we’re soon going to get our bathroom redone.

currently there is an odd smell in the that tends to get worse if nobody has used it for a few days.

it’s a strange kind of musty smell. not horrendously damp like, not obviously mouldy but very noticeable. there are no obvious signs of damp/leaks/mould any where in the room.

any idea what could be causing it? obviously would like to ensure the newly fitted room doesn’t suffer with the same problem!

are you sure the shower/basin traps arent syphoning dry and allowing sewer smells up into the room?

Have you left a pan of chicken stock behind the bath panel?

is it ventilated at all ?

– well cloudnine….. that’s my muesli all over the keyboard.

Rotten floor?

It could just be drain smell coming up through the bath/sink/shower plugs. Easy enough to check just by putting plugs in. What’s the venting like? The most obvious thing, though, would be to check pipework under the floor.

are you sure the shower/basin traps arent syphoning dry and allowing sewer smells up into the room?

how would I go about checking that?

Have you left a pan of chicken stock behind the bath panel?

definitely not. we’re a veggie household so mrs djambo certainly wouldn’t put up with chicken stock in the house!

is it ventilated at all ?

there is an extractor fan that comes on with the lights (vents to the exterior).

how would I go about checking that?

What three fish said, plug all the drain holes and see if the smell is there a few days later.

Fixing it can be fairly straight forward, either by using an Air Admittance valve to allow valved air into the soil system rather than have a vacuum sucking the water out of the traps. You can also buy dry inline traps with plastic sleeves that keep stink out instead of water.

http://www.apcoplumbingheatingsupplies.co.uk/plumbing-traps-wastes/hepvo/hepvo-dry-running-trap-1-1

http://www.hepvo.com/

You might have water dripping through the the seal around the bath and sitting behind it, rotting the floor.

It’s difficult to seal off the sink and bath by putting the plugs in as there may be overflows (including in the cistern) that would need to be sealed too.

I would try removing and cleaning the traps under the bath and basin (lovely job) and putting a piece of cardboard under the WC waste to see if their is a slight leak there. Cardboard is the best water leak detector I know. Once dripped on it stays discoloured.

Although being a veggie household might explain a lot of smells. And also the fact you can go days without using the bathroom! As Harry Hill might say – Derty Boy!

You might have water dripping through the the seal around the bath and sitting behind it, rotting the floor.

it doesn’t have a bath in it, which is the main reason for redoing the room!

will try plugging the shower/basin holes and see if it goes away.

No bath? Is it a wetroom? Re-did our bathroom and it had a vinyl floor which had come away at the side slightly under the shower letting water down under it. It was a concrete floor so was fine but if it had been boards they would have rotted.

edit: could be similar problem if it’s going down the sides of the shower tray.

Just had our new bathroom fitted, had the same sort of damp smell, turned out to be a tiny leak in the overfow join to the bath waste, and over time it had leaked between the concrete floor ant the ceramic floor tiles. When we took the tiles up there was a web of lacy black mould all over the concere floor! 😐

No bath? Is it a wetroom? Re-did our bathroom and it had a vinyl floor which had come away at the side slightly under the shower letting water down under it. It was a concrete floor so was fine but if it had been boards they would have rotted.

edit: could be similar problem if it’s going down the sides of the shower tray.

yup, oddly the previous owners took the bath out?!

it has a shower with tray in. hopefully it’s not rotten underneath.

t doesn’t have a bath in it

It’s not a bathroom then, so you’ve been misleading us all along.

oddly the previous owners took the bath out?!

Even more oddly you’re going to put one back in???

We had this – turned out to be the towel we used for drying the floor (semi-wetroom with walk in shower). Now I squeegee it.