What is causing a musty smell in my downstairs bathroom?
David Hird
2 years ago
Featured Answer
Comments (8)
David Hird
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Bathroom reno and smell - Can we get rid of it
Comments (2)Make sure there is no water damage or rotting wood. We once bought a house that had a bathroom with a certain *smell*. Once we started gutting it, we realized that the PO tiled right over the rot around the toilet. And, now we're in a house where we just redid the kitchen. But prior to re-doing it, I kept telling my husband that I couldn't stand the smell of the tap water. He kept saying *what smell?* Long story short, the old cast iron plumbing was so filled with yucky stuff, that it made the kitchen smell. Replaced pipes, no more smell. So, before you do any finish work, investigate behind the walls....See MoreSewer smell bathroom
Comments (8)All kinds of good info right here. Thanks so much. We will def. get sewer protection although I don't think it's a factor at play here (we have no problem flushing i.e.). We will probably look at replacing the gaskets on the toilet (specially the downstairs one where it smells more). The vents in the attic/roof were checked by (a good) inspector - and they were fine. I'd be surprised if they suddenly got clogged (I'll check in the attic just to be sure, of course). But the riser pipes disconnect behind the walls somewhere is intriguing and probably the best bet right now. If I'm understanding this right - a bad sewer riser pipe would manifest itself as we observe it - a smell ONLY in the bathrooms (strongest in the downstairs' bathroom). Does that make sense? Short of breaking the wall any other way to convince ourselves that that is a likely cause? Thanks so much for this great advice!...See MoreWhat caused the water damage to the bathroom ceiling?
Comments (11)We've closed down that bathroom--I think actually it hasn't been used since the 16th, when I took those pics. I'm going to pressure DH to go ask the upstairs neighbor to run her shower for a while (I want to mark the edges of some of the bubbles, so we can compare). A few points people raised-- ⢠shower organizer hanging off the shower head--Our showerhead is on the opposite (non-bubbling) wall. ⢠tub spout--no tub. These are both stall showers. But to speak to the similar issue of moisture going through a uncaulked hole for a pipe--all the pipes are in the opposite wall, I'm certain. ⢠fan / ventilation: there isn't one; there's a window, which usually isn't opened during a shower. We can change that. (It's just that we've run showers in there for this long before, often, and this is a pretty sudden arrival. And he doesn't shower daily--more like weekly. (I know, I know.) ) â¢I really don't want to change the shower curtain to allow steam to escape around the edges--that's what's keeping The Kid from flooding out the guy downstairs w/ water that gets outside the shower enclosure. ⢠kind of paint: It's a latex made for bathrooms....See MoreNeed help identifying smell coming from bathroom
Comments (22)You were all so helpful with your comments, I wanted to let you know the outcome of my smelly bathroom. . . It took three different plumbers and a camera to finally determine that we were getting a smell from the shower drain because there was not a properly installed p-trap for the shower. This was particularly surprising since the shower was done by a well known and reputable contractor who came highly recommended and the bathroom was done with permits so the city inspector signed off on the bathroom. I sent the original contractor (from 3.5 years ago) the video from the camera guy and they came out, opened up the ceiling on the first floor and inserted the p-trap. And now the smell is gone....See MoreDavid Hird
2 years agoklem1
2 years ago
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