Another Smelly Drain

[nellyp]

There is an excellent thread on here about smelly drains. unfortunately as I rent my property i cannot get into having u-bends fitted and my downstairs shower drain stinks. I do not know if there is a bend fitted or not, but if there is it ain't cutting the mustard. I like the idea of the ping pond ball or tennis ball but am worried about blocking the drain. I cannot see the pipe inside so have no idea how big it is the drain cover is 80mm wide and is fixed into position. I will get that out somehow if i need to though. Any ideas about how to proceed would be great. By the way the house is not that old and is in Sisaket town (siramong kon 2) if that is of any use.

Cheers

Neil

[Crossy]

A plate upside-down over the drain will provide temporary relief, don't forget to remove it when you shower.

[fremmel]

I've used one of those toilet brush sets where the brush stands upright in a plastic base. The base was big enough to cover the drain and the upright handle made it easy to move. The drain I was covering was the floor drain close to the toilet so it didn't look too out of place.

[canuckamuck]

A plate upside-down over the drain will provide temporary relief, don't forget to remove it when you shower.

Yep, except i use a plastic bowl.

Also pour some bleach down there, I have had that work before as well.

[nellyp]

A plate upside-down over the drain will provide temporary relief, don't forget to remove it when you shower.

Yep, except i use a plastic bowl.

Also pour some bleach down there, I have had that work before as well.

I'm using a plastic plate at the moment, and loads of bleach. it still has a bit of a smell though. i went outside this afternoon and the wife's family were visiting and kindly were trying to get some concrete left by builders of the carport thing. They seemed to think soaking it in my bleach supply would do the trick

[Pib]

I know you said you don't want to get into U-traps, but if you know/can access easily the gray water box the shower drain pipe drains into, for about 50 baht (or less) in PVC pipe 90 degree connectors (or even just one 90 degree connector) you just might be able to fix your smelly shower in just a few minutes. Where I mention the one 90 degree connector, that would apply if the drain pipe enters the gray box near the bottom where you couldn't fit a U-trap...but you could install one 90 degree connector pointing up to always hold some water in the pipe...I had to do that on one of my drains where I couldn't fit in a U-trap--worked like a charm.

[nellyp]

I know you said you don't want to get into U-traps, but if you know/can access easily the gray water box the shower drain pipe drains into, for about 50 baht (or less) in PVC pipe 90 degree connectors (or even just one 90 degree connector) you just might be able to fix your smelly shower in just a few minutes. Where I mention the one 90 degree connector, that would apply if the drain pipe enters the gray box near the bottom where you couldn't fit a U-trap...but you could install one 90 degree connector pointing up to always hold some water in the pipe...I had to do that on one of my drains where I couldn't fit in a U-trap--worked like a charm.

I wish I could get at the pipes, as I'm sure i could sort this then. Unfortunately they are concreted into the floor. Still using the plate till i get some info on the ping pong or tennis ball idea. I think it woukld be a tennis ball but a bit risky at the mo as I need to cut out the drain cover which is (looks like grout)held in place.

cheers all the same

neil

[Pib]

Just to be clear and in case we are thinking different things, the gray water boxes I'm talking about would be outside in your yard area...usually running pretty close to your fence wall. The boxes are usually covered with a concrete slab about 12 inches by 18 inches, 1 inch thick, and weighing about 10 pounds...and the boxes are about 18 inches deep. Hopefully they have not been landscaped over with grass, rock, etc., to where you can't see them. I will admit I have intentionally landscaped over a couple of mine with loose rocks, but I know where the boxes are at and it only takes a minute to move away the rocks to get to them once a year or so to clean them out as they accumulate dirt/sand/stuff which can clog up the drain pipes. If you can't see them you could turn the water on to drain XYZ and then go outside and listen for draining water to find the box.

Anyway, attached is a picture of one of my gray water boxes where I put in two U-traps. One U-trap is from my upstairs showers and one from my downstairs washing machine drain. I would have also included a picture of another gray box where I have one U-trap and one 90 degree connector for two drain outlets. I just used one 90 degree connector pointing up (for my downstairs bathroom floor drain) since I didn't have room in the box for a complete U-trap due to where the drain pipe entered the box...this one connector setup holds some water at the end of the drain pipe (versus using a U trap) to block smells. Last year, primarily during rainy season I had no shortage of aromas that would come through the downstairs drains....never got any aromas up the second floor of the house. I have those little traps that come as part of the floor drains but these little circular U-traps, so to speak, only hold a few ounces of water which evaporate after a day or two. After installing the U-traps where my drain pipes feed into the gray water boxes I've had no smelly bathrooms/drains. It was a cheap fix as each 90 degree connector only costs around 12 baht.

Good luck with the plate and be sure not to ever use it for serving dinner (unless you really don't like the dinner guest).