You clean your bathroom every week. You go over every surface with cleaning products and disinfectant. No corner escapes your gaze.
Yet despite how hard you try, the smell lingers.
The bathroom is where you go to wash, clean up and prepare for your day. As such, the last thing you want from your church of cleanliness is for it to smell all sorts of nasty!
Our Bentleigh plumbers have dealt with many cases like this. In our experience, it’s persistent odours aren’t something you can clean on your own – rather, they’re symptoms of deeper problems in your bathroom plumbing.
Experiencing a nasty smell in your bathroom? Sounds like you might be in need of plumbing maintenance.
Most common types of bathroom smells
Step one towards fixing the source of a nasty smell? Figuring out exactly what it is! (Or at least trying to get some sort of idea.)
It isn’t pleasant, but trust us: knowing what type of smell is permeating your bathroom can actually reveal a lot about its source, and the steps you can take to fix it.
Urine smell
Does your bathroom smell like ammonia? If so, there’s only one suspect: your toilet.
If the smell lingers long after flushing and persists even despite repeated toilet cleans, you may have a deeper plumbing issue on your hands.
A persistent urine smell is probably due to a problem with your toilet. In particular, the wax adhesive on the bottom of the toilet that attaches it to the floor and seals it and the drain.
Whether it’s a case of improper installation, damage or a leak, the result is the same: a bathroom that has that unpleasant urine scent.
The only way out? Organise plumbing maintenance, where your plumber will inspect your toilet and discover the issue. If necessary, we can replace the seal immediately.
Sulfur or rotten eggs
A strong sulfur or rotten egg smell is often (rightfully so) attributed to a gas leak.
However, there is an exception. If the smell is localised to your bathroom, it could signify something else entirely: unwelcome bacteria growth.
What do you when this happens? Immediately find out the source and fix it right away!
There are two major sources of sulfur smells in your bathroom:
- Your pipes
- Your drains
Blocked drains may result in a sulfur-like smell. That’s because blockages in your pipes caused by debris are the perfect source of nutrition for unwelcome bacteria.
Alternatively, pipe problems such as holes or cracks may allow bacteria to enter your pipes. This causes the water that comes out to be contaminated with the smell of rotten eggs.
Sewage smell
Most homeowners will often complain about their toilet smelling like sewage.
In many cases, that’s because that’s exactly what it is – sewage!
Each toilet contains a water trap. Using bends in the pipe and pockets of still water, unwelcome smells from your sewer connection pipe are physically blocked from entering your home and stinking up your bathroom.
Needless to say, issues with this trap such as low water levels can allow these foul smells to reach your home!
How to stop your bathroom from smelling
Okay, so now you know what’s causing your particular smell.
The next step? Fixing it.
These problems are impossible to remove on your own, as they’re caused by problems with your plumbing. This isn’t something you can clean away – nor is it something we recommend fixing with DIY plumbing!
While you can’t exactly fix these problems on your own, there are several things you can do in the meantime to make it more bearable while you organise plumbing maintenance from your local Bentleigh plumber.
1) Use scented sprays and deodorants
Sprays and deodorants are some of the most powerful tools at your disposal when it comes to getting rid of bathroom smells (temporarily, at least).
If possible, preference products labelled “odour eliminators” over air fresheners. That’s because air fresheners simple cover up smells – the smell is still there when they wear off.
In contrast, odour eliminators are developed to neutralise whatever it is in the air that’s causing the smell, leading to longer periods of freshness.
While more favoured over air fresheners, odour eliminators won’t necessarily solve your problem. So, if the stench persists, ensure you call a licensed and qualified plumber to further inspect.
2) Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate!
While poor ventilation doesn’t cause nasty smells, it can certainly make the problem worse than it needs to be!
Ventilation is responsible for getting smells out of your bathroom and minimising the risk of mould and mildew. Naturally, bad ventilation leads to bad smells lingering.
So you suspect the problem is with your ventilation rather than a problem with your bathroom itself.
Luckily, there are a couple of easy things you can do to immediately remedy the issue:
- Open a window (if possible, leave it ajar at all times)
- Clean your bathroom exhaust fan
- Inspect your ventilation grilles
- Leave your fan running for a few more minutes after you’ve finished showering
3) Work around toilet problems
As we mentioned above, toilet problems are a common cause of unwanted bathroom smells.
Luckily, there are a couple of things you can do in the meantime to work around the issue:
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- Manually add water to your toilet bowl – problems with P and S-traps are often caused by insufficient water levels
- Leave the toilet lid down – this stops sewer smells from spreading to the rest of your bathroom
- Flush immediately – while this won’t fix toilet leaks, this can minimise the amount of – ahem – “waste” that lingers in your toilet
Tip #4: call your local Bentleigh plumber!
Each of these plumbing hacks are only temporary fixes.
If you want to be free of unwelcome bathroom smells for good, the only way to fix these issues is to call a Bentleigh plumber!
Put it this way: how long are you willing to put up with short-term solutions to a major plumbing issue before you get fed up?
We suggest letting a plumber in Bentleigh conduct a plumbing inspection in your home.
During this inspection, a member of our team will inspect and identify the plumbing issues that cause your bathroom to smell. From there, we can schedule in major repairs, or, if minor, can provide on-the-spot fixes, where possible.
Watermaster Plumbing can identify and fix a wide range of defects, problems, or risks associated in your home’s plumbing system including:
- Damage
- Leaks
- Water pressure
- Drainage
- Sealant
- Pipe conditions
Contact Watermaster Plumbing today on 1300 156 650, or click here to tell us a little more about your bathroom woes.