Unusual Smell in Ensuite

tom23

Howdy,

For the last couple of months I’ve been getting an unusual smell in en-suite that I can quite identify what it is or where it’s coming from. It’s driving me mental.

It’s not the usual suspects like stale water or blocked traps. I’ve tried every concoction down to see if they where the problem and they don’t seem to be the source.

I’ve cleared out eh en-suite deep cleaned it, smell subsided a small bit. Recently I used grout pens on the floor and replaced a small broke tile with self adhesive grout. I’ve gone back on those two items in the reviews on amazon to see what there a similar case and no. The ceiling extractor fan makes a weird noise after about ten mins and I’m wondering could this be it as we have recently connected an insulated hose duct to a new roof tile. We also connected a flexible duct to the vent pipe in the attic to the roof. It was venting a toilet smell into the attic and apparently it should have been ducted when the house was built 20 years ago.

Apart from that the smell is powerful enough as you walk in to the en-suite and then subsides. It’s a weird smell. I’d say it has a ‘gone off’ smell to it. I don’t think it’s a dead mouse or anything like that as I’ve smelled what that’s like to have a dead rodent in wall in the office and it was bad.

I nearly want to rip everything out of the en-suite at this stage can anyone offer advice? it has me driven cracked. I’m gone around on hands and knees like a sniffer dog trying to locate its exact source.

Weird post i know!

10-10-20

Other than the obvious matter of flushable waste any other smells that I have encountered have been related to leaks and damp wood around my shower. I always smell the rotting wood first, then find the leak weeks afterwards. Could it be that?

argentum

Could it be the smell of burning insulation on the cables in the fan

tom23

cheers folks.. pretty certain it’s not rotten wood but wouldn’t rule it out. The fan I’ll look at. I’m going to call in a plumber to get his opinion.

Oscar_Madison

blocked outside drain - have you checked that the water and waste flow to the outside? If blocked you’ll flush but maybe water is only slowly flowing out due to partially blocked drain - smell will then drift back up
something as simple as hairs partially blocking shower or sink would smell “gone off” over time -too- special drain cleaner that attacks and breakdowns the sludge and really hot water can sort - I’ve often found the sink to be the culprit

dead mouse yes but not after 2 months unless it was a whole family of them 😀- hope you get it sorted - try sniffing specific areas - sink toilet shower - try and trace the strongest source

iamwhoiam

we get that smell when the wind blows a certain way and it dries out the outlet from the shower . It smells like a dead mouse !!

Our solution was to put a wet cloth over the outlet if it was very windy

kyote00

light fittings also worth checking… had a collar around a ceiling light emit a strong oily/fishy smell once it heated up

tom23

yeah it’s nearly close to that actually! Even though I smelled a dead rodent caught in a wall in our office.

I came across a video on you tube about the chrome trap and the rubber seal gone. I replaced the chrome trap things with ones of amazon before christmas and they were not a perfect fit. I’m wondering if that could be it.

denismc

Do you have a septic tank? If so it may need emptying, or if a lot of bleach gets in there it will kill all the useful bacteria and you get a smell coming back into the house.

tom23

In an estate… no septic tank

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966600#Comment_121966600

agree. Fishy smell is often electrical faults or electrical items heating up

iamwhoiam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966607#Comment_121966607

Try keeping the outlet moist . When we had the issue with it drying out we kept a jug upstairs and poured water down every day

When we changed the trap when we got a new shower tray my husband said the old one was not a perfect fit

Its a very distinctive smell , sickly sweet but as I said like a dead mouse

monseiur

Next time smell is bad check if traps in shower, basin etc. is full of water. Under certain circumstances water in these traps can be siphoned out when a toilet is flushed or basin used along the same pipeline. Fitting a vent on the pipe system is a simple solution.

tom23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121975842#Comment_121975842

We have a vent on the pipe system already… in the attic. Recently I connected a flexible duct to it and connected It to the roof… as it was giving of a smell into the attic. Apparently it should of been done since the house was built.

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121975850#Comment_121975850

Did the soil vent pipe in the loft have a one-way valve fitted-a Dergo vent, I think it's called?

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121975850#Comment_121975850

The flexible attic vent pipe could be just connected to an extractor fan in the ceiling to extract odor, steam etc from bathroom. I was referring to the waste pipe from toilet, basin, shower etc. to main sewer system. If water in traps is being siphoned off it will allow gases from sewer system to enter room, that's the main purpose of these traps to block these gases - some like hydrogen sulfide but lethal.

tom23

No i getcha… i have an extractor fan in the en-suite and that has its own insulated flexi pipe. The waste vent pipe is in the attic… there was a poo smell coming from this and i had to connect it to a new flexi pipe to a new vent tile in the roof… (sorry if am misunderstanding you and I hope Im making sense). I never knew what that pipe was for years until a plumber pointed it out. I’m led to believe that are usually outside.

biketard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966600#Comment_121966600

Same thing happened to us. Plastic collar had been resting right on the bulb itself instead of screwed into the bulb holder, so was melting every time the light was switched on. Was definitely a fishy smell. Spent months thinking something was dead down the back of the radiator or something.

tom23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121975937#Comment_121975937

Howeya, so smell pretty strong (more than usual) at the weekend… flush the toilet in the main bathroom or ensuite and I can hear gurgling really bad in the pipes under the shower tray in the ensuite. googling that I take its air getting trapped in the pipes?

I Googled Hydrogen sulfide…

Hydrogen sulfide has a characteristic rotten egg smell which can be detected at very low levels, well below those that are known to cause health effects.

Im nearly sure this is very similar smell…. it's a low level.

So how do I fix this? Im still waiting on plumber to call out…

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121992469#Comment_121992469

A camera survey or drain-rodding or both would be best to have it all cleaned out.

Happy_Harry

I also have a smell in 2 bathrooms, it smells like weed or BO… It started in one and now it is also in the other, typically only in the morning, but has nothing to do with usage as one of them could not be used for a week and still only have smell in the morning. It is bugging me for weeks, bleach or drain deodoriser makes very little difference

monseiur

The gurgling you hear is the water in traps being siphoned out as I mentioned earlier. It seems that your vent pipe is either blocked or not placed in the right position on the pipe.

Is it possible to access waste pipe from basin & shower and run a separate vent pipe to outside of wall or up thru attic.?

tom23

Not without a **** load of work. How do i clear the vent pipe? by attaching a flexi duct to it and attaching it to roof would that have caused to this?

both en-suite and main bathroom are in middle of house with access to external walls

monseiur

Forgot to mention that another option is to fit Air Admittance Valves on waste pipes

tom23

ah yes i’ve hear that hear before - are they a better option than a vent? I ask because i’ve installed a new extractor fan in main bathroom and was waiting on roofer to fit roof vent tile to attach an insulated flexing hose. if an air admittance valve would work better on internal vent pipe in the attic i might give that a go. Though beggars belief why anyone would design a vent pipe in the attic

sgthighway

I suggest you check the Shower Isolator Switch to make sure it is not melting away inside. If it is there might be signs of a yellow mark along the seal. You can rub your hand around it and smell your hand.

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121994256#Comment_121994256

Though beggars belief why anyone would design a vent pipe in the attic

Unusual, but not unheard of. It should have had a non-return valve fitted to allow air in when flushing but not allow smells out. Did it have one of those when you fitted the flexi hose to extend the pipe, if so what did you do with it? How did you connect the flexi pipe to the soil vent pipe?

tom23

No pipe was exposed nothing on it. I know i’m going sound like a thick idiot here but I hadn’t a clue as to what that pipe was… i used to spot it and always thought it was some sort of debris left over or the en-suite extractor pipe… in-fact i had a plumber fixing a cock ball in the water tank and he remarked there was bit of smell coming from it… it was only when i had problems in the attic with new insulation that I paid any attention to it and was advised to connect it to roof (an uncle who is an architect)

tom23

I don’t think i have one of these as both my showers are exposed thermostatic bar showers that work of a pump in the hot press

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121994509#Comment_121994509

Did you block the pipe by any chance?

tom23

i don’t know. lad is back this week to connect new extraction fan. going to chat with him about the last one

tom23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121994321#Comment_121994321

In terms of connecting the flexi pipe to the soil vent pipe, I think it was just pullover over the pipe and cable tie was wrapped around it… probably not the correct way of doing it.

On the non-return valve, where should this be?

chooseusername

It should have been fitted to open top of the soil vent pipe that terminated in the loft.

Like this one, just pushes down into the pipe and seals it, but allows air into the pipe to stop siphoning effect.

A Durgo valve,(I called it a Dergo valve earlier in the thread.)

tom23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995874#Comment_121995874

Yes I saw that on screwfix… I can get one of them.

tom23

So I think I might of got to the bottom of the smell. Was getting the new extractor fan in main bathroom connected to the roof when the guy noticed the flexi pipe connected to the waste pipe was sagging with water. I replaced it with an insulated pipe. Going to give it a few days to see is that problem