Despite everything that happens underneath the surface, your toilet never smells – it’s a miracle!
Well, not really.
Rather, it’s all thanks to a range of clever plumbing developments working together to stop sewage smells and other foul odours from making their way into your home and impacting your comfort.
Unfortunately, sometimes these clever plumbing tricks fail – leaving you with a horrible-smelling bathroom.
And yet despite all of that, your toilet appears perfectly clean!
What’s going on?
Our Brighton plumbers share 4 reasons a seemingly clean toilet can still smell
You’d think that a smelly toilet would be accompanied by some sort of sign, a visible symptom of a problem.
Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case!
In many cases, even a seemingly clean toilet can still leave behind all sorts of unwelcome smells wafting out of it.
The reasons for this are many, but some of the most common ones include…
Damaged toilet seal
Sitting between the toilet itself and the flange, this seal is responsible for stopping water from leaking out every time your flush.
More importantly, it also seals in foul sewer odours.
Needless to say, a damaged toilet seal can lead to all sorts of unwelcome odours making their way into your home!
Luckily for you, our Brighton plumbers can check the condition of your toilet seal, inspecting it and replacing any seals that may have worn out with age and usage.
Blocked and damaged vent pipe
Toilet vent pipes play an important role – not in releasing sewer gases that would otherwise reach indoors like the name suggests, but by bringing in fresh air to make your toilet smell more pleasant while also helping to move water every time you flush.
Naturally, any issues with said vent – such as dirt and debris blocking it – can lead to all sorts of unpleasant smells lingering in your toilet, despite no visible signs of blockage with the toilet itself.
Without air drawn in from outside, your toilet could end up smelling pretty nasty!
In addition to looking after your plumbing, our Brighton plumbers can also clean out your toilet vent pipe, eliminating the invisible source of those unwelcome sewer smells.
Loose toilet bolts
Similar to the toilet seal, each toilet comes with bolts holding the entire thing in place.
And just like the toilet seal, if these bolts come loose, it can lead to unpleasant toilet smells.
Specifically, loose toilet bolts can mean that your toilet can be easily rocked or moved, allowing sewer smells to slip through and make your bathroom a lot less pleasant to use
This is a genuine plumbing emergency – luckily, it’s one that our emergency plumbers can fix. All you need to do is give us a call, and we’ll send someone over to check out and replace any loose toilet bolts!
Toilet mould
Not all of the nasty smells that are infecting your bathroom come from the sewer connection – in a lot of cases, the smell is coming from the toilet itself.
Specifically, the cistern.
Let’s face it, how often do you lift the lid on your toilet cistern and take a peek inside? Not often – and that’s exactly what lets issues with the cistern develop and grow without you realising it!
While uncommon, our emergency plumbers in Brighton have been called to many not-so-pleasant smelling bathrooms only to find that the root problem is mould growth in the cistern.
Luckily, this one’s pretty easy to solve once you drain the toilet cistern – all you need is a metal sponge, some powerful cleaning products and time.
Living with smelly toilets: what can I do about it?
As a general rule, we don’t advise DIY plumbing. That said, we’re willing to make exceptions for simple jobs like tightening bolts or for short-term measures to help keep things under control until an emergency plumber can arrive.
And here are some of the tricks you can use to reduce the smell while we make our way towards your home or business.
Some of these are targeted specifically towards the causes of your smelly toilet – others are good habits to get into, end of story!
Regularly clean your toilet
Sometimes, the smell has nothing to do with seals, bolts or vents – sometimes, it’s just a case of a toilet that you don’t clean enough!
One sure-fire way to stop your toilet from smelling is to clean it regularly. While it may not help with bigger problems like the ones listed above, it can make things just that little bit more pleasant.
And best of all, you don’t need to call a Bayside plumber to do it for you!
Think about ventilation
And we aren’t just talking about your vent pipes, either.
If you want, you can keep your bathroom window permanently open to bring in some fresh air while also allowing most of the smells to dissipate.
Check for mould
The cistern isn’t the only place that mould can take hold.
The seals around your toilet. The dorners. The grout between the tiles. Each of these can host foul-smelling mould.
Luckily, these particular smells are easy to get rid of with some cleaning products and some time.
Book regular plumbing inspections with the help of our commercial plumbers
If you own a commercial property, it’s crucial that you keep everything in good working order.
And that includes the plumbing.
In addition to emergency repairs, our commercial plumbers also offer businesses, property managers and real estate agents ongoing plumbing inspections to ensure that every part of your plumbing is working as it should.
Part of that involves making sure that your toilets don’t smell awful.
If we discover any smells that aren’t meant to be there while performing your plumbing inspection, our plumbers in Brighton will fix the issue right there and then for you.
Got a problem with a smelly toilet? Call Watermaster’s plumbers in Bayside now!
It isn’t just Brighton – our plumbers service the entirety of Melbourne’s Bayside suburbs, ensuring that toilets across the south-east:
- Function properly
- Can meet your needs
- Don’t smell
With 20 years of plumbing experience under our belts, we can fix all sorts of plumbing issues for you, including smelly toilets.
Facing an unexpected toilet smell? Can’t see any visible signs of the cause? We can help with that!
Call Watermaster Plumbing on 1300 156 650 or fill in the form to get in touch today.
You can also visit us for commercial plumbers in Melbourne: pop into our headquarters at 9/22 George St Sandringham, VIC 3191, if you prefer a more hands-on approach.