musty smell en-suite new build

jrosen · 02-11-2020 08:50AM #1

We moved into our new build a few months ago.

I started to get a musty smell in my en-suite. The shower has that large circular drain cover and my husband removed it all out, some of my hair was clogging it and it did smell so we figured it was that.
But its definitely not that. There are no obvious signs of a leak anywhere, the only thing I did notice was the last row of tiles were they meet the shower tray the silicone seems to be wearing thin, almost transparent.

Builder has come and gone with no real solution although he acknowledged he could get the smell.

Ush1 · 02-11-2020 09:32AM

Musty smell sounds like could be water lodged somewhere. Is it upstairs? Signs of leak might show on ceiling below.

Is the shower tray low profile? You could ask the builder does it have an aqua strap fitted behind the tiles and along the shower tray. It's like a fail safe so should water get through the silicone it can't escape elsewhere.

It's mad but even a tiny amount of water lodged somewhere will smell bad after a while.

jrosen · 02-11-2020 10:22AM

Ush1 wrote: »

Musty smell sounds like could be water lodged somewhere. Is it upstairs? Signs of leak might show on ceiling below.

Is the shower tray low profile? You could ask the builder does it have an aqua strap fitted behind the tiles and along the shower tray. It's like a fail safe so should water get through the silicone it can't escape elsewhere.

It's mad but even a tiny amount of water lodged somewhere will smell bad after a while.

Thank you. No obvious signs on the ceiling below at all. Yes its a low profile shower tray.

Im waiting on him to call me back

FitzElla · 02-11-2020 11:55AM

The smell is likely coming from the drain - you can check this by sealing it over with some clingfilm and if the smell goes you have your culprit. My guess is the parts of the shower drain are not put together correctly letting gas/smell come up through the drain.

When you remove the large circular drain cover there should be a plastic "bucket" loose in the drain with a separate plastic insert that goes inside that and seals around the outside of the drain. The bucket should be partially filled with water which seals the drain when the plastic insert is placed inside that. Make sure everything is in tight and no air is escaping back up the drain.

Gumbo · 02-11-2020 12:36PM

Is the drain plug in the shower fitted properly.
For the first 2 weeks after I done my bathroom I was getting the smell.
Turned out I didn’t clip the drain plug together properly before securing it into the shower tray. They just pop out.

jrosen · 02-11-2020 02:43PM

Just had a look.
When I take off the silver top, there is a loose white plastic part that has holes/gaps in the side. It has water inside it. When I take that out I can see another white plastic part that isn't removable. I can see loose broken off sealant.

jrosen · 02-11-2020 02:45PM

Pics

FitzElla · 02-11-2020 03:18PM

jrosen wrote: »

Just had a look.
When I take off the silver top, there is a loose white plastic part that has holes/gaps in the side. It has water inside it. When I take that out I can see another white plastic part that isn't removable. I can see loose broken off sealant.

The loose part is there to catch hair/debris before it goes down the drain and is designed to be removed and cleaned. There should be a 2nd plastic type tube that goes into the loose part. Is it attached to the chrome lid? It should come apart and then you can push it into the drain to seal it.

Something like this:

https://www.tapwarehouse.com/images/TechImage/stw001-tech-drawing.jpg?w=1066&h=1066&mode=crop&scale=both

Metric Tensor · 02-11-2020 05:12PM

Is the shower upstairs or downstairs?

Does the pipe from the shower discharge into an open hopper or gully trap when it gets outside the wall of the house?

jrosen · 02-11-2020 05:30PM

Metric Tensor wrote: »

Is the shower upstairs or downstairs?

Does the pipe from the shower discharge into an open hopper or gully trap when it gets outside the wall of the house?

Upstairs.
I dont actually know where the drain goes? The ensuite bathroom is on the side of the house we share with the neighbors. The bathroom is over the utility room.

Gumbo · 02-11-2020 05:57PM

When you take off the chrome cover then next plastic piece that comes out should be full of water. This is the water line to stop smells coming back up.

Goldengirl · 03-11-2020 02:12AM

Gumbo wrote: »

When you take off the chrome cover then next plastic piece that comes out should be full of water. This is the water line to stop smells coming back up.

Yes. + 1
This part acts like the u bend of a loo and the water level stops smells coming from drain .
Thought I would clean mine out when we first got our new shower and the smell later that day hit me .
Rang the builder and he came over ..and sorted it

Ie. Filled the cup with water as he laughed !

Calahonda52 · 03-11-2020 08:49AM

another possibly here is that the shower or and the whb are exiting into the foul stack from the toilet and that the u traps are getting sucked out when the toilet flushes, else the whb could be sucking the shower trap or visa versa if the drains are connected

mikehn · 03-11-2020 11:26AM

Calahonda52 wrote: »

another possibly here is that the shower or and the whb are exiting into the foul stack from the toilet and that the u traps are getting sucked out when the toilet flushes, else the whb could be sucking the shower trap or visa versa if the drains are connected

Yes, that happened to me, worth checking.

jrosen · 03-11-2020 11:33AM

Ok so last night I covered over the drain and the smell was still there this morning. Would that rule out an issue with the drain.

Its like a musty damp smell more than a drain smell if that makes sense.

awec · 03-11-2020 12:02PM

jrosen wrote: »

Ok so last night I covered over the drain and the smell was still there this morning. Would that rule out an issue with the drain.

Its like a musty damp smell more than a drain smell if that makes sense.

You would need to cover the drain then open a window and clear the smell, then come back a few hours later and see if the smell is back.

You could also cover the sink drain while you're at it, they are likely connected to the same foul pipe.

You said the utility is directly below it? Any smell in there? Particularly around the foul pipe for the washing machine?

sydthebeat · 03-11-2020 12:07PM

jrosen wrote: »

We moved into our new build a few months ago.

I started to get a musty smell in my en-suite. The shower has that large circular drain cover and my husband removed it all out, some of my hair was clogging it and it did smell so we figured it was that.
But its definitely not that. There are no obvious signs of a leak anywhere, the only thing I did notice was the last row of tiles were they meet the shower tray the silicone seems to be wearing thin, almost transparent.

Builder has come and gone with no real solution although he acknowledged he could get the smell.

does the en-suite have:

1. mechanical extra fan?
2. openable window?

can you also tell us the make up of the wall construction?

jrosen · 03-11-2020 12:30PM

awec wrote: »

You would need to cover the drain then open a window and clear the smell, then come back a few hours later and see if the smell is back.

You could also cover the sink drain while you're at it, they are likely connected to the same foul pipe.

You said the utility is directly below it? Any smell in there? Particularly around the foul pipe for the washing machine?

Yes actually there is a slight smell on occasion, same kind of smell. I also find the washing machine smells too. We had this machine in our last home, no smell no issue ever but since moving to this house I think ive ran though cleaner about 4 times. Cleaned out the rubber part at the door too.

awec · 03-11-2020 12:40PM

If you pull the washing machine out is the smell stronger behind it?

jrosen · 03-11-2020 01:12PM

awec wrote: »

If you pull the washing machine out is the smell stronger behind it?

I cant seem to move it out, Ill get the hubby too when he gets home.

Wildly Boaring · 03-11-2020 01:24PM

sydthebeat wrote: »

does the en-suite have:

1. mechanical extra fan?
2. openable window?

can you also tell us the make up of the wall construction?

Has the bathroom an Aereco unit?

If it's got no vent or window with trickle vent and an aereco you'll get this smell.

To avoid smell
1. Leave shower door shut
2. Leave bathroom door open

jrosen · 03-11-2020 01:30PM

sydthebeat wrote: »

does the en-suite have:

1. mechanical extra fan?
2. openable window?

can you also tell us the make up of the wall construction?

Traditional concert block structure.

There is a fan, no window.

sydthebeat · 03-11-2020 01:33PM

jrosen wrote: »

Traditional concert block structure.

There is a fan, no window.

You said its a "new build"

Can you give us the exact wall build up?
Is it slabbed internally?

As there is no window, when you turn off the en-suite light, does the fan continue to run for 15mins after?

jrosen · 03-11-2020 01:41PM

sydthebeat wrote: »

You said its a "new build"

Can you give us the exact wall build up?
Is it slabbed internally?

As there is no window, when you turn off the en-suite light, does the fan continue to run for 15mins after?

I dont know.

The fan continues when the light is off, time wise im not sure.

Wildly Boaring · 03-11-2020 01:43PM

I think I'm asking similar to Syd

The fan
It in constantly
Or just with light
Or with light and timer.

If it's a new build I'm sticking to the Aereco comment above.
Aereco is like a fan but runs constantly. Opens more under certain conditions, movement, light or humidity.

If there's no vent with these systems they will drag the smell up from the shower outlet as there's no clean air for it to pull in.

Leave the door open and shower door shut.

screamer · 03-11-2020 01:45PM

If the silicon is wearing thin, it could be breached and letting water in behind the shower tray and tiles. If you see any sort of cracks in the silicon, I’d say that is the reason.

jrosen · 03-11-2020 01:46PM

The fan is practically silent, but im pretty sure it only runs when the lights are on. You can hear a quiet click when it goes on.

We dont have the same issue in the main bathroom which also doesnt have a window, used probably more than the en-suite.

frash · 03-11-2020 01:49PM

We had similar and it was the seal at the toilet waste pipe
Was only bad on windy days

Could it be that?

jrosen · 08-11-2020 08:55PM

Thanks all for the help.

Its definitely not the toilet, I also now dont think its the drain in the shower either. I covered it all over and the smell was still there in the bathroom. Its not that strong but its a lingering damp musty smell.
When we moved out the washing machine in the room below there is a similar smell behind it, its mind. No obvious signs of water anywhere.

The silicone where the shower tray meets the tiles is worn away but Im pretty sure the smell was there before that started to happen.
Anyway the builder is back this week. So fingers crossed we get something worked out.

Count Mondego · 09-11-2020 09:17PM

I had this problem with a new build. Turned out that the multiwick that connected the Toilet to the sewer line was too short and a proper seal hadn't been made. Very hard to isolate the problem especially with fully shrouded toilets as you can't see in behind them. This was in enough to allow waste and water exit to sewer but no air seal and you'd get that smell. All sorted with a longer multiwick.

DaveyDave · 11-11-2020 08:29AM

I have the same problem in a new build with our ensuite. Same drain system. Some days are worse than others but we can't figure it out. It would honestly make you sick. I'll have a look to see if there's enough water sitting in the drain to block the smell coming up the pipe.

6 months in the developer still hasn't sorted the problem...

musty smell en-suite new build

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