Yvonne Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 [8-)]Can anyone offer some advise / thoughts please?Last year we had some new en-suite bathrooms fitted by a very reputable local plumber. Most are absolutely fine except there was always a faint smell (stale water) in one of them when it wasn't used much. This seemed to be eliminated by running water in the shower and sink so didn't worry me too much. This smell has now moved itself to the bathroom that shares the same pipe work (they are back to back) and I can't get rid of it by running water through the pipes of the sink, shower or flushing the toliet.I'm no plumber (at all) but I thought if there was water in the u bend / resevoir of the shower and sink then bad smells should'nt come back up?? The rooms also have a VMC and the pipe enters the loft above these 2 rooms. We havent yet had the external vent/mushroom fitted, could the smell be coming from this maybe..?? Somebody suggested it may be stagnent water sitting in the shower hose...but why only these two connected bathrooms? Help, it really stinks and I hate trying to mask a bad smell. It definately smells like stagnent / stale water. Any thoughts would be very gratefully received.Abi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheminot Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Had a similar problem to this. The vent pipe in the loft, which is above our utility room stopped just short of the 'mushroom'. As a result, when the warm vapours from the pipe hit the cold air in the loft they cooled and dropped to joist level and sometimes managed to find thier way down into the utility room via a small gap behind the vent pipe. I have since extended the pipe into the mushroom and sealed around it which has cured the problem.cheminot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yvonne Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 Hi, thats interesting because there is a grey pipe in the loft (above these 2 rooms) which is not closed off. My husband stuck his nose in it and said the same smell is coming from this pipe as we are getting in the rooms below. We have no idea what it is for or where it comes from......we don't think it has anything to do with the plumbing in these two rooms? Thankfully, the plumber is coming tomorrow morning to have a look. It sounds as though it could be a similar problem to yours though. Thanks Abi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Taylor Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Is your hot water tank (ballon) anywhere in the vicinity? I was mystified by a bad smell for weeks, turned out that the drippy thing underneath (technical term [:)]) hadn't been dripping and its little reservoir was dry (and thus open to the drain). Opened the valve, let a bit of water out and all was fragrant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 [quote user="Jo Taylor"]Is your hot water tank (ballon) anywhere in the vicinity? I was mystified by a bad smell for weeks, turned out that the drippy thing underneath (technical term [:)]) hadn't been dripping and its little reservoir was dry (and thus open to the drain). Opened the valve, let a bit of water out and all was fragrant.[/quote]Drippy thing underneath a water heater ?????????? I am very confused. Can someone elucidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheminot Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 [Is your hot water tank (ballon) anywhere in the vicinity? I was mystified by a bad smell for weeks, turned out that the drippy thing underneath (technical term)].Drippy thing underneath a water heater ?????????? I am very confused. Can someone elucidate?Expansion valve/chamber which allows the excess volume of water which expands when heated to escape to a drain.cheminot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbles Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Are you on mains or a fosse? Our grey water smell came from the fact that it was a type of soakaway (ineffective and now don't meet regs) but the loo to the old fosse didn't smell, a tempory fix which eased but didn't totally resolve the situation was to vent the soak away pipe outside but if your ground is clay and water logged the grey water isn't going anywhere (as ours was) the only fix for us was a new fosse[:(] But that smell is grim[+o(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yvonne Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 Hi,Yes we are on fosse (and an old one which we religiously empty every year). If it were that, wouldn't the smell be coming up to all the toilets / bathrooms and not just these 2 ?Abi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Taylor Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 [quote user="cheminot"][Is your hot water tank (ballon) anywhere in the vicinity? I was mystified by a bad smell for weeks, turned out that the drippy thing underneath (technical term)]. Drippy thing underneath a water heater ?????????? I am very confused. Can someone elucidate? Expansion valve/chamber which allows the excess volume of water which expands when heated to escape to a drain. cheminot[/quote]Thank you, my mind was blank! Anyway, abim, if it's nearby, check it. It's like having an empty u-bend. There should be a way to let a little water out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbles Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 If your on an old fosse and you look after it the loos won't smell, but if its coming from just sinks/ bath or showers and was set up the same way our was ( which was the legally correct way for a long time, if was fitted 10 - 30 years ago) the grey water doesn't actually go into the fosse just by passes it and just runs into the surrounding soil through pipes (could possibly have sand beds) and seeps away, but it can only do that for so long as the ground can't cope with that much soap, washing up liquid etc, and the pipes will get clogged up and the whole grey water grinds to a smelly stand still, a bit more investigating should find out where the grey water goes, also is the ground water logged at the moment as that could indicate that nothing is flowing away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracteurtom Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Almost certain your problem is that vent pipe in the loft. We had the same problem, the vent pipe was fitted with a mushroom but it was tucked in under the eaves of the roof (brilliant!). After much sniffing around, blaiming fictious rotting vermin, it suddenly dawned on me that it could be the vent pipe. Extended the pipe to above the roof / gutter line and it was like magic, no more smells! and to think our house had been lived in before we bought it, makes you wonder........................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alane Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 My father in law always said that France smelled of drains - the last time he visited was summer 1944!I need to put a vent pipe up through the roof - has anyone got any information on what the zinc/lead tiles are called that the pipe goes through and if they are available with the vent already attached - if that makes sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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