Plumbing / drains issue?

[howisyourcat]

I wonder if there are any experts on here!

For the past few months, our house has had a bad smell, emanating mainly from the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen (directly underneath the upstairs bathroom). We can't quite identify the source, ie leaning into the sink doesn't make me think, yes, it's from here.

We've done the usual things ie let taps and shower run for a long while, used some drain clearing products etc. We've also had a plumber in albeit not a very advanced one if that makes sense, basically he did / recommended the same things we had already done.

But the smell is still there. It's worse in the morning so I don't think it's a dead animal or something like that, definitely something to do with the plumbing.

In case relevant, our (attached) neighbours completed the rebuild of their house last year, they also removed a number of trees from their garden and their garden subsequently flooded, although they've now pumped the water out. But the smell is not outside, it's in our house.

Grateful for any thoughts! We'd happily pay for another company to come in but I think they'd need to be some sort of specialists..

ah

so it is not open at the top, and looks unventilated (unless it goes up from the loft)

It might be venting through the plughole of the shower or something.

Put all the plugs in, and flop a wet flannel over the shower waste and over any basin overflows you can manage.

Plugs are in and wet flannels distributed. I will report back in the morning!! Thanks for all your help

Shamelessly Marking - I may need the expertise of piglet John!

So the wash cloths have successfully stopped a bad smell in the upstairs bathroom!

The smell is still there in the kitchen though, where it does not come from the sink but from the side of the room nearest to wear the drain pipes are. Through the wall?!!

So the problem still needs to be fixed obviously, which I'm now thinking involves both opening the manhole and clearing it as well as something with ventilation up in the pipe by the loft...

Yes.

Well this is turning into quite a tricky problem.

There are no blockages (we have removed the decking and opened the manhole and people have investigated with a camera), but there is a manhole underneath our extension which the previous owners must have just built over. And somehow whatever sealed that must have broken over time so the odour is coming from there and then quite possibly into the kitchen cavity wall.

So we now need to ask the water company for permission to insert something which essentially blocks off that hidden manhole. Or take up the kitchen floor...

I think you need to take up the floor and find out what is wrong, and have it repaired. It might be a blockage or a crack. it might be deadleg accumulating detritus. It might be something quite undesirable.

If it is entirely within your boundaries and is not shared by any other house, I don't see that the water co are involved, but it won't hurt to ask, and they may be willing to advise.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate all your advice on this. The company that came today went about eight metres into the drain with their camera, and in addition to the possibly not properly sealed manhole under our extension (which by the way was done by the previous owners!) they did also find fractures and breaks which indicated the drain could collapse, although it could also last another few years.

This drain is not our property but belongs to the water company, and it carries the waste from the entire side of this street away, so all our neighbours on this side too. The company we used said we/they would not be allowed to carry out any repairs ourselves without the water company's permission.

The good news is the water company has been very responsive and is sending an engineer out in the next few days to come and do their own investigation.

I'm slightly reeling from having had just a slightly dodgy smell a week ago, to talking about collapsing drains and ripping out our kitchen floor, having already hacked through the decking

I bet you never thought you'd have such fun.