Sewerage smell in Bathroom - all condos/apartments in BKK have same problems?

[toolpush]

Put some liquid soap into a spray bottle mixed with water. Spray around the base of the toilet. If there is a leak you will see a bubble(s). Use silicon sealant to seal it up. 9 times out of 10, the sewer smell will be coming from around the base of the toilet. If there is a leak there, it does not mean that liquid will leak out either. But sewer gas will.

[wombat]

the drains don't have an S bend....

[Pinoydave]

Sabai Resort suffers from this in their downstairs rooms...... few times it’s been bad enough to move me upstairs 

[Pravda]

Don't pee in the shower. It worsens the problem for some reason.

[natway09]

Chances are the smell is not coming from the toilet but the shower or basin.

Basin/Kitchen  you can fix by adding a U turns.

In our apartment complex  the shower/ kitchen waste  & toilet are not connected anywhere in the disposal system (which is how it should be ) .

Ask your landlord to put a new style trap on your outlet in the shower/bath. Should fix

[Ketyo]

They said when the original SARS hit in 2003, some people in a condo Hong Kong infected others on a different floor via the building's sewer system.

 

They suspected that the virus particles that were getting passed in the man's feces were coming up out of the other people's drains with the sewer gas.

 

Nasty business.

[gregk0543]

Yes they dont know how to do plumbing and the gases come back up your shower and bathroom drains anything that doesnt have an s or p  bend in it. Thats what they are for. Also if your toilet is not sealed properly at its base it will come out there as they dont do a proper join to the toilet ceramic.

 

One solution not mentioned above are these silicon one way socks. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32660296420.html

 

 

 

[phantomfiddler]

On 6/16/2020 at 12:04 AM, steven100 said:

rip up the floor tiles and check that there in fact a U shape pipe fitted to stop gas smells.  

In principle yes, but unnecessary, as they have these slick little floor drains in any Homepro or decent hardware store that have the water barrier actually incorporated in the unit. Amazing nevertheless that they still put in bathroom floor drains without such a device, but this is, er, um, you know what I mean ???? The units come in a few different sizes, generally about 4" across and costing a couple of hundred baht, but a word of warning. Do NOT buy the hard plastic models ! but the stainless steel ones, maybe an extra 50 Bht but cockroaches can actually chew through the plastic and completely destroy their effectiveness. You heff been varned !

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Do NOT buy the hard plastic models ! but the stainless steel ones, maybe an extra 50 Bht but cockroaches can actually chew through the plastic and completely destroy their effectiveness. You heff been varned !

Actually quite easy to find replacement plastic model if it happens - but perhaps better to get ride of the cockroaches - have never seen in bathroom myself.  But better models in both round and square versions are easily available most places.  A deeper water tray is also an advantage.

 

[ratcatcher]

On 6/16/2020 at 2:15 PM, steven100 said:

don't worry about the landlord. sling him a couple of hundred baht if he makes any problem.

now if it's a ground floor unit, get an excavator in ( 20T Mitsubishi or similar )  

have the excavator bucket come in through the bathroom window and rip from the centre of the bathroom out. rip down about 1 foot and then wait for the dust to settle and then check out what's left of the plumbing,  then just replace all. 

I have to ask, what have you been drinking? Bring the excavator bucket through the bathroom window? Just like the drain, you're extracting the urine.

[448glb]

Same thing happened to me in my home and I saw this on Facebook but too expensive you can find it on Lazada. Problem solved

[rwill]

Cheap way as mentioned above is to get something flat and cover the drains when not in use.

 

You can buy floor drains that have flaps that close when no water is draining.  Some are weighted flaps and others have a spring loaded closure.  The spring ones seal better but the spring will eventually wear out and need to be replaced.  Probably get someone to change them for a couple hundred baht.  Global has a better selection than Homepro.  And in my area the Cotto tile dealer has some nice ones.

[lopburi3]

8 minutes ago, rwill said:

Some are weighted flaps and others have a spring loaded closure.  The spring ones seal better but the spring will eventually wear out and need to be replaced.

Both of which fail with dirt and use but may be good choice for unused drains as no need to keep water in them.  For active drains believe much better to just install a simple bell type where there is no wear and cleaning is easy

[warcy]

Yes, Thai people have no sewerage management system by the government as far as I know.

 

I used to live in a condo and there are frequent sewerage smell. The best the staff can do is to put some chemicals on it.

[Aussieroaming]

No smell

[AndrewAnderson]

I had the same problem and I initially found that watering the traps every 1-2 days would solve the problem... Just spray the hose down the hole for 1-2 mins... You have to remember to do it often though so it doesn't dry out again.

 

It sounds like you have a similar type to me though where it's just a flat square grill that sits on top of a circular drain hole. Luckily I found a replacement cover in HomePro that sits perfectly within the square. It's airtight but when water goes into it, the weight of the water causes the metal inside to drop and lets water through and down the drain. This means water can go down but the gas can't come up when the water isn't running!

[Ireland32]

On 6/16/2020 at 2:23 PM, Dumbastheycome said:

Simplest solution I have used in many places that have sewerage gas coming out of shower, bath, basins  or floor drains is to park a bottle of water on them.

I use Toilet cleaner bottle fits most drain covers and stop cockroaches, also from my neighbor, I don’t cook in condo 

[ChaiyaTH]

Missing bend in the construction. In condo, terrible neighbours up or down.

[ifmu]

i had the same problem  one solution that i got from TV was put a ping pong ball on the floor drain hole .. worked great  still doing it after 2 houses

[whaleboneman]

1 hour ago, ifmu said:

i had the same problem  one solution that i got from TV was put a ping pong ball on the floor drain hole .. worked great  still doing it after 2 houses

Do you use new ping pong balls or the ones from the bar?

[whaleboneman]

I have found this problem in many hotels throughout SEA. Aside from the nasty smell, sewer gas can actually kill you. I always carry a good supply of ziplock baggies. Fill one with water and it will cover and seal any floor drain. Slide aside when showering.

[Caine]

One of the delights of living in a sh#thole

[BangkokBoyJohnny]

On 6/16/2020 at 6:52 PM, moontang said:

This looks promising, too.

These work great ....

[Straight8]

On 6/16/2020 at 6:27 PM, 86Tiger said:

It is not just Thailand.  My experience is it is pretty much anywhere out of "western" culture nations don't know proper plumbing.

 

So, it may take bit longer than 50 years.....

Here we go with the "its not just in Thailand"

 

Never, ever had that experience in Australia & while in the states never experienced this.

[Dionigi]

On 6/16/2020 at 2:09 PM, bbi1 said:

Not sure what you mean about the rubber cup in shower drain. There's only a metal thing on top of the shower drain.

 

There's also a drain in the bathroom next to the toilet where the bum gun is. Also has a metal thing on top of that drain.

 

Bathroom sink pipe has the "bend" thing in the pipe under the bathroom sink.

These have to be full of water to stop the smell from the drains coming back up. if the floors are not sluiced down and they become dry they do not work.

[canerandagio]

4 hours ago, Straight8 said:

Here we go with the "its not just in Thailand"

 

Never, ever had that experience in Australia & while in the states never experienced this.

You should have read the second paragraph...

[dddave]

20 hours ago, Ketyo said:

They said when the original SARS hit in 2003, some people in a condo Hong Kong infected others on a different floor via the building's sewer system.

 

They suspected that the virus particles that were getting passed in the man's feces were coming up out of the other people's drains with the sewer gas.

 

Nasty business.

Yup. Amoy Gardens. Almost 350 residents (out of 19,000) came down with SARS, about 50 died.  They changed building codes because of it but still not enforced.

[moontang]

11 hours ago, BangkokBoyJohnny said:

These work great ....

Shhh.. don't deprive the keyboard warriors the opportunity to reveal their heroic efforts to resolve a problem that many have cured for fewer Baht, than a small jar of mustard costs.  A very similar crowd to those, who used to endure great suffering to complete their 90 day reports..

[bodga]

No none of  my properties  smell, for the simple  reason Im not  stupid  enough or ignorant enough to know what a P Trap is  for when I built  them/refurbed them.

Those  stupid ones they have actually  in the  waste drain  are useless  things, not enough water in them.

[andy72]