Why is there a bad smell coming from my bathroom plug hole?
It happens, you walk into your bathroom and you instantly get a hit of sewer smell. There could be a few reasons for this, but to figure out what’s going on you first need to investigate the two most obvious causes.
Dry P-Trap
A P-Trap is the U shaped bit of plumbing that sits underneath your sink. The P-Trap is designed to collect a small amount of water after each use. This water acts as a barrier to stop sewer smells coming through your pipes and into your bathroom. If for what ever reason the P-Trap becomes empty then you could be smelling sewer gases. You can easily check and clean out your P-Trap - to do so you will need the following;
A bucket
Flexible wire brush
Pliers or an adjustable wrench
First you need to make sure the tap is not running! Then place the bucket under the P Trap to catch any water. Remove the P-Trap by unscrewing the large nut while holding the P-Trap in place. You should be able to do this with your hands however if it hasn’t been removed for a while you may need to use an adjustable wrench or pliers. As soon as you loosen the nut water may start to come out- unless it is empty! Once you have removed the P-Trap you can then use a flexible wire brush to clean it out. All you now need to do it put it all back together. Make sure to line up the pipe correctly and then screw the nuts back into place.
Build Up of Biofilm
If your plugs are draining slowly there could be a build up of decomposing debris known as biofilm which could be omitting the smell.
To remove, you can first try using boiling water. For small build ups this can work to help flush them through. Boil a kettle and slowly pour the water down the drain and wait 5minutes. If this doesn’t solve the issue the next step you can try is bicarbonate soda and vinegar. First pour half a cup of bicarbonate soda down the plughole, then pour a cup of vinegar. Let the solution fizz up and leave it to work for a couple of hours, then pour some boiling water through the drain to clear it out. Hopefully this will have shifted the build up, but if this hasn’t worked you can then try using a chemical cleaner.
There are two types you can try - A bio-enzyme cleaner which uses enzymes to break down and dissolve the building of debris. These are eco-friendly and also non toxic. The other is a ready made drain cleaner which uses strong chemicals that both remove the blockage and sanitise the pipe to remove smells. These can be dangerous to health so it is important to follow the instructions on the packaging.
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