Smell in house when the toilet is flushed

[M Mannas]

Not sure of the cause of a bad sewer type smell when our upstairs toliet is flushed. The smell does not occur each time and also does not seem to come from the toilet and the rest of the house smells. It has only happened recently and we have had bad weather (cold/snow) in the past few weeks. The toilet is quite new only 3/4 years old and flushes quickly and efficently. Its seems strange but seems to occur when the toliet is not flushed for a while. When the smell happens I can't trace the cause to any one location and if I re-flush a short time after the smell does not return?

Would it be a good idea to un-clogg the toilet? I have heard that there are some special liquids that clear blockages etc. Also might be worth saying we have had birds nest in our roof could this have something to do with our issues?
Please help
Matt

 

[doitall]

Have you got an auto air admittance valve.

Also check the overflows on the bath/basin.

 

[M Mannas]

Sorry I am a complete novice but am willing to try.
What is an auto air admittance value and where would I find it?
Also can you confirm what you mean by the bath/basin overflows and again where would i find them?
Thanks for replying and taking your time to help.

 

[doitall]

An AAAV will be on the waste pipe system somewhere maybe the top of the soil pipe unless it goes to atmosphere.

You can also find them on long runs, but could be anywhere, perhaps if you do a google you can see what you're looking for.

The overflows are on the side/end of the bath by the taps normally, and can get blocked and smell, the basin with be on the back side normally.

 

[muggles]

AKA a Durgo (if it's a 4" one, may not be, may be a trap with an integral AAV)

 

[M Mannas]

Hi sorry for the late reply. I have recently fractured my spine so whizzing around the house is not easy.

As far as I can see there seems to be no AAAV. The overflow for the basin looks fine but can't check the bath. The previous owners installed a posh whirlpool type bath thing and I can't see an overlfow for this.

 

[digdilem]

Hate to be the voice of doom, but as soon as I read this my thought was "It's leaking somewhere under the floor".

Hope I'm wrong, and if the house is fresh smelling at all other times other than immediately after a flush, I probably am. Soon as you're physically fit, if no other cause is found, you might want to lift a ground floor floorboard or two near to where the smell is strongest.

(I saw ground floor, because leaking soil pipes above ground level tend to make their presence felt a lot sooner as your ceiling turns brown.)

 

[M Mannas]

Maybe I was incorrect and on closer analysis it seems the smell is now occuring when the heating is turned on. Again it is not always occuring and does seem to go away after a while. I have tried tracing the smell but again cannot seem to find the point it is coming from. If it is the heating what could be causing such a bad smell?

 

[muggles]

Heat will encourage smells to disperse from wherever they originate into your house due to convection, and will appear to make the smell stronger, so that's probably why it smells more when the heating's on.

 

[M Mannas]

Another thought has just occured to me that over the past month maybe two I have had to add a little pressure to our system. Could it be there is a leak causing the pressure loss and therefore smell?

 

[doitall]

Another thought has just occured to me that over the past month maybe two I have had to add a little pressure to our system. Could it be there is a leak causing the pressure loss and therefore smell?

Explain

Added pressure to what.

Have you checked the inspection chamber for a blockage.

 

[M Mannas]

I added pressure to the water system as a couple of months ago it was low and the pump started making lots of noise and became very hot. Since then I have had to top up the pressure to the water system a few times. I have noticed this has dropped again.

I'm not quiet certain I know where or what the inspection chamber is can you give me any clues to what I am looking for?

 

[doitall]

Are we talking about the boiler, pressure dropping.

You need to check for leaks, for example if a carpet has got wet it will smell.

The inspection chamber (manhole) is outside somewhere and should have a plate on the top around 30 x 18inches.

 

[HERTS P&D]

I'm going for a blocked manhole.

Andy

 

[Nige F]

I'm going for a blocked manhole.

Andy

well you would, wouldn`t you I reckon a frozen aav. but the OP wasn`t told to look@ the roof near the WC for a svp the lack of which would indicate an aav.