Meaty toilet

[Girl Plumber]

hey all,
Apologies in advance - this is probably going to sound grim, but theres been a bizarre odour from our toilet for a few months, and in the last few weeks its become intolerable. The only way I can describe it, is that it smells 'meaty'. Its clean, we have a cleaner come in each week. I dont know what the hell is causing it. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[emerald]

is the toilet on the ground floor, there could be a leak underneath it or nearby

 

[Girl Plumber]

No its upstairs

 

[dontknowitall]

What's the venting like? If it has a durgo there could be a leak in the valve allowing the soiled air to escape. If it's a standard vent pipe it might have come dislodged or similar, again with soiled air coming in. Does the smell change with the weather? For example do you only have the smell with a north wind (and the soil pipe's on the north side of the house?)

Sorry to answer question with lots of questions but hopefully something here will give you a little smell for your thoughts.

 

[Girl Plumber]

Okay I'll have to check the venting, I guess in the daylight. Whats a durgo? Havent thought about the weather but will keep that in mind, and Im useless at working out which direction the wind is coming from, but I'll work on it and report back. Smell ya later (sorry had to add that).

 

[dontknowitall]

A durgo is a sort of stop end on the top of a vent pipe, usually (always?) inside the house and often very near the WC. It allows air into the soil pipe (to stop a vacuum) but doesn't let air out. In my house it's about a foot away from one of our toilets and about 3 feet up from ground level.

Happy hunting for your wafts!

 

[Girl Plumber]

Yeah cheers dontknowitall, you seem to know quite a bit, so thats great thanks. I'll let you know what I find ...

 

[markproperjob]

Maybe its a HUGE DEAD RAT in the cistern!!!! AAAAARRGH!!
Sorry! couldnt resist!
yes, check for a durgo valve. if the diagphram is ripped or held open by a BIG SPIDER (aaargh again!) then smelly-pongs will rise from sewer.
Durgo valve looks like a grey upside down flower pot, near the pan.
also check for-
1/ soggy flooring around pan base indicating a leak
2/ if you have an outside soil stack, check the 'bird cage' on top isnt blocked by birds or moss, allowing fumes to vent in wc
3/ is water in bottom of wc pan covering the u-trap?
4/ are you sure no one has mislaid last friday nights kebab?
5/ check HUGE DEAD RAT isnt behind your wc!! EEEEEK!
HAPPY HUNTING
REGARDS Mark

 

[dontknowitall]

Thank you - helpful tips in that post!

 

[Girl Plumber]

Oh bloody hell! I see the pipe you mean! its just a pipe to the outside which is obscured under the 'pan' is it?, I never knew it was there! Its making a whistling noise as the wind is coming in. No odour there, but will keep a check on it

Theres certainly no dead animals in the top bit, I took it all apart a month ago to clean out the orifice in the FOV as the toilet was dripping and causing a racket at night. I thought that was the durgo i found but its just an open pipe with air blowing in. Maybe I'll take a photo in the daylight tomorrow and post it. ...

I'll have a good look in the proper light on the weekend

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

perhaps you have a serial killer flushing body parts down his bog yuk bad joke,are you sure its the toilet and not the bath/basin waste?

 

[markproperjob]

the hole you describe is certainly where there used to be an overflow pipe from the 'top bit'(cistern). modern cisterns overflow down the pan.
no rats then??
what about aardvarks? theyre right bug#ers when they get under the floorboards!!
ok, i'll stop now!

 

[Girl Plumber]

No cant be, Dennis Neilson's 'inside' right now, not likely. As for the smell coming from the bathroom, cant be as the toilets separate

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

have they done something stupid like taken the over flow into the soil pipe?

 

[markproperjob]

OMG!!
There was a cerial killer loose around here recently!!
the police reported that bodies were found, with cornflake boxes stuffed over the heads!!!

on that thought, is the smell constant or comes and goes? if comes and goes, it really could be a rotting rodent somewhere.

 

[Girl Plumber]

Hmmm not sure, we had a man come in and tile our toilet about 2 years ago then put the toilet back on, and so I guess he would have resealed things to allow for the change in floro height with the tiles being there. Goodness knows. I think I'll post a pic in the weekend ... not been on my course long enough to know my way around all the worknig parts of the main toilet. Only studied the FOV so far

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Hmmm not sure, we had a man come in and tile our toilet about 2 years ago then put the toilet back on, and so I guess he would have resealed things to allow for the change in floro height with the tiles being there. Goodness knows. I think I'll post a pic in the weekend ... not been on my course long enough to know my way around all the worknig parts of the main toilet. Only studied the FOV so far

that would help

 

[markproperjob]

its GOT to be that kebab!

 

[Dannypipe]

What's FOV?

 

[Captainflood]

Float operated valve, not allowed to say ballcocks anymore the

 

[PlumbBobBob]

you just did!

 

[markproperjob]

GREAT BIG BALLCOCKS!!!!!! BALLCOCKS BALLCOCKS BALLCOCKS!!!

HA! THERE, IM NOT SCARED!!

Im going to try asking for an FOV in plumbcentre Saltash tomorrow and see how long it takes Keith to give up!!

Hmm, could you charge more if you tell customers their FOV is FUBAR ?

 

[WaterTight]

Plumbing is rife with single entendre. It's all cocks, nipples and flanges.

 

[Resolute]

Plumbing is rife with single entendre. It's all cocks, nipples and flanges.

I only reason I came a plumber as I thought I was signing up to something a little more risqué!

 

[markproperjob]

Mmmmmmmmm-flanges!