. Yuk. We clean out any accessible u bends now. 

kipsterno1

The air admittance valve or durgo valve if you have one will be fitted to the top of the soil stack. From what you have posted the soil stack is internal rather than being on an external wall, correct? If so can you tell from the bathroom where it is, there maybe some boxing covering it if it goes into the loft. In a previous house we removed the stack and terminated in the same housing as the system flush. Good luck.

silvercar

Thanks to all sorts of reasons I haven't plugged it up properly yet. I may unplug that hole for ventilation and see if it helps but need to find some fine mesh first to cover it.

When I needed to plug holes I used steel pan scouring balls. They worked well and were cheaper than finding and fitting mesh covers.

twopenny

Hmmm definitely not hair as I haven't washed it there. I have a walk in shower en suite so it's mostly just a bath and my body isn't that hairy. But yes, had to clean out the shower trap before I found that the sink drainer filter thingy fitted over the hole and made life less messy.

kipsterno1 the stack is on an external wall, boxed in and will exit right in the eves the most difficult part to get at. I can't get up there at the moment to investigate because of a mobility problem. I'll just have to wait till that eases and if not call a plumber.

Just spoke to one of the builders over the road and they pointed to a vent on the roof of a couple of houses but ours don't have them.

Curious.