Intermittent smell

Spook80

Hi all,

I’m hoping to get a bit of advise here.

We have an awful smell coming from our downstairs toilet going on about 2-3 months now. It’s very intermittent which makes it so hard to figure out. Today it was so strong when we got up and by 5pm had just vanished for a few hours and now back again.

I had a plumber out just before Christmas and he said it just needed resealing and he caulked around the base of the bowl.

I’ve read online about the wax ring needing replacing but if this was the case would the smell be so intermittent?

Also vent stacks? I don’t even know where they’d be or could that be a possibility.

Not sure if relevant but theres a gated sewage building (not sure what to call it) at the end of our road and the council seemed to be always out working on it and the shores close by before this problem started. I don’t see how they could affect a house though.

Any ideas or advise appreciated

10-10-20

Hi! Sometimes I have found that our downstairs loo backs-up with solids, and when it does we get a smell off it. It can be bad some days and fine the next. We'll know beforehand as it gulps and starts to drain slowly, but that's not to say that all toilets will do that. The reason in our case is a very long and almost zero-gradient run to the main sewer. The last time it happened (back in 2020) I used an enzyme based drain cleaner as a test and I was pretty suprised that it worked and hasn't been an issue since. With enzymes it's best if you flush the system with water (and no chemicals) initially and then use a small amount of the product over a number of days so that the enzymes can get to work.

Anyway, maybe that's food for thought.

Spook80

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121723816#Comment_121723816

Thanks for the reply. We had tried a few drain cleaners before Christmas just in case but there was never any sign of a blockage. It’s become a very strong gassy smell now the last few days that need attention.

The intermittent part of it is so extreme it’s hard to understand. Sometimes it just vanishes like nothing was ever there and then without any toilet in the house being used at all, will suddenly come back very strong.

antoinolachtnai

is there any unused drain, maybe a shower in this bathroom?

Can you open the manhole lid outside the house and see if there is a blockage there?

Also see if there is a very strong smell when you open it on a calm day

Sewers need to ventilate. There may be a problem with ventilation on your system.

AndB456

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121725366#Comment_121725366

We've been having the same problem the last couple of months, it was an intermittent smell but is seems to happening more often. It's a funny smell though, more yeasty like beer...would that be like yours?

We have a septic tank (the newer type with a soak area) so I was going to try adding enzymes like above but they have such mixed reviews. Are you on a septic tank too?

Spook80

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121744716#Comment_121744716

Ours changes so much, i remember at the beginning it was a dirty public toilet type smell but then sometimes changes to kind of a strong gassy odour and other days it disappears. We dont have a septic tank theres a waste water facility at the end of our road.

We’re 2nd last in a row of 6 semi-detached houses and I’m starting to suspect it’s linked with our neighbours. The toilet in question is on the attached side so i guess they might have their toilet on opposite wall. It looked like they were away for a few days and the smell was at its worst but the day they came back it cleared up a lot (still bad though) and we got hints of scented detergent or bleach from toilet even though we’re not putting anything down.