Advice - sewage smell from sewage pipe post bathroom refit
Discussion
Hi all,
Looking for a bit of advice on whether this is normal and therefore how to respond to bathroom fitter.
In short, had a complete bathroom refit done and whilst doing this the soil pipe was moved to go through the bottom of a fitted wardrobe so the toilet could be moved, This same cupboard had a vent in it already further up the wall.
Since the refit, sometimes, mostly following a shower there is a strong draft of sewage coming into the bathroom (seems to be via the toilet but could be the sink) as well as into this cupboard.
I've been told this can be normal where some drains are not used very often, and that if the toilet/shower was used regularly this will go away. As an example they've said other people with multiple bathrooms have to go aorund and flush toilets regularly to stop this occuring. In addition they've said moving the soil pipe wouldn't have made any difference as the smell would have come through the pre-existing vent.
This just doesn't 'feel' right to me, and from some googling it feels like a valve or pipe has been installed badly.
What do we think PH? Advice gratefully recieved.
Thank you,
Rob
Looking for a bit of advice on whether this is normal and therefore how to respond to bathroom fitter.
In short, had a complete bathroom refit done and whilst doing this the soil pipe was moved to go through the bottom of a fitted wardrobe so the toilet could be moved, This same cupboard had a vent in it already further up the wall.
Since the refit, sometimes, mostly following a shower there is a strong draft of sewage coming into the bathroom (seems to be via the toilet but could be the sink) as well as into this cupboard.
I've been told this can be normal where some drains are not used very often, and that if the toilet/shower was used regularly this will go away. As an example they've said other people with multiple bathrooms have to go aorund and flush toilets regularly to stop this occuring. In addition they've said moving the soil pipe wouldn't have made any difference as the smell would have come through the pre-existing vent.
This just doesn't 'feel' right to me, and from some googling it feels like a valve or pipe has been installed badly.
What do we think PH? Advice gratefully recieved.
Thank you,
Rob
crossie said:
Did the pipe have a Durgo valve fitted to the top of it?
Could the pipe be lengthened and taking into the loft and vented through the roof?
If the smell is there all the time its not been sealed/finished correctly
Hi, thanks for the reply. No idea on the Durgo valve i'm afraid but can ask - venting into the roof could be an option.Could the pipe be lengthened and taking into the loft and vented through the roof?
If the smell is there all the time its not been sealed/finished correctly
The smell isn't there all the time - it is just after the shower or something else has been used and even then not all the time. Does that indicate it's kind of normal?
Rpb
He is sort of right in that if the traps dry out they need filling but this is not the case in an actively used bathroom.
I suspect the soil pipe is not vented and when you shower the water draining if pulling the sink trap water through and hence allowing the sewage smell out.
A sign of this is does the sink gurgle when the shower is run ?
You can test this to a point by filling the sink with water and see if that makes a difference but if your sink has an over flow this will need blocking with tape or the small could come up there if the trap is empty
I suspect the soil pipe is not vented and when you shower the water draining if pulling the sink trap water through and hence allowing the sewage smell out.
A sign of this is does the sink gurgle when the shower is run ?
You can test this to a point by filling the sink with water and see if that makes a difference but if your sink has an over flow this will need blocking with tape or the small could come up there if the trap is empty
It can be tricky to pinpoint where smells are coming from. It sounds like you have an internal soil pipe so you need to find out where the Durgo valve is. Flushing the toilet doesn’t cure these problems, its often the cause as it can suck water out of traps, mainly showers as they don’t have a deep seal.
smifffymoto said:
If you have a poorly designed system sometimes a changed in air pressure is enough to have an effect.
Interesting - noticed very foul smell in our 2yr old ground floor wet room immediately after we had a torrential burst of rain (which usually drops air pressure) the other day. It’s vented into the roof space with a Durgo.I assumed the shower trap might have dried out (we don’t use it much). I didn’t check it this time (just ran the shower for a bit) but whenever I’ve looked before it’s been fine.
Won't reply to all above individually but thanks for thoughts / advice. It's useful stuff.
It's not consistent, so I suspect it's a mixture of lack of use / potentially pressure changes etc. I may ask about having the vent that's currently in the spare room to go into the loft or something instead. Fundementally, it's liveable if it's just in the bathroom but it's less nice in a bedroom!
Thank you,
Rob
It's not consistent, so I suspect it's a mixture of lack of use / potentially pressure changes etc. I may ask about having the vent that's currently in the spare room to go into the loft or something instead. Fundementally, it's liveable if it's just in the bathroom but it's less nice in a bedroom!
Thank you,
Rob
kwittery!Probably not applicable for this situation but these are good for smelly shower traps.
https://hepvo.com/hepvo-waterless-valve/
https://hepvo.com/hepvo-waterless-valve/
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