Unpleasant mystery smell in bathroom.

[Globalti]

Our house is on the market so we've been tarting it up in readiness for viewings. But worryingly there's been a bad smell in the bathroom for months and a couple of weeks ago I discovered a leaking seal on the flush pipe under the concealed Geberit cistern, meaning the woodwork inside the wall box was soaked. Took the pan off and fixed that (long story in itself) but the smell didn't go away even after everything had dried out. So yesterday I lifted the vinyl and the pic below is what I found. It stank! It's clean water but the felt backing of the vinyl was rotting and the ply soaked. I've had to do the same in the downstairs WC for the same reason (never buy a Geberit concealed cistern) so I know the score. Out with the vinyl and up with the ply. Now it's all drying out as the floorboards weren't too bad and the smell has gone. What a relief!

So the moral of the story is, if you've a persistent bad smell in the bathroom don't blame the drains as we did, check for leaks and wetness under the floor covering.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Wow. Glad you got it sorted out. Looks like the mess i found when i moved into my house. I thought it was the carpet, cleaned it with all manner of things but the smell remained. When we lifted the carpet in the bedroom, the underlay resembled your picture above, presumably made by bodily fluids we chucked the underlay out the window as we couldn't even face carrying it through the house

 

[Globalti]

Yes I did the same! Actually when we bought this house all the bathroom floors around the WCs were soaked in urine and stank, but that's another story.

 

[Slick]

Yeah all leaks definitely require a full investigation as we fou d to our cost but it was a leaking shower that caused our issues and as the water ran straight down to the solum there was no smell and when we finally discovered it the joists were rotten and it sparked what turned out to be a huge renovation project before we eventually sold it.

 

[Drago]

That's what my toilet floor looks like adyermive had 8 pints of John Courage.

 

[MartinQ]

That's what my toilet floor looks like adyermive had 8 pints of John Courage.

I'll refer you to Susie Dent if you're not careful.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

That's what my toilet floor looks like adyermive had 8 pints of John Courage.

Adyermive is what ''after I've'' looks like after 8 pints of Courage.

 

[Drago]

Sorry, my typing always deteriorates after my breakfast brandy.

 

[postman]

A few years ago i noticed our shower room floor was springy. Ok that is not the right technical term. So i pulled back the floor covering,and lo and behold the floor was rotten. What a shock, so we called out our fave diy man. He took up all the floor covering,like your black mould.he took up the flooring then the shower tray plus first two rows of tiles. Then he had to stop,because it was plain to see it was going to be an insurance job. The shower plug hole had never been glued,so a lot of the shower water was leaking out. Anyway no probs with the insurance man,,and our fave diy man was given the job by the insurance man.We bought at our own expense a larger shower cubicle and tray. But the insurance paid for everything else.Including waterproof concrete panels to put the new tiles on.The tray was sat on a full bed of adhesive it's watertight now. I was very pleased with the insurance guy who saw it was a genuine claim.

 

[Moodyman]

Concealed water pipes may be easy on the eye, but they're also great at concealing small leaks which manifest into big jobs like those mentioned by the OP.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

That's what my toilet floor looks like adyermive had 8 pints of John Courage.

I use John Courage to clean the bathroom floor as well...

 

[Globalti]

When we bought our present house the kitchen ceiling had turned to powder as water had been leaking onto it for years. The floorboards and joists under the shower above were a sopping stinking mess. Of course the useless surveyor didn't notice any of this.