Downstairs toilet always smells, help 🫠

[ittybittybigtiddies]

it is/was a new build, so that says it all really.

we’ve been here 3 years with two young children, and recently it seems my downstairs bathroom always smells like.. toilet. I clean everything with disinfectant, behind the toilet, I wipe down the skirtings ect and I mop with lemon wipes almost every morning. But the smell is lingering in the background of all the ‘nice’ smells.

the issue I think, is that it’s:
A) a tiny room with no windows
B) opens into the kitchen, so the door is always closed.
C) used by two children and every day 🤣

me and DH only wee downstairs, but I feel like I can’t really expect my 3 year old and 5 year old to go upstairs everytime they need a poo too? Or should I? It doesn’t even really smell like poo so I don’t think that’s the whole issue. It just smells like a toilet and it’s grim. I’m almost too embarrassed to have anyone round because of it. I can’t leave the door open because it opens into the kitchen and no one wants to be looking at the toilet from the kitchen 🤣

I read somewhere that the smell is actually in the grouting between the tiles and that you can get rid of the smell by cleaning between the tiles using shaving foam.

Oh interesting! We only have a splash back by the sink and no tiles though.. I wonder if it would work in the seals of the skirting board ect though! Adding that to the list of things to try 🤣

I know I'll be slated for this. But bleach. Toilet. Sink. Floors. Anything washable. Daily.

Sorry not sorry.

Are you sure it’s not the pipes? If it’s not been plumbed well you can get smells from the pipes. Very common in new builds. We had to have some work done under snagging in a former house.

This could be another very good point. This house was basically falling apart with bloody snags so it wouldn’t surprise me at all. DH brother is a plumber so we should be able to get him out to have a look!

I do occasionally bleach but I’m not a huge harsh chemical fan. I like to try and stay on top of everything by regular cleaning with disinfectant spray like method as they (claim to be) non-toxic.

Missing the point but I thought it was against building regulations for a toilet to open into a kitchen. I thought there had two doors between the rooms.
I have a bathroom/toilet with no windows. I keep a reed diffuser in there and V I Poo.

Another vote for bleach here OP.

And I'd try to avoid the children pooing in it, whenever possible - the older child, definitely.

It's probably the pipes. Mine gets like it when my toilet has been clogged recently as the source of the clog causes a sewage smell that lingers for days. Frequent flushing with boiling water and washing up liquid may help.

We had this in a new build and it was because the cap at the top of the soil pipe was loose. They had to open up the bit of fake wall it was behind to put it on properly, and the smell went away completely.

Just FYI an unused shower can give you the same smell when the water in the u bend of its drain dries up - you then get sewer gas drifting up and the same horrible smell.

If it has any external walls, can you install an extractor fan?

Try removing the toilet seat completely and cleaning the attachment pins and the hinges. They are often invisible and you wouldn’t believe how minging they can get. I suspect splashback from even the most conscientious of standing men.

Another place for sneaky leakies, is the front edge of the base of the toilet. Wee can dribble un-noticed down the front of the toilet. If the edge of the flooring hasn't been sealed to the toilet, the wee can soak into that gap. You may have to do the sniff test.

We had this with a new toilet - turns out the one way valve on the "poo pipe" - not sure what the name is but it is to vent the space - was fitted incorrectly so smelly air stayed in the bathroom 🤮. As soon as it was rectified the smell disappeared instantly. I'd get a plumber to check it.

That rule went years ago.

I do get that. But I've found that the only thing that really gets rid of the toilet smell is bleach. I don't like having other people in, knowing my house is niffy so I resort to bleach. But fair do, if you can manage it without.

My first thought was the pipes too. But the room must have an extractor fan? Is it working? Can you replace it with a more efficient one?

Bleach.
Get your DP to check that the fall from the soil pipe is long and steep enough. Ours had to be done g up and relaid as it wasn't. Didn't smell in our house but we have a shared sewer pipe and it used to back up and smell in someone else's house.

I have a downstairs bathroom and it sometimes smells because of the lack of fresh air (I'm a middle terrace so no outside window in the bathroom). A good bleach around helps, as does leaving doors open to let fresh air blow through. I have been known to set up a fan in the doorway to blow fresh air in!

Another thing to try:

Sometimes it’s the sink overflow. If the sink only gets used for brief handwashing, there’s rarely any hot soapy water going down the overflow, so mould grows.

-I too was going to say check if the extractor is working and can you get a more powerful one?
-Are the kids (or DH 😬) splashing urine on the floor?
-Bicarb in small pots can help absorb smells
-Possibly dodgy pipework, but I'd have no idea how you'd check that.

Use a hand held steamer. It'll lift everything so it can be wiped away. You'll get a strong smell of ammonia but that's normal. Start at the top and work your way down.

It'll smell completely fresh with no chemicals needed afterwards. I like to do mine every few months.

@ittybittybigtiddies

is it a ‘normal’ toilet or a saniflo?

if it’s a normal toilet it’s probably gas being trapped somewhere and lingering.

if the p trap (normal bit behind floor based toilets) doesn’t have water in it due to how it was fit - it can trap odours/gas in and reek.

a plumber should help and a quick google of ‘downstairs toilet smells’ should bring up other suggestions.

we’ve had this in rental properties we manage and it’s not the room, the grout etc. it’s the toilet plumbing.