I live in a 3-storey house with 4 bathrooms. Recently I started noticing a quite unpleasant smell in the bathrooms on the 1st and 2nd floors. It seems to be coming from the toilet but, as we do keep our toilets and bathrooms very clean, the only likely source of that smell must be the soil pipe behind. Is it a signal to me that I need smth checked/cleaned/flushed? How do I deal with this? Is it likely to be a big problem requiring a complete overhaul of the piping, or can it be done quite economically? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.
Foul smell from soil pipe?
- Thread starter abaminog
- Start date
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can you check around any waste pipes into the soil pipe
or around the base of the soil pipe for wet patches or signs of leaking water.
is it a constant smell ?
is the soil pipe cast or plastic ?
or around the base of the soil pipe for wet patches or signs of leaking water.
is it a constant smell ?
is the soil pipe cast or plastic ?
Go outside and look @ the roof . If there is no pipe coming through to vent - then you might have problems like a air atmit valve in the loft. NOT big problems , by any means , but you`ll need to investigate further - and maybe take some photos and post them here 
I am probably looking the wrong way but I can't find my soil pipe to inspect it! Could it be that it's hidden and getting access to it is not that easy? The house is relatively new (9 yrs), so they may have done a good job hiding things you don't usually want to see.
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It's more or less constant but I can't say whether it gets better/worse with weather/water consumption etc.
But does it penetrate the roof
But does it penetrate the roof
I don't think so.
It sounds like your soil vent pipe (SVP) that the loos connect to runs internally within the house structure - i.e boxed in.
Ideally this should penetrate the roof shell to let air in, every time a toilet is flushed.
However, some SVP's don't go through the roof, but terminate within the loft space. It should have an air admittance valve built into its cap, that allows a surge of air to enter the SVP when necessary. If this valve is not sealing correctly, a pong can enter the building - which is why its a good idea to externally vent the thing in the first place.
Anyway - you need to check that there is no soil water leak where the toilets are connected to the SVP, but be aware that washbasins etc can also be connected into the same stack - so any connection failure could produce a pong.
In a correct installation there shouldn't be any smell at all anywhere - unless you poke your nose into the open SVP outside.
John
Ideally this should penetrate the roof shell to let air in, every time a toilet is flushed.
However, some SVP's don't go through the roof, but terminate within the loft space. It should have an air admittance valve built into its cap, that allows a surge of air to enter the SVP when necessary. If this valve is not sealing correctly, a pong can enter the building - which is why its a good idea to externally vent the thing in the first place.
Anyway - you need to check that there is no soil water leak where the toilets are connected to the SVP, but be aware that washbasins etc can also be connected into the same stack - so any connection failure could produce a pong.
In a correct installation there shouldn't be any smell at all anywhere - unless you poke your nose into the open SVP outside.
John
is there a bath, shower or basin in any of the two rooms that doesn't ever get used, maybe the water in the trap has evaporated?
Yes, we never use the shower on the 2nd floor (where the pong is most persistent). I can pour some water down the drain in that shower to fill the trap up if that's the problem. Is that how you fill it back up?
yes, just put water down there and see if that sorts it. let us know how it works.
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