Awful sewage smell

ibstar

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to put as much info as possible.
There's an awful sewage smell in our bathroom downstairs, which spreads to the corridor and our kid's bedroom.
The source of smell is coming form the drain in the bathtub downstairs.
There's no blockages in the drain, and the water comes down without any problem.
Ther's no bubling or gurgling going on when the water is being drained ether.
We live in the duplex apt. and our neighbors downstairs say that they have no smell or drainage issues in their house.
Local area management had a guy out to check the main drainage and didn't find any problems.
Also we had a plumber come in who checked the pipes and ventilation and said ther's no problems.
On top of that my mate and my dad came around to check and neither found any leakages or problems with pipes.
The ventilation outlet isn't big enough for bids to fly in or get stuck inside, so a dead animal is probably out of the question?
Anyone had any issues like this or know how to solve this?
I would be very great full if someone could help.

K.Flyer

Its quite possibly a problem at the soil stack manifold.
You will need to find where the showers, baths and basins connect into the main soil stack within the building. It is usually a grey collector box with points to connect up the pipes from basins and baths etc, several times I have found the cause of bad odours to be one of the blanking caps gone missing from when it was installed.
Another culprit which I have come across, especially in apartments, the extractor fan connected to the internal soil stack vent, I kid you not, get up to all your extractors with them switched off and see if you get any smells from them.
If you have external soil stacks, check their locations and heights, ensure they are not terminating close to a window or a vent.
You may also have a durko valve somewhere o. the system which is not sealing correctly and this can cause smells also.

ibstar

K.Flyer thank you for a detailed reply. I've checked around and couldn't find the soil stack, but all the pipes seem to lead from behind the walls, so I am guessing it's somewhere inside the wall.
The plumber was up in the attic of the apartment, so I'm guessing he should have checked for any extractor fan defects which should be located there from my guess.
I couldn't locate the durco valve either.
I've plugged the bathtub drain and sink drain, as well as covered the overflow vent and going to leave it overnight.
If the smell isn't there in the morning, then I am guessing that the drain trap in the bathtub is empty.
Either drying out or the water is being sucked due to ventilation somehow.

K.Flyer

If the bath is not being used too often, there can be a tendency for the trap to dry out, or, if you can remove the bath side panel, take a good look at the trap.
A lot of traps have blanking caps on the side of them, often not sealed well by installers, make sure they are very tight and not showing signs of slight leakage.
Source of smells can be tricky to locate, and it is possible that the cause can be something outside of your own apt, which can make it all the harder to find.

ibstar

There was a smell in the morning. I've plugged all the possible vents and the smell seemed to be coming out from underneath the bath. I've removed the the bathtub cover from the side, and I could see a hole from which the pipes are leading into the bath. Thers peaces of cellophane in between the wall that are moving from circulating air.
I think covering the holes with spray foam insulator will remove the smell.
But long-term wise, would it cause any problems?

rightjob!

first thing to do is when the smell is there check the bath trap for water,if theres no water in the traps then thats the problem.
sounds like the water in the trap getting pulled

K.Flyer

ibstar wrote: »

There was a smell in the morning. I've plugged all the possible vents and the smell seemed to be coming out from underneath the bath. I've removed the the bathtub cover from the side, and I could see a hole from which the pipes are leading into the bath. Thers peaces of cellophane in between the wall that are moving from circulating air.
I think covering the holes with spray foam insulator will remove the smell.
But long-term wise, would it cause any problems?

As you have blocked up all the plugs and overflows and you are still getting the smell from under the bath then I will suspect its the soil stack manifold with the smells coming through the pipe openings in the wall.
The best thing would be a camera probe to investigate behind the panelling to establish what remedial work would be required.
It would be best to remedy the problem rather than to patch a hole in the wall as methane gas build up can be unhealthy for you.

ibstar

K.Flyer are you located in Dublin? and do you have the tools needed to check this problem out?

K.Flyer

ibstar wrote: »

K.Flyer are you located in Dublin? and do you have the tools needed to check this problem out?

Yes and Yes. PM sent.