Hi,
Am investigating some bad smells in our new house, and have come across some bizarre-ness that I'd like to check with someone who knows what they're talking about
If we leave our house for a while (overnight, say), when we come back, the hallway smells of drains - there is nowhere it's obviously eminating from - checked the kitchen sink, the downstairs bathroom, but it all smells OK.
Also, we've noticed that, when we empty the bath upstairs, nasty smells start to come out the shower.
The drains don't seem blocked - I've rodded them, and tipped a load of caustic soda down there, but no difference. There's also no overflowing, and nothing seems to take overly long to empty.
I have just been in the garage and noticed that the soil stack runs right down the wall next to the door into the hall (we have a door from the garage into the hall).
Upstairs, the soil stack goes up, through the roof and vents outside (like you'd expect). The upstairs bathroom and shower are both connected into it, but I'm not sure if they are connected directly to it by separate branches, or if they share a branch (it's all behind walls and under floors).
However - when the soil stack comes through the upstairs floor, and into the garage, it then takes a 90 degree turn and runs horizontally for about 1m, before taking another 90 degree turn, and going vertically down into the ground.
Now, this horizontal section of soil stack slopes - slightly (maybe 10 degrees) upwards - in other words, the end that comes down from the ceiling is lower than the tho other end, which bends round and goes through the floor. Which seems very wrong to me. Presumably that means that stagnant water and all sorts of horrible substances could collect in there?
So - I am thinking that maybe that causes my horrible smells downstairs, and also - somehow - causes smells upstairs when I empty the bath?
So my questions are :
1) Am I right in thinking that soil stack definately shouldn't slope upwards, and I need to replace that horizontal section with a nice downward sloping section?
2) Could that cause my smell problems?
Also, a third question.
3) This soil stack is new (ish - 1985ish) and made of plastic. The original cast iron soil stack is on the back of the house, and has nothing connected to it (the house was extended in the mid-80's, and the bathrooms were all moved to connect to the new one). Can I get someone to just remove the old soil stack completely, or do I need it for any other reason?
Sorry for the long winded post, but any advise from someone who knows what they're talking about would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
A
Am investigating some bad smells in our new house, and have come across some bizarre-ness that I'd like to check with someone who knows what they're talking about
If we leave our house for a while (overnight, say), when we come back, the hallway smells of drains - there is nowhere it's obviously eminating from - checked the kitchen sink, the downstairs bathroom, but it all smells OK.
Also, we've noticed that, when we empty the bath upstairs, nasty smells start to come out the shower.
The drains don't seem blocked - I've rodded them, and tipped a load of caustic soda down there, but no difference. There's also no overflowing, and nothing seems to take overly long to empty.
I have just been in the garage and noticed that the soil stack runs right down the wall next to the door into the hall (we have a door from the garage into the hall).
Upstairs, the soil stack goes up, through the roof and vents outside (like you'd expect). The upstairs bathroom and shower are both connected into it, but I'm not sure if they are connected directly to it by separate branches, or if they share a branch (it's all behind walls and under floors).
However - when the soil stack comes through the upstairs floor, and into the garage, it then takes a 90 degree turn and runs horizontally for about 1m, before taking another 90 degree turn, and going vertically down into the ground.
Now, this horizontal section of soil stack slopes - slightly (maybe 10 degrees) upwards - in other words, the end that comes down from the ceiling is lower than the tho other end, which bends round and goes through the floor. Which seems very wrong to me. Presumably that means that stagnant water and all sorts of horrible substances could collect in there?
So - I am thinking that maybe that causes my horrible smells downstairs, and also - somehow - causes smells upstairs when I empty the bath?
So my questions are :
1) Am I right in thinking that soil stack definately shouldn't slope upwards, and I need to replace that horizontal section with a nice downward sloping section?
2) Could that cause my smell problems?
Also, a third question.
3) This soil stack is new (ish - 1985ish) and made of plastic. The original cast iron soil stack is on the back of the house, and has nothing connected to it (the house was extended in the mid-80's, and the bathrooms were all moved to connect to the new one). Can I get someone to just remove the old soil stack completely, or do I need it for any other reason?
Sorry for the long winded post, but any advise from someone who knows what they're talking about would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
A
