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OT: bad smelling bathroom

This topic has 16 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 7 months ago by pangit.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

Author
Posts
September 10, 2012 at 3:42 am
pangit
Participant
I have never had issues with a bathroom that smelled like urine. I have 2 girls who are 6 and 8. Even during potty training we didn’t have issues with a smelly bathroom. We just moved into this house the end of May. The main bathroom stinks. I can scrub it and it will smell fine for a day or two and then it starts to smell of urine. I have watched for pee on the floor or for the toilet leaking and I don’t see anything. It is frustrating to have the bathroom smelly. Any ideas of what might be causing it and how to eliminate it?
September 10, 2012 at 4:05 am
lily
Participant
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.
September 10, 2012 at 4:09 am
Monica
Participant
Have you tried using an old toothbrush to scrub around the base of the toilet? Have you taken the seat off of the base of the toilet to clean all of those areas?
My first two kids were boys, so I know the story about smelly bathrooms!!
September 10, 2012 at 5:54 am
suzisue
Participant
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.
September 10, 2012 at 11:42 am
Heather
Participant
Have you tried cleaning with vinegar? I’ve used vinegar for cleaning forever and I never had a stinky bathroom problem until we started using some cleaner that was given to us free. I went back to the vinegar and haven’t had a problem since!! I use it on the walls around the toilet too. Boys will be boys, I guess.
September 10, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Laura.bora
Participant
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!
September 10, 2012 at 1:08 pm
chocodog
Participant
I learned alot! Here, I just thought it was the boys all this time… Tehe he
I bet it was the seal and the floor under it and maybe the boys some of the time???…
September 10, 2012 at 4:33 pm
LDIMom
Participant
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.
September 10, 2012 at 5:35 pm
curlywhirly
Participant
You may also try washing down the walls and cabinets near the toilet with a vinegar solution. When I find there is a reoccouring odor that I can’t explain this usually fixes it. Apparently males get splashy sometimes. :-/
September 10, 2012 at 6:14 pm
kymom
Member
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.

September 10, 2012 at 6:16 pm
pangit
Participant
Thank you. I usually clean with vinegar and have washed the toilet bowl with bleach. I wondered about the seal but thought that wasn’t the case since it isn’t leaking around the base. Maybe it still could be. I haven’t taken the seat off to clean the hinges better so I’ll have to try that. The seat does have staining on it, so maybe that is it, too. Since I only have girls, I haven’t been too concerned about the splashing but I don’t know who lived here before us, so I should probably get back behind and scrub the walls better. Then to see what I can get the rental agency to do.
September 10, 2012 at 7:50 pm
Laura.bora
Participant
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!

September 10, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Monica
Participant
Definitely clean the hinges where the seat attaches. It gets VERY disgusting under there when there are boys using the toilet!! That alone could be the source of the smell!
September 10, 2012 at 8:53 pm
JenniferM
Participant
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!!
September 11, 2012 at 12:24 am
2flowerboys
Participant
Ditto what everyone said! LOL the hinges hide a lot! And we also had the issue of unsealed toilet! No leaking but stuff hiding under it!
I have 2 boys and have to clean all the time!! They miss quite often 🙂

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

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