Topic: Bathroom smells only at night........

[emsvitil]

Can't figure this out  (the only at night part)

Finally decided to fix the wobbly toilet (and the prompt wasn't the toilet, but clogged drains and the toilet was better access)


Floor rotten around toilet

If you have to see:   https://goo.gl/photos/udXmvfszADCPoPEi6

The rot doesn't seem to go as far as the walls or adjacent cabinet, and looks fixable.....

I've sprayed it with bleach a few times.

I leave the window cracked open, and shut the door.


What I can't figure out is that there's a smell (rotten,crawlspace)  only at night.     

During the day, maybe a hint of old wood, but at night............


Why does it only smell at night?

[OVRAROK]

Lucky you didn't fall throw

[emsvitil [OP]]

Cast Iron pipe,  I was teetering on it......


Good thing I have 2 bathrooms.

[Willard]

Are your drains properly vented?


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[emsvitil [OP]]

Are your drains properly vented?


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yes

Note,  this is the upstream toilet (of 2)

[Willard]

Ok is your crawlspace accessible? If so you may have a leak that is only a slow vapor leak at night when things cool off. I had the same issue under my house and the old piping had a leak on a 90*. No fluid just vapor.


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[emsvitil [OP]]

I obviously HAD a leak.........

crawlspace is accessible, and I'll be under there for some of the joist repairs..........

[Willard]

I understand you had a leak that's bluntly obvious in your original post. What I am saying is you previously didn't have a hole in that room right? There is now a space for vapor to escape from and it may just be a pin hole. Or an above fluid level hole in a line. Mine only smelled at night and early morning as a already stated. Mine was old galvanized pipe. House was built in the 50's and it looked original lol.


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[emsvitil [OP]]

No other leak that I know of

A couple of years ago I was under the house replacing tub and sink drainage pipes.   From underneath everything look ok then.

And there wasn't any smell (other than old wood)..........but it was daytime.

[emsvitil [OP]]

Smell is decreasing, probably due to bleaching.


Smell was probably rot and/or mold


For whatever reason, I think the air flow goes down during the day (taking smells with it).   

At night there is either airflow coming up or no air flow so you smell the smell.......

[emsvitil [OP]]

I think I figured out the root cause.

Floor joists are 2x10  (actual 2x10, not the 1.5x9.25 you get now).

The joist in front of the toilet is notched to about a 2x3 for the down pipe.    Then there's a sister joist of 2x6.     

So it's weaker than it should be.   So eventually it sags,   then leaks, then wet and rot makes it weaker, more sag.........


BTW, house was built in 40s.....

[58rennur4]

Why does it only smell at night?

In our case it was the built up gook in the sink drain. During the day there is a lot of movement, window open, and generally things going on. At night things calm down and that odor from sink drain builds up. I tried to figure it out forever but luckily was brushing my teeth one day and turned on water, the water displaced that odor in once whiff which I smelled. I knew that was the smell so bought some of those drain sanitize rods you just drop down in the drain. They last several month according to label. Even with door closed at night no more odor.

[patischof]

Maybe you're just not paying attention during daytime lol

[Nashvon]

Well, the rotten floor and the smell, which I can imagine how unpleasant it can be, indicate that it absorbed water. Also, check for any leaks for the toilet, though I doubt it if you say you changed. Either way, you must cut the floor and the subfloor and change them completely. Otherwise, I don't think you can eliminate the odor. This happened at my grandma's house, but I let professionals do it. They changed the toilet and the floor entirely. We found the toilets at a reasonable price on bathroom-supermarket.co.uk.

[sirdeuce]

 Your senses are typically heightened, your brain goes into primitive mode as you slow for sleep. During the day the world is more active and your brain is so much busier keeping up that you don't notice minor details. That's an "in a nutshell" . "it's all in your head" explanation, there's so much more to it than that. The odor is always there.

[sirdeuce]

I think I figured out the root cause.

Floor joists are 2x10  (actual 2x10, not the 1.5x9.25 you get now).

The joist in front of the toilet is notched to about a 2x3 for the down pipe.    Then there's a sister joist of 2x6.     

So it's weaker than it should be.   So eventually it sags,   then leaks, then wet and rot makes it weaker, more sag.........


BTW, house was built in 40s.....

If you haven't already, add a support at the weakest point. If there's enough room a pier block and strut, if not dig a small, sqaure hole with a flat level bottom at least six inches deep and fill it with concrete and strut from there. Just my $20 (the new 2c)