Toilet smell head scratcher!!!

[Dan the plumber]

Afternoon all,

I'm currently on a job where a "plumber" (basically DIY jobsworth friend of friend of the family!) has taken almost £15k from the customer for 2 of the worst bathroom refurbs I have seen!

I explained to the customer the only way to make them look better is to rip them out and start again but she is about to put the house on the market hence just literally wants them functional.


In the en-suite bathroom the jobsworth has installed a concealed cistern vanity unit toilet & basin. The problem is from this particular toilet, foul smells are coming back into the bathroom.
The house in question is a 5 bed detached & the stack is roughly 6 mtrs away from the en-suite. All is ok with the stack externally & is vented as it should be.
The smell is almost as though the water is stagnant, even when flushed numerous times! I have checked water seals in basin & shower after the toilet has been flushed but all is ok there and smell is deffo coming from the toilet!

The en-suite has been functional for years before he did the refit and the customer has never had a problem with smells before this!

Im thinking along the lines of to install an internal air admittance valve into the toilet waste pipe but thought I'd get a few opinions before I do this as not 100% convinced this will rectify the problem!?

Any opinions/thoughts/ideas!?

 

[plumben]

It sounds like the pan connectors isn't sealed into the soil stack, the only option is to remove and investigate really

 

[Dan the plumber]

Hi mate, remove toilet pan earlier this afternoon as wasn't even fixed to the floor! Pan Connector is a flexi but all looks to be ok here!

It's a strange one to be honest as it's almost as though the smell is being caused by the water in the pan as pretty much is a constant smell!

 

[JCSPLUMBING]

Could be a faulty pan from the manufacturer.

 

[AWheating]

could be something left behind boxing/ under floor?

 

[wetdrip]

Had the same problem.Turned out my nose was to near my ar5e
I'd re-seal connector.

 

[noggin78]

I know you said it's vented correctly, but there's not a faulty Aav stuck behind the vanity unit if it's a longish run?

 

[Dan the plumber]

No aav and never has been one...it's only since they changed the toilet that this smell appeared! He fitted the exact same toilet in the main bathroom & that appeares to be ok regarding smells (still didn't fix to floor though!).

The en-suite is very rarely used to be honest but still the smell is there! The smell gets more prominent when the toilet is flushed & it appears to be coming from within the pan as opposed to behind/pan connector!

 

[rpm]

He fitted the exact same toilet in the main bathroom & that appeares to be ok regarding smells (still didn't fix to floor though!).

I`ve swopped toilets over in the past to prove my point to the customer.

 

[Dan the plumber]

What you reckon to installing an AAV? I'm a little reluctant to put one in unless I really have to due the where he has positioned the vanity units.....it could be opening a huge can of worms!

Spent the rest of the afternoon removing grout where sealant should be! The idiot had only grouted between the tray & tile....not a bit of sealant in sight! The customer said it leaks when she uses the shower......hmmmmm you don't say :32:

 

[rpm]

I`d still swop the toilets around first.

 

[plumben]

As rpm said, if the toilets are the same then swap them round to check that the pan isn't faulty and In the mean time you can fix the toilet to the floor

 

[rpm]

It will eliminate the pan as the cause before you start buying and adding stuff and only take a few minutes.

 

[plumben]

As rpm said, if the toilets are the same then swap them round to check that the pan isn't faulty and In the mean time you can fix the toilet to the floor

 

[rpm]

As rpm said, if the toilets are the same then swap them round to check that the pan isn't faulty and In the mean time you can fix the toilet to the floor

That`s a bad echo you`ve got there mate. lol

 

[solutions]

I can't see how fitting an aav is going to stop the smell unless you think there are traps being sucked. Have you pressure tested the pans and stack? As much as you might think it's the smell of stagnant water its the smell of the sewer, which is why it gets worse when the pan is flushed because it stirs up the gassed down there. If you pressure test it you will know that the stack and pan connector and pan are sealed properly. If it doesn't pass the pressure drop test then one of the 3 is either faulty or not sealed to the other correctly.

 

[Richie_77]

Hi there I've had this just the other week customer had bought a pan and cistern off the Internet and in the casting was a small tube that went between where the cistern sits and the pan on the exit side.
Swapped pan and job done