Hi all. My apologies for a newbie/DIY-style question, possibly in the wrong forum.
I live in a property with a ground-floor bedroom beneath the bathroom. In the corner of the room, there is a sink inside a cupboard and, as far as I can tell, the soil stack is boxed-in and passes through this cupboard.
There have been various issues in this room, including rats getting to the water pipes underneath the sink and causing leaks. This probably accounts for some of the damp smell in the room, as does the generally poor construction (no proper damp proofing). We've had some work done to prevent future rodent issues the sink cupboard is kept closed - it's not really fit for use.
My main concern is an occasional, strong, sulphurous smell in this room. It reminds me of a similar smell we had in the converted loft, traced to a faulty Durgo valve, which leads me to think it might be a soil stack issue. I can't find any pattern of when this smell appears - perhaps more in the evenings.
I appreciate there is hardly any info to go on here, and a proper diagnosis can't be made. But I wonder if anyone has any initial thoughts that might help me investigate? We've had plumbers out to look at various issues, but it's never possible to recreate the smell for them to check. I guess I'd like to have some understanding of possible issues, and then be able to discuss this with them.
The property is old and rented from a landlord who is supportive, but is unlikely to fund the full refurbishment needed. The house brings enough advantages for us to tolerate this issue, but I'd like to find some solutions to help improve the situation.
Many thanks
I live in a property with a ground-floor bedroom beneath the bathroom. In the corner of the room, there is a sink inside a cupboard and, as far as I can tell, the soil stack is boxed-in and passes through this cupboard.
There have been various issues in this room, including rats getting to the water pipes underneath the sink and causing leaks. This probably accounts for some of the damp smell in the room, as does the generally poor construction (no proper damp proofing). We've had some work done to prevent future rodent issues the sink cupboard is kept closed - it's not really fit for use.
My main concern is an occasional, strong, sulphurous smell in this room. It reminds me of a similar smell we had in the converted loft, traced to a faulty Durgo valve, which leads me to think it might be a soil stack issue. I can't find any pattern of when this smell appears - perhaps more in the evenings.
I appreciate there is hardly any info to go on here, and a proper diagnosis can't be made. But I wonder if anyone has any initial thoughts that might help me investigate? We've had plumbers out to look at various issues, but it's never possible to recreate the smell for them to check. I guess I'd like to have some understanding of possible issues, and then be able to discuss this with them.
The property is old and rented from a landlord who is supportive, but is unlikely to fund the full refurbishment needed. The house brings enough advantages for us to tolerate this issue, but I'd like to find some solutions to help improve the situation.
Many thanks