Sewage smell from under utility cupboards

[silverous]

Hi,

We've had problems with smells in our Utility Room and yesterday it got really bad, smelt like a farm! I traced it to coming from behind washing machine, pulled washing machine out and found that to the side of the washing machine is what looks like a waste pipe from upstairs. It goes into the ground and there's what looks like mortar around it.

Do we get a drain company out? If something was blocked wouldn't we find that toilets wouldn't flush etc.?

We also get a smell in our airing cupboard which I believe the waste pipe runs behind. There's some kind of vent in our airing cupboard also.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Paul

 

[jamesevans]

Hiya,

How big is the vewnt in your airing cupboard? And what does it look like? Is it an air admittance valve ?

 

[JohnD]

photos please //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=129539

including the way the waste pipe from the washing machine, sink etc join to the soil pipe

and look for visible leaks

 

[silverous]

Thanks, will upload a photo this evening.

I'm guessing you are wondering if the water in any trap is flowing back into the washing machine so the smell from the drain is coming up that way? It seems to be coming from the waste pipe rather than the wachine machine though.

No visible leaks.

 

[silverous]

Hiya,

How big is the vewnt in your airing cupboard? And what does it look like? Is it an air admittance valve ?

Looks like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/16105...t;jsessionid=5TPKHSQIJXGMGCSTHZOCFGA?ts=53248

Has some wood supporting it off the plaster and some copper pipes going in behind the vent. I need to take it off to see what is behind it. The smell might not be coming from the vent itself. The back of the airing cupboard is a shower wall and I wondered if perhaps it was mold behind the stone tiles on the shower wall causing the smell.

 

[Dit]

The smell in the kitchen cupboards in the house I bought was quite similar. Turned out it was blocked drain outside the house; a stopper had fallen into the interceptor. Putting that in its correct place and rodding sorted it out. Cost me nothing apart from a splitting headache from the fumes. I reckon the smell is why the guy sold his house.

 

[JohnD]

Thanks, will upload a photo this evening.

which evening do you have in mind?

 

[silverous]

Sorry, been a long week - had intended to! I took some photos of the airing cupboard vent but not of behind the washing machine. Behind the airing cupboard vent is some pipework that I believe is the back of our shower (controller etc.) and also that would then probably be the same space that the back of the toilet, sink etc. is in. Hope to get some photos up in next day or so.

 

[silverous]

Hi,

The smell is really getting to us now, and bit worried about our little boy breathing in whatever it is.

Finally got some photos. Below is a view of the vent in the airing cupboard (the back of the airing cupboard is the wall of a shower in an en-suite), behind which I believe the soil pipe between the utility and en-suite runs.

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• silverous
• 2 Sep 2009
• 1

A property maintenance chap being helpful covered the back of the vent with clingfilm with a view to stopping the smells but I suspect the idea of the vent is to allow air into a durgo so I presume he is doing more harm than good in adding the clingfilm.

Here's the shot with the vent off:

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• silverous
• 2 Sep 2009
• 1

Close up into vented area showing back of shower plumbing:

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• silverous
• 2 Sep 2009
• 1

Now the interesting bit - this pic is taken with the camera pointing down into the vented area. I was expecting to see a waste pipe in that vented area going up to the loft (which is directly above the airing cupboard) but it looks like it stops behind the shower:

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• silverous
• 2 Sep 2009
• 1

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• silverous
• 2 Sep 2009
• 1

I presume that is a Durgo at the top of a waste pipe?
The smell coming from that vented area is pretty bad with the vent off. The smell is worse from behing our washing machine which feeds into the same waste pipe.

Any suggestions? Is that circular thing on top a durgo? Is it faulty? Help! Read about methane and explosive gasses and stuff and getting a bit paranoid now.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Nige F]

a stopper had fallen into the interceptor. Putting that in its correct place sorted it out. .

the place for those is in the dustbin

 

[silverous]

Any ideas on the problem ? I'm keen to avoid calling out a plumber and getting ripped off. Thanks.

 

[Nige F]

That should be a durgo on top. is there a way up into the roof to raise the thing into the roof void so you can get at it in future-or even take a vent through roof . Strangely, there have been a few posts about drain smells/ durgos lately. Including my house here I have one in the garage the other branch of the drain goes to normal vent, so it`s all to regs etc. BUT we get smells from another manhole when the (garage) wc is flushed. I am altering the pipework to go through the roof and making a lead slate for it (just because I can ) Have a google or Ubbink vents. they make roof vents that replace tiles and connect to soil pipes. I`m beginning to think that durgos are not that clever after all You mentioned a property maintenance guy - is it a newish house, and he works for the builder?. or did you just try and find someone to fix it. You might have some redress with builder if it`s still under guarantee

 

[silverous]

Thanks for the response.

The property maintenance guy was someone we found. It isn't NHBC and the builder has wound his company up so no recourse to him.

Directly above that vented area is the loft but I have a feeling a tank in the loft may obstruct, would need to check. It isn't easily accessible but I guess a plumber could rip out the plasterboard in that vented area to get to it. Does it sound like a faulty durgo? I guess I was expecting a faulty durgo to lead to smells coming from sinks/traps whereas we're getting smells from that vented area and also from the Utility room behind the washing machine (where the soil pipe goes into the ground).

Is this a job for a plumber do you think?

 

[silverous]

anyone?

 

[Nige F]

I`ve just got up . Yes a plumber could do it , and maybe do an air test on the stack and check the depth of seal remaining in the traps, etc. If you can find one that`s not Gas-Safe registered and chasing £ servicing boilers You might be better with a builder