OT: bad smelling bathroom

Ours smelled when the seal under the toilet was leaking, even though you couldn’t see anything actually leaking out on the sides.  But cleaning didn’t make our odor go away, so your problem may be different.  

We rented a house with a very stinky toilet in the master bathroom.  Unfortunately the previous tenants weren’t the cleanest people.  Like you it would smell okay for a short time and then start smelling again.  Definately look for water damage around your toilet.  I don’t normally like harsh cleaners but in desperation I bought Clorox Toilet Tablets, which are a chlorine bleach tablet that you put into the tank and it essentially releases a little bit of bleach into your toilet each time you flush.  Not sure I’d recommend it for a bathroom that kids use though.  Eventuallly the problem went away.  I don’t know for certain that it was the tablets though, but it might be worth a try.

We had the same problem and it turned out to be a broken seal around the toilet too.  Unfortunatly, we didn’t realize what it was until it was WAY too late, and needed to gut the entire bathroom.  If it is a first story bathroom, and a basement is underneath, you ccould check to see if the ceiling of the basement where the bathroom is located is wet.  That was how we discovered we had a problem!

I would also suggest changing out the toilet seat if you haven’t. We have had to do that at times b/c even when they look clean, sometimes they are stained with urine and you just can’t get the smell out b/c it gets in the hinges and such.

As for the culprit(s), I will say as  a Momma of 4 sons, their bathroom upstairs (that they solely use except on rare occasion we have guests), does SMELL until they clean it each week. I don’t allow them to urinate outside the toilet bowl but apparently it just happens. If I catch anyone being sloppy, they must clean it right then. My little girls’ bathroom which DD1 uses only (DD2 still in diapers), it never smells. I do think boys are harder on bathrooms than girls.

I would second checking the seal and also try changing the toilet seat.

We just had this issue and I too thought it was my boys. : ) Turned out we needed the toilet reseeded?? Not sure that’s the right word but that’s what it sounded like. LOL The ring under the toilet was not sealed and had to be replaced.

Just wanted to add that there was no sign of our seal being broken.  There was nothing leaking out the sides.  It wasn’t until mushrooms started sprouting and brown nasty slime started oozing up from the edge where the floor met the tub that we realized we had a very big problem.  There was no other sign before that other than the stench of pee – and that is because what you flush down the toilet seeps into the wood surounding the toilet, which is why you smell it all the time.  But at the time, I shrugged the smell of to 2 little boys who couldn’t aim very well!  Lesson learned the hard way for me!

I am so glad I stopped to read this conversation!  I was just saying to a friend today that my hall bathroom always smells and I assumed it was because I have a little boy!  I hope you all don’t mind if I share your words of wisdom with my husband so we can resolve our smelly issues before we grow mushrooms!!