Any Plumbers in the house?!

[neo-ninja]

Hi All,

 

Another question from me!

 

I was wondering if there are any plumbers on the forums? I recently had a new bathroom fitted by a friend of a friend plumber. After we had it done, my miss' complained that every so often she would smell a bad smell in there (not me lol). I never smelt it and didnt think much of it.

 

Anyway 2 months on, i opened the vanity cupboard and was hit by a bad smell, not damp and not pure sh*t but just a nasty smell. I removed the bath side and was hit by the smell again. I have tried looking underneath the bath for a leak but cant see one, and cant see behind the skink or loo as they are hidden by vanity units. There is no damn on the ceiling below or walls.

 

The plumber we have used has since retired and moved away, i was wondering what sort of problem it could be. On a side note the internal stack that the bathroom uses doesnt seem to go anywhere in the roof, ie i cant see any pipe doing to the roof in the loft, it must stop underneith the loft boards? Wierd?

 

Any advice would be great, and if anyone is in the surrey area that would be even better.

[Builder49]

First things first. If the soil stack terminates in the loft and doesn't go out through the roof, then that could result in a smell. Easiest fix in this case is to fit an Air Intake/Ventilator Valve to the top of the stack (DURGO VALVE)

 

If this doesn't stop the smell check all waste pipes from the different suite pieces to check that joints etc are properly made.

 

In cases where there is no soil stack, or the stack is blocked (people sometimes do this???) then the trap in the wash basin will sometimes syphon itself as air is drawn into the system when the toilet is flushed or the bath is emptied.

In this case you can buy air intake basin traps from a decent builders merchant.

 

Paul.

[ioneabee]

First things first. If the soil stack terminates in the loft and doesn't go out through the roof, then that could result in a smell. Easiest fix in this case is to fit an Air Intake/Ventilator Valve to the top of the stack (DURGO VALVE)

 

If this doesn't stop the smell check all waste pipes from the different suite pieces to check that joints etc are properly made.

 

In cases where there is no soil stack, or the stack is blocked (people sometimes do this???) then the trap in the wash basin will sometimes syphon itself as air is drawn into the system when the toilet is flushed or the bath is emptied.

In this case you can buy air intake basin traps from a decent builders merchant.

 

Paul.

+ 1 on this - either get a Durgo valve fitted or if its already installed - take it apart and check the springs inside (or just get a new one)

 

ps

not many builders know what these are !!!!

[Ebized]

First I am no plumber.

 

But I do live in an end of terrace house that is at the far end of the drainage system and have an internal stack that ventilates through the roof. BUT, the other houses in the terrace do not have external stacks and when I enquired of a plumber why not he said they would not be necessary. That maybe the reason for your stack seemingly not ventilating through the roof?

 

On the smell side, a couple of years back our bathroom was completely refitted. Shortly afterwards we noticed what seemed like damp smells, but no signs of leaks and had evrything checked by a plumber. But as the smell remained checked again and found that as the shower waste has a very low fall underneath it was likely that dirt build up in the pipe was the cause. That has now been cured by a small dose of Milton (baby sterilising fluid) every month or so.

 

Just mention that in case one of your wastes have a very shallow fall

[Builder49]

First things first. If the soil stack terminates in the loft and doesn't go out through the roof, then that could result in a smell. Easiest fix in this case is to fit an Air Intake/Ventilator Valve to the top of the stack (DURGO VALVE)

 

If this doesn't stop the smell check all waste pipes from the different suite pieces to check that joints etc are properly made.

 

In cases where there is no soil stack, or the stack is blocked (people sometimes do this???) then the trap in the wash basin will sometimes syphon itself as air is drawn into the system when the toilet is flushed or the bath is emptied.

In this case you can buy air intake basin traps from a decent builders merchant.

 

Paul.

 

+ 1 on this - either get a Durgo valve fitted or if its already installed - take it apart and check the springs inside (or just get a new one)

 

 

 

ps

not many builders know what these are !!!!

 

 

 

Well obviously this one does

 

As the stack cant be seen in the loft i'm betting it is terminated within a boxed-in stack somewhere in the bathroom and is probably stuck open.

 

Impressed that a building inspector knew this!!! Thought they only knew what was written in a book

[350 Russ]

hi mate plumber here

 

it sounds to me like one of your traps is having the water dragged out of it by lack of a vent/faulty durgo,

or you have a leak above flood height allowing nasty smells to get out.

 

im not a million miles away from you but im tied up for a good few weeks if your able to wait if you want it looked at?

[ioneabee]

First I am no plumber.

 

But I do live in an end of terrace house that is at the far end of the drainage system and have an internal stack that ventilates through the roof. BUT, the other houses in the terrace do not have external stacks and when I enquired of a plumber why not he said they would not be necessary. That maybe the reason for your stack seemingly not ventilating through the roof?

 

The BS requires that 1 in every 7 houses on a run needs to terminate to open air. - see I do read books (really boring ones )

 

also, as mentioned - check any shallow traps - showers are classic for this

[350 Russ]

when you empty the bath or flush the toilet do you hear a 'glugging' noise from any of the traps?

[ATTAK Z]

First I am no plumber.

 

But I do live in an end of terrace house that is at the far end of the drainage system and have an internal stack that ventilates through the roof. BUT, the other houses in the terrace do not have external stacks and when I enquired of a plumber why not he said they would not be necessary. That maybe the reason for your stack seemingly not ventilating through the roof?

 

The BS requires that 1 in every 7 houses on a run needs to terminate to open air. - see I do read books (really boring ones )

 

also, as mentioned - check any shallow traps - showers are classic for this

 

and, for clarity, there needs to be a vent pipe at the head of the drain

 

plus ... durgos can go wrong

[neo-ninja]

HI All,

Thanks so much for your help so far.

 

On the weekend i will take up some of the loft boards to see if i can find where the stack should be, and see what it has on the end. But would a DURGO VALVE make the roof smelly and should it be under the loft boards?

 

Secondly what i thought was strange was that the smell doesnt seem to come from the sink or bath holes but rather under the bath and behind the sink (in the vanity unit, see third point) Could this be caused by the dodgy DURGO VALVE (Assuming i have one) and then the smell coming back down outside but inside the wall that hide the stack and back behind the bath etc..

 

Thirdly, (and im not sure if its me worrying now or not) but the loo sometimes doesnt seem to have perfectly clear water in the bottom a few hours after flushing.... again my miss' mentioned this to me but i have never really noticed.

[Humpy]

More than likely what the others have said, also to throw in the mix could be a dead mouse or rat. They seriously do pong bad and have a smell of their own

[ioneabee]

HI All,

Thanks so much for your help so far.

 

On the weekend i will take up some of the loft boards to see if i can find where the stack should be, and see what it has on the end. But would a DURGO VALVE make the roof smelly and should it be under the loft boards?

 

Secondly what i thought was strange was that the smell doesnt seem to come from the sink or bath holes but rather under the bath and behind the sink (in the vanity unit, see third point) Could this be caused by the dodgy DURGO VALVE (Assuming i have one) and then the smell coming back down outside but inside the wall that hide the stack and back behind the bath etc..

 

Thirdly, (and im not sure if its me worrying now or not) but the loo sometimes doesnt seem to have perfectly clear water in the bottom a few hours after flushing.... again my miss' mentioned this to me but i have never really noticed.

 

The valve should terminate above the highest trap - so somewhere around the 4' mark

It sucks air in and should not let any out - if it is the durgo, then most likely the rubber or spring has stuck - the sewer air is denser than "normal" air so will settle to the lowest point ie under the bath - leaching out from the boxing where the 50mm pipes enter