Bad smell in downstairs cloakroom

[Snash]

And it's not me!

Five year old two storey detached property, modern estate of similar houses. Downstairs wc at front of house adjacent to front door. Terrible damp type smell. Carpets all dry as are walls. Smell does not seem to be coming from whb or wc.

There is in the corner a circular plastic access panel to what I assume to be the drain run. The family bathroom is directly above.

Can't smell anything directly outside the house and in the bathroom above there's no smell.

Any ideas?

 

[JohnD]

Have a look under the bath and see if theer is a leak makinf the flooring/joists/ceiling damp.

See if the cloakroom floor covering will lift and look for damp under it.

 

[RigidRaider]

Bathroom above? Smell of damp?

Have you checked the ceiling carefully? Wet plaster will give off a damp smell for quite a while before the inevitable happens...

 

[Bamber gaspipe]

And it's not me!

Take a head count, make sure all of the family are present & correct, Granny visited lately? I only ask because last Christmas at a party my Gran went missing..everyone thought she had just gone home..in February of this year we started experiencing the same smells as you are describing...guess what...




















































































She had indeed gone home & we never got to the bottom of the strange smell...weird that isn`t it.....

 

[Snash]

ROFL @ Bamber Gaspipe

JohnD & RigidRaider - never thought of that, good call, plaster all dry, no obvious signs of leaks above. Bath is actually over the hall but upstairs wc directly above cloakroom - all seems well.

Wondering whether there is any seal on the access panel that might have perished allowing the general "drain smell" to seep back into the room?

 

[JohnD]

I would have expected a plumbing duct, probably in the corner with plasterboard enclosure, big enough for the soil pipe - assuming it is plastered in, pull off a bit of skirting, make a hole and have a sniff, poke your fingers in and feel for damp.

 

[Snash]

Yeah JohnD there is a plumbing duct to the corner - plasterboarded in from ceiling to floor. Opened it up today, there's a pvc downpipe of sorts with a rodding eye point. All seems dry and the smell dpesn't appear to be coming from there.

Time to lift the carpet me thinks.

 

[bab]

Carpets often cover up small intermitent leaks ,long shot but is there an overflow on the cistern or is it a modern internal type. If not internal where does it go.

 

[Nige F]

Carpet in the Cludgie .........OOh Nooooooooooo.(.said in a Janet of Arden Hoose voice ) that`s not a good idea

 

[Snash]

Carpets often cover up small intermitent leaks ,long shot but is there an overflow on the cistern or is it a modern internal type. If not internal where does it go.

There's an overflow on the cistern and it leads outside.

 

[bab]

thats cool then u can rule it out. Have seen them put in to waste pipes with either a trap or check valve.Did u lift the carpet?

 

[Greeno80]

Snash, did you ever find the problem. I have the same problem now, a really bad damp smell, it's not sewage and all the pipes are clear, everything is dry too, I've removed the carpet etc, any ideas would be appreciated

 

[Charnwood]

It's a 7 year old post.
The likelyhood of the OP still being on here is as rare as rocking horse shlt.

Have you checked/done all that was suggested?

 

[Greeno80]

Yep, checked it all, no joy! Any ideas?