Hi all, I live in a block of flats and every so often there's this unpleasant smell in the bathroom. Not sewage, not gas, it comes and goes. I've had my drains unblocked by some guys the management company sent round (presumably plumbers) and they checked the sewer around the flats as well but found no problem - I'm now wondering if it's coming from the extractor fan in the ceiling. Do you think that's possible? It's a small bathroom, no windows just an extractor in the ceiling and it has a bathtub, sink and toilet.
If anyone has any ideas of any tests I can do to try and determine where the smell is coming from I would love to try them. I can’t pinpoint it even when sniffing all around the bathroom!
I keep a clean bathroom. Since the smell is intermittent and it wasn't there the day those guys arrived I guess there's only so much they can do but it's so annoying and unpleasant. Sometimes it's really bad, then it goes away for a few days or even more than a week but it always comes back eventually. It's been like this for about six months now and it’s driving me mad.
If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it. I can’t describe the smell, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever smelled before. I guess it’s musky. I wouldn’t call it really awful but it’s strong and not pleasant. I don’t change my routine very much so I can’t account for why it arrives and goes away as there’s no set time it can come. I was wondering if perhaps it occurred after it had rained and then dried out but I can’t verify that.
Just now I decided to run a hot shower for 5 minutes to see if it did anything, the extractor fan is on when the bathroom is in use but without the shower the smell remained. With the shower running I think it’s pretty much just the same. At this point I’m pretty convinced it’s coming from the ceiling fan but who knows.
I'm not even sure who to get out here to try and get it, is there a device that can pinpoint smells? Probably wishful thinking!