Bathroom smell / Centipedes

[rwill]

The Cotto dealer where I live sells some really nice floor drains with a spring loaded flap that allows water to run out but closes when no water is draining.  These seal much better than the one shown above.

 

There are some floor drains that have a small water trap.  They work ok until the water evaporates.

 

But if the problem is from the toilet you probably need to have it resealed.  Also the septic tank should be vented.  Lots of them are not here.

[couchpotato]

28 minutes ago, rwill said:

The Cotto dealer where I live sells some really nice floor drains with a spring loaded flap that allows water to run out but closes when no water is draining.  These seal much better than the one shown above.

 

There are some floor drains that have a small water trap.  They work ok until the water evaporates.

 

But if the problem is from the toilet you probably need to have it resealed.  Also the septic tank should be vented.  Lots of them are not here.

Best advice so far 

[transam]

32 minutes ago, rwill said:

The Cotto dealer where I live sells some really nice floor drains with a spring loaded flap that allows water to run out but closes when no water is draining.  These seal much better than the one shown above.

 

There are some floor drains that have a small water trap.  They work ok until the water evaporates.

 

But if the problem is from the toilet you probably need to have it resealed.  Also the septic tank should be vented.  Lots of them are not here.

Mine doesn't have a spring to rust away or clog up, it has a counterweight that keeps it closed until the weight of running water overcomes it...

 

High tech eh.....????

[transam]

5 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

Best advice so far 

You missed my post then....????...............????

[jdlhalliday]

I had problems with smell and backflow in my small shower room. Fitted one of these in minutes and no more problems. 

If you have a Mr. DIY near you they can be found there too. 

[Artisi]

2 hours ago, Grusa said:

I agree with you. Our 30-ish year old townhouse was "renovated" a couple of years before we moved in ten years ago. On each floor we have a modern, quite posh Nahm toilet. The ground floor "hong nam"  had been becoming increasingly smelly, and the grout around the base of the toilet was cracking and discoulored. 

Eventually I decided to remove the bowl and see what was going on, suspecting the lack of any seal to the sewage pipe. The grout was diamond hard and stuck fast to both the bowl and the floor tiles - it was a two-day nightmare to separate them without cracking anything.

Sure enough, under the bowl I found a ragged hole in the tiles, a blue pipe 1" short of the surface, no seals at all, and accumulations of you know what. To make matters worse, the hole and pipe did not even line up with the toilet bowl outlet, and there were no screws in the holes to secure the base to the floor.

These toilets are supplied, at time of purchase, with mastic sealing rings. Our friend, who built a twenty-four room guest house, had a stack of these rings - because the builders didn't use them! - and she had problems with most of her toilets.

I ended up making - because I could not buy - an adapter to fit the misaligned pipe and fill the gap, then sealed the pan correctly to the adapter, screwed the pan to the floor on a bed of silicone, properly finished. Smell gone.

I doubt that centipedes could have found their way through the old "seal", but it would only have been a matter of time.

Now I have to do the other two, what joy. No way can I trust a "chan" to do it!

A typical toilet installation by a highly skilled Thai plumber .

[Artisi]

5 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

Centipedes dear boy, Centipedes.

pleased send close up picture of your centipedes for educational purposes.

[chilly07]

With Thai cess tank and drainage systems being combined with surface drainage when you have a tropical downpour the drains back up and combined with lack of traps and vents they will always smell. Just stand by any road drain! Can't help you with the centipedes but I guess they are just escaping from your backed up drains!

[tonray]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Bung some toilet enzyme down the toilet.

 

 

It can be found in Tesco/Makro/Tops et al. next to the drain cleaner.

 

Centipedes don't like Vixol Oxy.

I use this same stuff..buy it at Mr DIY. Keeps those little drain flies away..they breed in muck

[tonray]

38 minutes ago, Artisi said:

A typical toilet installation by a highly skilled Thai plumber .

They don't believe in wax flange rings here..have their own way of doing it

[sirineou]

If thr problem is only the P Trap, U bend, (both the same thing) , the smell would be apparent all the time. 

The fact that it happens after a heavy rain tells me that your septic is nearly full and when it rains it floods, displacing smell an centipedes, into your bathroom

You might want to look into having it pumped out.   

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

The fact that it happens after a heavy rain tells me that your septic is nearly full

I hate to break it to but a the septic tank is always full. That is why it has a drain into a septic field. The bulk of a toilet flush is water.

[lopburi3]

7 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

I hate to break it to but a the septic tank is always full. That is why it has a drain into a septic field. The bulk of a toilet flush is water.

But the drain is below the top so should not be filled - if ground water becomes higher during heavy rains the drain will fill and back water up to ground water levels in tank and plumbing which may result in backflow into home or critters normally below ground going to higher levels.

[Golden Triangle]

We've been in this place for a little over 18 months, before we moved in the landlady had all the aircons serviced and the septic  tank emptied, so I wouldn't think it needs cleaning yet, we were in the previous place for 5 years + and that didn't need emptying when we left.

 

 

I thank you all for all the tips & helpful replies, I will be approaching the landlady early part of next week, the two bathrooms, our ensuite & the guest bathroom share the same plumbing I believe and the other one has no odour problems & only minor Centipede incursion, so there is definitely something amiss with our ensuite.

 

I'll definitely have a look at the various p traps available, so thanks for those ????

 

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

before we moved in the landlady had all the aircons serviced and the septic  tank emptied, so I wouldn't think it needs cleaning yet,

Normally they are safe for at least 4 years but believe we are more concerned about ground water level getting higher than the pipes from toilet which would prevent air escape from the tank vent and many toilets do not have a vent pipe here so as water fills pipe gas will be forced back up through toilet or any space it can escape.

[Golden Triangle]

3 hours ago, Artisi said:

pleased send close up picture of your centipedes for educational purposes.

Have you seen the picture attached to my OP ? A bit blurry unfortunately but you can enlarge it, attached is a picture of the baby ones that keep appearing, over a dozen some days, we have Chaindrite powder around the edges of everything, toilet, where the floor meets the walls, base of the sink unit, most of them are dead when we find them but some bigger ones seem to survive that so a liberal spray of Chaindrite sorts them out.

 

 

[transam]

9 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

We've been in this place for a little over 18 months, before we moved in the landlady had all the aircons serviced and the septic  tank emptied, so I wouldn't think it needs cleaning yet, we were in the previous place for 5 years + and that didn't need emptying when we left.

 

 

I thank you all for all the tips & helpful replies, I will be approaching the landlady early part of next week, the two bathrooms, our ensuite & the guest bathroom share the same plumbing I believe and the other one has no odour problems & only minor Centipede incursion, so there is definitely something amiss with our ensuite.

 

I'll definitely have a look at the various p traps available, so thanks for those ????

 

The only prob I had with the drain I recommend, is finding one the same size as the one you're going to replace, I didn't want to mess about with angle grinding the tiles, I eventually found one.....????

[Golden Triangle]

1 minute ago, lopburi3 said:

Normally they are safe for at least 4 years but believe we are more concerned about ground water level getting higher than the pipes from toilet which would prevent air escape from the tank vent and many toilets do not have a vent pipe here so as water fills pipe gas will be forced back up through toilet or any space it can escape.

I,ve been down the side of the house, there is a vent pipe fitted, it nearly reaches the roof.

[rwill]

5 hours ago, transam said:

Mine doesn't have a spring to rust away or clog up, it has a counterweight that keeps it closed until the weight of running water overcomes it...

 

High tech eh.....????

I've had them before.   If you look closely the flap doesn't completely seal. Towards the hinge.

[Nojohndoe]

If the showers and hand basins etc have a common exit that can be accessed and blocked for an hour or two then flood the pipes. The small centipedes as  such as in your pictures drown quite quickly. The big ones too but they swim strongly. I have set my waste pipe exits so they are just below a small amount of water in a box trap that then drains into the septic tank. I had a problem with baby cockroaches that came up through the showers and that fixed the problem.

[KhaoYai]

As already mentioned - the lack of a u-trap is the most likely culprit and may not be so easy to fix.  If your shower is not raised (drain in the floor), you'll have to break out the concrete below the tiles to install a trap. There is no way around it unfortunately.

 

I don't know why but u-traps are rare in Thailand - probably like everything else, done on the cheap. When I installed them as part of a renovation, the builders looked at them in some kind of wonderment - odd!

 

I previously had all kinds of insects arriving through the floor drains - now nothing.  Fortunately it was not so difficult for me as my house is 'on stilts' - I simply broke into the false ceiling below and installed traps there.

[lopburi3]

54 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

I,ve been down the side of the house, there is a vent pipe fitted, it nearly reaches the roof.

Yes but are the toilets tied to it or just the septic tank?  Each toilet should have an air escape near the actual toilet and above their entry into tank but in Thailand this is not normally the case for single family homes.  So when heavy rains some and ground water gets higher than entry into septic tank gas can not get out and a new flush will increase water in pipe and force some back into bathroom or if too much prevent flushing.

 

But issue could well be floor drains rather than toilet as they will not have any air escape path once gray water above pipes.

[thailand49]

10 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

I just googled p trap but only really found what we in the UK would call a u bend, would you happen to have a picture of what you posted about, sorry to be a pain but fitting a u bend would require digging the shower floor up and you said it just goes under the drain cover. Thanks.

Go down from your request to Transam post and you will see what I'm talking about.

Basically you match up the size to your drain take you original screen off there should be a small screw at top once out drop that in.

[whaleboneman]

16 hours ago, tonray said:

Just add some bleach 50/50 mix with water (safer for grout and the like) and spray the shower down after each use....keeps mildew at bay and the bugs will run (or die)

Septic systems and bleach are not a good mix.

[sirineou]

15 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

I hate to break it to but a the septic tank is always full. That is why it has a drain into a septic field. The bulk of a toilet flush is water.

Thank you for the brake, but here in Thailand here are no drain fields,

the overflow tank consists of a bunch or concrete rings with holes in them, the water drains from the bottom and the side holes,  after a while the area gets saturated and it does not drain any more, More so in the rainy season. Here in Thailand , if that happens , which it does often, a truck comes and pumps them out.

so let me also return the favor and brake it up to you Vocal Neal

You are not in Kansas anymore Dorothy. 

Seriously Though,  what you said is correct in systems that have a drain field that is constructed properly, that is, with perforated pipe, covered in straw, or drain cloth, with a gravel bed under the pipe.  on a slight incline, or a sunny field where the drainage can either be  absorbed by the ground and/or evaporated by the sun.

But that requires available land that often is not available in small building lots.  

 

[sirineou]

14 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

We've been in this place for a little over 18 months, before we moved in the landlady had all the aircons serviced and the septic  tank emptied, so I wouldn't think it needs cleaning yet, we were in the previous place for 5 years + and that didn't need emptying when we left.

 

 

I thank you all for all the tips & helpful replies, I will be approaching the landlady early part of next week, the two bathrooms, our ensuite & the guest bathroom share the same plumbing I believe and the other one has no odour problems & only minor Centipede incursion, so there is definitely something amiss with our ensuite.

 

I'll definitely have a look at the various p traps available, so thanks for those ????

 

It is possible that there is a crack in one of the rings or some other way that the rain water gets in and floods them, If that's the case , there is little that can be done, other than digging them up and fixing them, a messy job. Check the area around them and the access plug, look to see if there is some way that water is getting in.

Also after a heavy rain , unscrewing the access cup . and slicking a stick in it will tell you if it is flooded. 

Do you have a Washer and dryer in your Bathroom? a few months after  we build our house ,  we started getting a smell in out downstairs bathroom, I checked all the drains by covering them and only leaving one uncovered to see which drain was causing the problem, but I was getting no results, Finally those brain cell fired up and I thought of the washing machine that we had recently   installed. the drain to it was a straight pipe. so I install a couple of ninety degree angles creating a trap (see picture) , and End of problem.

 

If you are wondering about the convoluted way  of going up and then down again to accomplish the trap,  Its because the pipe was too low to floor and I did not have enough highs for the trap, 

[tonray]

8 minutes ago, sirineou said:

If you are wondering about the convoluted way  of going up and then down again to accomplish the trap,  Its because the pipe was too low to floor and I did not have enough highs for the trap, 

When we moved into a new townhouse, same problem with the washer. Since everything was new and still under warranty called the developer. The service team came over and I showed them the problem and then showed them a diagram of a p-trap on my phone. In Thai, they told the GF they have no idea what that farang contraption was and had never seen that before. Just that week, we had SB Furniture install kitchen cabinets and sink and they did a proper p-trap...so I walked them over to peek under the sink. Stares of amazment and absolute silence from the crew. In the end they still just fashioned a plastic sealing cap to insert the drain hose thru and be done with it. I stayed out of it...SMH

[Dante99]

30 minutes ago, sirineou said:

here in Thailand here are no drain fields,

Not true, I have seen some being built and confirmed use with owners.

[transam]

14 hours ago, rwill said:

I've had them before.   If you look closely the flap doesn't completely seal. Towards the hinge.

Then tweak it, it's not rocket science.....????

I have fitted 2 now, no probs....

[Artisi]

48 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Thank you for the brake, but here in Thailand here are no drain fields,

the overflow tank consists of a bunch or concrete rings with holes in them, the water drains from the bottom and the side holes,  after a while the area gets saturated and it does not drain any more, More so in the rainy season. Here in Thailand , if that happens , which it does often, a truck comes and pumps them out.

so let me also return the favor and brake it up to you Vocal Neal

You are not in Kansas anymore Dorothy. 

Seriously Though,  what you said is correct in systems that have a drain field that is constructed properly, that is, with perforated pipe, covered in straw, or drain cloth, with a gravel bed under the pipe.  on a slight incline, or a sunny field where the drainage can either be  absorbed by the ground and/or evaporated by the sun.

But that requires available land that often is not available in small building lots.  

 

And far too much trouble for the highly skilled spetic tank installation experts. 

Their premis is, it was working when I finished, now not my "plobem - you fik"