Bad Smells in Downstairs Toilet for over 18 months now!!! :(

Joined
12 Oct 2009
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231
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Location
Hertfordshire
Country
United Kingdom
Hello All,

I wonder if anyone can help. We had an extension done 18 months ago. Ever since we have been getting vile sewer smells in the downstairs bathroom (toilet and sink). We are at our wits end;

- the builder has come back three times, fit an anti vac trap on sink as and added extra soil vent on outside wall
- there seems to be literally no pattern to when the smells come
- the sink trap is always full of water
- the toilet is also always full of water
- the upstairs is on a seperate waste system so its not coming back downstairs
- I can't see any old abandoned entry to the outside junction box to see if venting is coming through the ground but there are none

We have had two independent plumbers come and look and none of them have as clue.

We are totally at our wits end. :(

Can anyone tell me if there are any specialist companies or professions we can turn to?!?!?!
 
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Time to dig the floor up me thinks.
 
Serious? CCTV instead maybe? This is no joke to us. We spent £40k on an extension and are desperate to live a normal life with out constant smells of sh!t coming from the bathroom. We spent a fortune on slate floor tiles.
 
I think you've eliminated everything that it could be - so a leaky pipe is the most likely. Can you not trace where the smell emanates from? No hidden air admittance valves?
 
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Are there any manholes nearby? Drain camera survey time.

Where about are you in Hertfordshire?

Andy
 
We haven't found an air admittance valve and don't remember seeing one before boxing weren't behind the sink. I'll get a CCTV survey done.

This has been a continual source of stress besides other problems with damp as and leaking roofs. Never buying an 160 year old house again!!! It was a victorian school badly converted in the 80s.

Thanks for your help its hugely appreciated.
 
Hi Andy, that's a deal. My name is Al I'll give you a call tomorrow. We have some 2nd fix plumbing we need doing too. I found your website and see you are just down the road in cheshunt. Thanks for getting in touch. :)
 
The old school house? :LOL:
Don`t tell me you went there as a kid - and sabotaged the drains - putting fireworks down them ;) . I had a look @ your website - good idea with the before and after pictures - but I`m not so sure about the blocked drain pics :mad:
 
Glad you liked the website Nige, the before and after pictures work well as most people are so embarrassed about their 'blockage' and seeing pictures of before and after shows them that we deal with it all the time. It stops them being so ashamed!

Andy
 
Thanks for coming to look today Andy! Great to meet you and get an insight into the hotchpotch drainage system of our money pit.

I had a rather genius idea...... (I think)

I blocked the end of the water waste pipe into the soil pipe. The I filled both sinks (utility and bathroom) with water. Right now they are both full. If bad air is coming in then water should escape thought it.
 

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