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Bung
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  #2273777 10-Jul-2019 10:26
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Aredwood: >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.



I'd still have a look at the vanity drain to see if there was a valve on the trap.



mclean
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  #2273791 10-Jul-2019 10:32
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JStew: ... 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?

 

If there's an AAV then it's a potential opening to the sewer - something you would want to sniff around.  AAV's are supposed to be accessible, behind a wall cover plate or in the ceiling or something like that.

 

Aredwood: ...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.

 

Correct, but a soil fixture on an upper floor would usually have some sort of venting.


JStew

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  #2273972 10-Jul-2019 13:46
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Aredwood: 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.

 

 

 

Answers to your questions below. One thing that I think I may have picked up on over the last couple of nights is that the smell could be coming from the shower drain but only when the toilet is flushed. And again only at night. Could that be a thing? I've been going around sniffing nearly anything and everything recently and I don't know whether it was still just the bathroom smelling but I thought there could be an odder coming up the shower drain but again only after the toilet is flushed.

 

 

 

House is exactly 10 years old, bathroom was built when the house was built. No renovations at all that I'm aware of - I've had the house for 2 years and haven't done anything.

 

Haven't tried only using the basin or shower - can do that over the next couple of nights and see whether the same thing occurs. But from previously only using the basin I've never noticed the same.

 

I doubt the bathroom has a sewage pump system, there's a waste pipe that runs across the property and it goes up to the street. However when I get the as built design document I'll be able to confirm 100%.

 

Yes there's a floor drain in the bathroom for the shower.




JStew

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  #2273973 10-Jul-2019 13:47
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MadEngineer: Is there any gurgling in the drains from that bathroom when you run water in other drains in the house?

 

Haven't tried or listened for that but can try over the next few nights.


JStew

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  #2273975 10-Jul-2019 13:48
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Bung:
Aredwood: >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.



I'd still have a look at the vanity drain to see if there was a valve on the trap.

 

Where would I find a valve on the trap?


mdf

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  #2273985 10-Jul-2019 14:19
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JStew:

 

<snip>

 

Answers to your questions below. One thing that I think I may have picked up on over the last couple of nights is that the smell could be coming from the shower drain but only when the toilet is flushed. And again only at night. Could that be a thing? I've been going around sniffing nearly anything and everything recently and I don't know whether it was still just the bathroom smelling but I thought there could be an odder coming up the shower drain but again only after the toilet is flushed.

 

 

Do you shower in the morning or evening? Could there be insufficient water in the shower trap/s-bend by the evening that is letting a smell back up?


mdf

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  #2273990 10-Jul-2019 14:22
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And actually, re-reading your initial post, you mention a plumber fixing the shower drain a couple of months ago. Would that have coincided with Mr Smell putting in an appearance?


 
 
 
 

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).
JStew

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  #2273991 10-Jul-2019 14:23
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mdf:

 

JStew:

 

<snip>

 

Answers to your questions below. One thing that I think I may have picked up on over the last couple of nights is that the smell could be coming from the shower drain but only when the toilet is flushed. And again only at night. Could that be a thing? I've been going around sniffing nearly anything and everything recently and I don't know whether it was still just the bathroom smelling but I thought there could be an odder coming up the shower drain but again only after the toilet is flushed.

 

 

Do you shower in the morning or evening? Could there be insufficient water in the shower trap/s-bend by the evening that is letting a smell back up?

 

 

99% of the time in the morning. So here's the thing - as I mentioned I have some holes in the garage and can actually see the shower pipes at the moment. There isn't a s trap from the floor drain for the shower, not that I can see anything. there's a long pipe that runs from one side of the bathroom to the other and pretty much in the middle is the floor drain connection for the shower. I think the pipe goes off and corrects waste water from another bathroom too. However, if that was the problem, I should have noticed is over the last 2 years, not just the last 4 months.


JStew

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  #2273992 10-Jul-2019 14:25
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mdf:

 

And actually, re-reading your initial post, you mention a plumber fixing the shower drain a couple of months ago. Would that have coincided with Mr Smell putting in an appearance?

 

 

 

 

No, the plumber came around because I knocked the floor drain connection off the waste water pipe trying to investigate the smell. So the smell came well before the plumber did. I tried asking him about the smell while he was there but he wasn't too keen on investigating the problem at all after fixed the floor drain. Maybe because he had another job to do to.


mdf

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  #2273999 10-Jul-2019 14:32
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JStew:

 

99% of the time in the morning. So here's the thing - as I mentioned I have some holes in the garage and can actually see the shower pipes at the moment. There isn't a s trap from the floor drain for the shower, not that I can see anything. there's a long pipe that runs from one side of the bathroom to the other and pretty much in the middle is the floor drain connection for the shower. I think the pipe goes off and corrects waste water from another bathroom too. However, if that was the problem, I should have noticed is over the last 2 years, not just the last 4 months.

 

 

If it were me, I'd try running the shower for a bit in the evening before using the toilet to see if that changed anything. No idea about the hows or whys of the problem, but could help diagnose. If it is coming from the shower and only in the evenings, one cause could be less water in the shower drain.


mclean
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  #2274012 10-Jul-2019 14:50
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JStew: 99% of the time in the morning. So here's the thing - as I mentioned I have some holes in the garage and can actually see the shower pipes at the moment. There isn't a s trap from the floor drain for the shower, not that I can see anything. there's a long pipe that runs from one side of the bathroom to the other and pretty much in the middle is the floor drain connection for the shower. I think the pipe goes off and corrects waste water from another bathroom too. However, if that was the problem, I should have noticed is over the last 2 years, not just the last 4 months.

 

The floor waste should have a trap on it. Maybe it's built into the waste fitting. Can you screw the top off to clean it?


Bung
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  #2274021 10-Jul-2019 15:06
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The basin trap may have a valve at the highest point of the connection from the waste to the pipe if it has an aav.

In the shower if it has the type of drain with a cover plate with a short tube attached that normally sits in a removable cup that is the water trap. Is the cup still there? I've seen them left out before.

JStew

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  #2274022 10-Jul-2019 15:07
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Bung: The basin trap may have a valve at the highest point of the connection from the waste to the pipe if it has an aav.

In the shower if it has the type of drain with a cover plate with a short tube attached that normally sits in a removable cup that is the water trap. Is the cup still there? I've seen them left out before.

 

 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Will take a photo or two and pop them up.


mudguard
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  #2274193 10-Jul-2019 17:26
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I had a similar problem in an apartment, bathroom used to stink at certain times of the day. Wound up getting one of the wind up pipe cleaners. Pulled all manner of hair and gunk from out of the centre drain in the bathroom. God it smelt awful. 

 

I think it fixed it, but like the OP, the smell wasn't there all the time, but I was certain it was coming from the drain in the centre of the floor. 


JStew

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  #2274194 10-Jul-2019 17:28
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Ok - some photos of the shower, basin plumbing, bathroom and then lastly the floor drain from the hole in the garage are here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyj05zkdbmdc7j8/AAAfn3ehu3L2iYJV1M9qbi0Sa?dl=0

I got home around 4:30pm and only ran the basin tap on cold for about 3 minutes. When I did so, I can hear water running down pipes from the shower floor drain but maybe that was because the bits from the floor drain were out (to take the photos). I closed the door and came back 15 mins later and no smell.

I then flushed the toilet, closed the door, came back 15 minutes later and no smell. I closed the door again not doing anything else and came back 10 minutes later and there’s a very faint smell in the bathroom. I’ll leave it for another 30 mins and have a smell again which will be around 6pm.

Is there any chance this has something to do with Water Care pumping at particular times of the day? I honestly cannot for the life of me understand why this is only a problem at night.

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