Smell in bathroom

[Campo Steve]

Getting a bit of a smell in the bathroom i.e. a toilet smell.

Obviously not coming from the toilet itself as it has a u-bend.

Any suggestions as to what it could be, apart from a burst pipe under the tiled floor? Don't want to dig floor up if I can avoid it.

[gerryh]

Is it coming from the bath/ shower/ sink outlet?
In Spain they tend not to use U bends/ traps on these fittings.
Usually all discharge via a trap set into the ground usually covered with a round metal plate about 14cms diameter.
If you have one of these then lift it and clean the trap.
Cheers
Gerry

[ajtg1952]

Another problem can be if you do not use a bath/shower much during the summer, the water in the U bend evaporates leaving no vent protection from the drains. You should run every shower, bath and sink at least once a week to keep the U bend/ trap topped up.

[lulubel]

We had this problem with the shower in our new house when we went over there yesterday. It's been empty for at least a couple of months, and there was an awful drain smell in the bathroom. We ran some water down the shower drain and it went away.

[Mowser]

Maybe one of your dogs left a deposit?

[pietree]

Check the base of the toilet, it might be an idea to lift it and sit it on a sealant, some toilets just sit over a hole in the ground, usually with a rubber pipe but smell can seep past the base if not sealed to the floor.

[Campo Steve]

Thanks Pietree, that sounds promising. I'll check it out, although the smell seems to have gone, for now.

Access to anything else would involve digging the floor up. The original renovation was done by Brits so no metal access plate in the floor.

[teralin]

Steve, I agree with Pietree. We had a similar problem with our en suite bathroom when we were being gassed every night with strong odours from our septic tank. This was resolved by lifting the toilet bowl and reseating it. The smell may have gone for now because as your sit on the toilet bowl, it may shift very slightly and close the gap in the seal. It will probably come back if you don't take action.

[Campo Steve]

That sounds as though that is going to be the problem. Not going to lift it this week though as we have visitors.

It rings a bell that in the UK the toilets sit on a rubber/gel ring. Do they use them in Spain? If so, are they a standard size?

Alternatively, would mastic do the trick?

[patchdog]

I had same problem. You can buy a rubber ring thingy with sort of fins that slides over the pipe connecting the bowl to the foul pipe. This stops air coming up from the sewer via any gaps between the 2 pipes.

[Campo Steve]

Are the rings a standard size?

[patchdog]

Dunno,I took my pipe to plumbers, tried to explain problem and he came up with the ring thingy. I thinkthey are a standard size because the down pipe looks standard.

[probe]

We had a similar issue that wouldn't go away. Had to contemplate digging up the whole piping system to get to the bottom of it. In the end we invested €180 to get a man to send a fibreoptic camera down the system. This identified the exact area causing a problem - it was a poorly finished shower outflow pipe into the main drain that was protruding too much causing blockage. We were then able to dig up a very localised area with minimum disruption. This was definitely worth doing if you are not sure of the source of the problem.

[Mowser]

Bung in a couple of litres of agua fuerte in case it's a blockage.

[country boy]

It's called a Pan Connector in English. Just take a photo into your builders merchants and ask for one of these, saves a load of worry. Herewith one to print off:

http://www.google.es/imgres?imgurl=http ... CCwQ9QEwBw