Terrible smell from bathroom but only at night?

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230 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2264084 25-Jun-2019 14:29

Like sxz said: Check your light fittings. The plastic sleeve / ring that screws on to hold the lampshade can break down with time and heat and smell nasty, especially when hot.

People hear what they see. - Doris Day

Outshined

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2264517 25-Jun-2019 19:59

I also think you should check your light fittings. We had a very similar issue in a spare room, a rank smell that came and went but mainly at night. Searched for dead mice, drain issues etc. Turns out it was a lightbulb heating the plastic fitting it sat in when it was had been on for a few minutes. Had a us stumped for more than a year until a guest figured it out. I removed the offending part of the fitting, problem instantly solved.

JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#2265644 27-Jun-2019 10:01

That's so bizarre. We had an intermittent icky smell in our toilet too. I thought maybe it was the pineapple plants outside the window but it also occasionally occurred during winter when they aren’t flowering. I had the light replaced a while back with an op shop retro pendant type and don’t think we've had the smell since. Checking the light fitting would never have occurred to me!

Bung

6477 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2265655 27-Jun-2019 10:22

Stinky light fittings were a common thing 25 - 30 years ago. When bulbs with higher W were used in PDL batten holders the type of plastic used for the ring that held the lampshade started to smell like a urinal

JStew

54 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2272031 8-Jul-2019 19:19

Hi all, sorry for the long absence and replies but I’ve been trying to narrow this down based off some of the feedback here. I think I’ve narrowed it down though to something to do with the toilet.

Tonight I didn’t use the sink, the lights, the shower or the extractor fan. There was no smell in the bathroom. Flushed the toilet, closed the door to the bathroom, came back 15 minutes later and the smell’s there.

As I mentioned in my first post, I actually have two holes in the ceiling below the bathroom in the garage from a previous attempt to work out what’s going on. I walked down to the garage, popped my head into those holes and had a good sniff and I can’t smell anything wrong, so I’m thinking it has nothing to do with the pipes or an issue in the floor of the bathroom.

So - given all this, it’s clearly something to do with the toilet and only at night. I’ve already removed the cistern off the back of the toilet and checked there’s nothing smelly in there and it’s working as expected (which it is). Also it’s worth remembering that this issue can and sometimes does occur early in the morning as well, like when I’m getting ready for work but never during the middle of the day.

Any suggestions where I could start looking? I’m currently trying to get the as built drawings to see whether it shows how the venting works for the toilet. Really keen to hear if anyone has some advice here other than eating a better diet haha.

darylblake

1162 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2272032 8-Jul-2019 19:24

Haha could be a mystery pooper that comes in the middle of the night.

Nah in all seriousness i had a similar problem. Turns out it was the floor drain. So I just run a bit of water down the bath every now and then and its fine.

JStew

54 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2272035 8-Jul-2019 19:27

But that’s the thing, the toilet is flushed pretty much every night and every morning. With that water going through it, it shouldn’t be a problem right?

Also I’ve been in the house for 2 years now and the problem only started happening about 4 or 5 months ago. Would have thought if it was something like that, it’s a design issue for the house and would have been there since I bough it?

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Goosey

2829 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2272039 8-Jul-2019 19:32

Are you single flushing? Like, you might need to double flush to push the 'business' down the pipe better.... its no doubt 'skidding' down (for one of a better term).

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#2272139 9-Jul-2019 08:26

I wonder if it's something to do with the extractor fan.
Does it run automatically and stay on for say 10 mins with a timer when the lights are turned on?
The one in our bathroom creates so much negative pressure it'll swing the door if it's not latched, with the door closed I can feel air coming from the light switch plate. If it was dragging air in from somewhere a rat had died, pretty sure the bathroom would stink. If there was a breather on a toilet in that bathroom, it wouldn't surprise me if it would drag air from the sewer past the valve.

mclean

581 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#2272234 9-Jul-2019 09:49

Have you found an AAV? Is there a floor waste in the room?

JStew

54 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2272660 9-Jul-2019 22:21

The isolation testing I’ve been doing over the last few weeks has ruled out the fan. Last night I didn’t do anything but flush the toilet and the smell was there.

McLean - I’m just waiting for the as built drawings to be sent through, the previous owner has then and said he’ll email them through. I suspect there is a AAV because there’s no venting pipes running through the ceiling cavity above the bathroom and out to the roof. What makes you ask about a AAV though? You suspect something’a going on there?

JStew

54 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2272710 9-Jul-2019 23:22

Just did exactly the same thing tonight. Hadn’t done anything in the bathroom at all - no lights, sink, fan, shower. Walked in there and without even using the toilet just flushed it and closed the door. Walked in 20 minutes later and it stinks. I then walked to the other bathroom and toilet upstairs (they’re seperate) and sniffed the sink drains, around the toilet and the shower drain in the other bathroom and nothing that I can tell coming from them.

bigalow

566 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2272719 10-Jul-2019 01:45

could be the extractor fan ?

we had our roof replaced last year

and when they pulled the extractor fan out

the extractor fan hose was black with dirt etc inside

and the fan was about 2 years old

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#2272721 10-Jul-2019 02:23

How old is your house? And how old is that bathroom? If it has been renovated since the house was built.

What happens if you use the basin or shower but not the toilet?

Does the bathroom have a sewage pump system?

Is there a floor drain in the bathroom?

It definitely won't be a wax seal. As that is not used in NZ. (It is a USA thing)

Just because there are no vent pipes, doesn't mean that there must be an AAV. As depending on the age of the bathroom, it might be part of an unvented branch drain, and still fully compliant without needing any venting.

MadEngineer

4271 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2272776 10-Jul-2019 09:26

Is there any gurgling in the drains from that bathroom when you run water in other drains in the house?

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