Bad Smell in Living Room & Bathroom and solution

Richlp5

Hi,
I just wanted to share our story, which had been ongoing for the last 5 years. And the solution which I think finally solved our problem.

We bought our family home about 5 years ago and we were very happy with it. I do remember when viewing the property that there seemed to be a musty smell in the bathroom up stairs, but I put that down to the fact that nobody had lived in the house for a few weeks.

After being in the house for a few months, we began to notice a egg smell coming from the conner of the living room. It would come and go. Sometimes, a period of a few months would go by and no smell, but then it would come back again. I also noticed that it was stronger when we lit our fire in the living room or had the gas heating on. The upstairs bathroom remained musty, no matter how many times I flushed the toilet.

My wife and I became concerned and frustrated about this smell in our living room. It was embarrassing when we had visitors and we were also worried that it could be dangerous for our kids to be inhaling. I must say, it was not overwhelmingly strong but there in the background.

After about 1 year of it coming and going we organised a plumber to come and have a look. He came in and told us that the problem could be the downstairs bathroom and shower unit (which we never used). He said because we never used the shower in that room that a smell may be coming from there. His solution was that we should run that shower for a few minutes every day. This solution did not work.

Although we did as the plumber told us the smell would continue to come and go. This really became very annoying and frustrating for us at this stage. 2 years after moving into our house, this smell was continuing to come and go and was really beginning to affect us.

We called in a second plumber to have a look. Because the problem was intermittent, there was no smell when he arrived. he had a look around the living room and the bathroom upstairs. Told us he could take out the toilet and have a look but that may not be the problem and if he did that we would need to buy a new toilet. He suggested that we wait until the smell came back and call him but I knew he was not interested in helping as it seemed more hassle than anything for him.

I will also mention that my wife called the gas company and they send out someone to confirm the smell was not gas. We called Dyno-Rod to see if they could do anything but they would charge almost €300 to put some cameras down the drain but may not find anything. Even if they didn't find anything we would still have to pay them.

My wife and I were more or less resigned to the fact that we were going to move house at some point in the future because of this annoying smell that used to come and go, that we could not isolate or find. But our kids were settled in the area with friends etc and so we decided we would move in a few years.

This summer, we decided we would refurbish all 3 bathrooms in our house. At this stage I was determined to get to the root of this problem for once and for all. I got a new plumber to take out the bath, toilet and sink in the "problem" bathroom. I told my wife that we were not going to do anything with this bathroom until we got to the root of the smell in there. I also got the plumber to cut a hole in the floor boards where the smell was strongest. he check the toilet fittings and all was ok. I also noted at this stage (by sticking a nail through the chalk under the floor boards) that the smell where it was strongest in the bathroom upstairs, was directly above the area in the living room where the smell was coming from. But the smell in the living room was strongest at ground level - this is why I have not made this connection for 100% before.

I called Dyno Rod and got them to come out and check the pipes in the problem bathroom. They confirmed that about 2 feet from the toilet bowl, there was a big hole about 2 inch in diameter in the sewer pipe - I was delighted that I now found what was causing the problem.. The Carpenter who took up the floor boards told me he thinks, when they were building the house they used a nail gun to put down the floor boards, he thinks that a nail from the nail gun when through the ground and broke a hole in the sewer pipe. As the hole was at the top end of the pipe, there wasn't any leaks or anything but the sewage gas came back up the drain and into that area under the floor boards and through the chalk into the living room downstairs.

My advise to anyone experiencing this problem is to

• be aware most plumbers don't know or want to know about smell problems.
• Get Dyno Rod or similar company to do the camera/smoke test on the pipes in the house to try identify the issue before contacting plumber
• Don't put it on the long finger and hope it will get better itself in time. (I not talking a few months, I'm talking anything over 1 year)

Hope this post helps someone in similar postion as we were.

olivecath

I know this post is over a year old but it seems to be very similar to my problem. I have been getting a sewer type smell in the living room, ground floor, no smell in the bathroom upstairs or anywhere else. I have just moved in 10 weeks ago but it seems that the kitchen extension was built over the aj as it doesn't seem to be under decking outside. I have tried to get builders out to take up kitchen floor board and try to locate the aj but they never turned up! I enquired about the dyno rod camera option, they would have to access the sewer pipe from the toilet upstairs, over all cost would be 400+ euros, thats before the problem is even solved! I feel there is a broken seal somewhere in the sewer pipe and not a blockage as all the drainage is working ok. Hence the intemittent smells coming into the house. I'm just wondering would anyone have any suggestions as to what to try before going with the exepensive dyno rod option??
Thanks

Richlp5

Hi Olivecath,

I know the feeling you are going through. My advice would be to go with dyno rod as like you I was concerned about the price especially if they did not find anything so I put it off. When I did get them out I was able to get the issue fixed.
My story was a bit different than yours in that I knew this was going on for years so it wasn't a dead mouse or something under the floor boards.
At least if you get them out you will be able to eliminate a cracked or broke sewer pipe.
Alternatively you could get someone to take up the floorboards 1st to check if anything is down there causing the smell. But you really need to decide yourself to get to the root of it, my only regret is that I did not sort it out earlier. Like you I would arrange for someone to come but if they didn't show I left it for a while until the smell came back. best of luck get this sorted.