Smells from drain access hatch under bathroom floor

[puzzled]

Hi - I live in a Victorian conversion ground floor flat, and the bathroom has a concrete floor with an access hatch (that has been unopened for decades as far as I can tell) in the floor. I only found this hatch when I took off the three layers of old vinyl tiles that had been covering the floor. Periodically, very strong smells (presumably from my neighbour's bathroom) emanate from this hatch. Sometimes the smell is of bath products, but other times the smell is a strong sewage odour. The smells were there before I took up the vinyl tiles, but are much stronger now that they are off. There is a gap between the floor by this hatch and the skirting board, but I haven't been able to get the hatch itself open to have a look.

My question is: If I just seal up the gaps before putting new flooring down to try to keep the smells out of the bathroom am I risking ignoring a problem that needs to be dealt with? Do these smells mean that there is a leak in the pipes?

Many thanks.

 

[newbie1]

bite the bullett and open it up it needs inspecting and resealing

 

[Bernie2]

Internal drain access covers are pretty common. The idea usually being that you fitted an inspection chamber wherever it might be difficult because a change of direction in the drain to clear it.
I would take it up and clean it out. Run some good quality disinfectant down it from the bath first though.

And don't keep it open to long.

Then reseal the lid. The usual seal stuff in days gone by was Russian Tallow, but its probably very hard to get now. Try Plumbers Mait.

 

[puzzled]

I think my choice of words may have been a bit misleading. The access hatch is part of the floor, not part of the drain pipe. I am assuming that there is a main drain pipe underneath this hatch. Sorry for the confusion, what do you think I should do?

 

[justlead1]

Hi For internal use manhole covers have a double seal and are in most cases bolted / screwed down, it you remove it clean the sealing area on both lid and frame the apply grease to the surfaces so as it will purge out when the lid is refitted. However there purpose is to access drain / junction in the event of a blockage, Prior to covering its a good idea to measure and note its position, so that it can be located when needed. Good Luck