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Bathroom Odor?

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odor?
18K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  chris n 
#1 ·
I recently finished remodeling a bathroom for a client and he has noticed a pungent odor. The bathroom has a walk-in shower, no tub. Floor and walls are tiled in honed limestone. The bathroom has been used daily (including showers) so all drains are primed and it also sits over an unfinished basement so I know there are no leaks. I have also run a camera thru the vanity drain to make sure I didn't leave a cap off a vent or something and everything appears to be perfect. I have never smelled anything in this bathroom and I am confident it is not sewer gas. Any clues?
 
#2 ·
I recently finished remodeling a bathroom for a client and he has noticed a pungent odor. The bathroom has a walk-in shower, no tub. Floor and walls are tiled in honed limestone. The bathroom has been used daily (including showers) so all drains are primed and it also sits over an unfinished basement so I know there are no leaks. I have also run a camera thru the vanity drain to make sure I didn't leave a cap off a vent or something and everything appears to be perfect. I have never smelled anything in this bathroom and I am confident it is not sewer gas. Any clues?
When I use my bathroom sometimes It has a pungent order :blush: :sick: :rolleyes:
 
#5 ·
drywall was purchased at homedepot (sheetrock)
Tip: Don't say that around here, you are likely to get bashed for shopping at the big box stores.


My point is that, is it possible that it is defective Chinese drywall? I personally haven't dealt with it yet but they say that it has a strong sulfur odor. If your customers are describing a rotten egg type smell you may want to do some more research on whether Home Depot got mixed up with any of the defective drywall problems. I don't know the answer to that but maybe someone else here knows.
 
#8 ·
How old is the house ?
Sometimes old houses can produce a sulfur odor from the water.
Well water is like that where I live.
I still have galvanized pipes in some parts of my house and I get
a little sulfur odor once in awhile. Just a thought.
I still don't really know if it's just my well water.
 
#9 ·
house is relatively new, less than 20 years. all piping is copper or pvc. we only switched out about 2 sheets of drywall. anyone ever hear of limestone retaining odors? doesnt make sense to me but if there is no water leakage there shouldnt be any mildew or mildew smell. this job is bumming me out. i am going to try pouring bleach down the drains and placing a few charcoal bags in the joists below
 
#13 ·
#15 ·
I know this is going to sound strange, but a few years ago we started noticing a very pungent smell which appeared to be coming from our shower drain. Called a plumber who snaked the drain and checked everything including vents. Everything looked good but we still had the smell.

Long story short, it ended up being a foaming bath wash that my wife had been using ( think it was Oil Of Olay). Evidently the foam would stay in the trap after rinsing and would start smelling after staying there overnight. It was very pungent, like sewer gas or somthing. We discovered it when she ran out of the foam. Tried it again to prove it was the cause and it was.

Just something to check.
 
#16 ·
not yet. the smell the client describes is more of a basement musty odor. he says that he can smell it more strongly towards the entry to the door (aways from the shower drain but close to the vanity) and that the smell comes and goes throughout the day. i have asked for how this smell relates to usage, after a shower or use of the faucet but havent heard from him.
 
#17 ·
Had one, one time, could not find the source.
Ended up being the vanity sink overflow. Alot of crap can grow in there and it never gets washed out unless you overflow sink.
Sprayed in a bunch of foaming bathroom cleaner in the overflow hole. Problem was solved.
 
#20 ·
Pitch them the finished basement fix. "Well sir after carefull consideration the only way to get rid of that smell is to finish the basement". But then again he will probably not want to pay your final on that either. Good luck with that one..........he sounds like a PITA
 
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