Smelly bathroom

Sorry to hear this - we were warned by our (also) British San Pedro resident neighbours that the drains would start to smell (stagnation?)  if bathrooms not flushed regularly. We have given them keys to our property and they do so once a week. Hope that helps….

Properties in Spain commonly have very shallow u-bends and if the property is empty for a while the water in the u-bend evaporates, so you will get smells, etc. up from the waste pipes / sewer. I would suggest running all your taps, flushing the loos and then the smell should be gone.

I've seen people suggest putting cling film over loos and sinks for when they are not there, but I've never tried it, so can't vouch for that as a solution.

It'll be air in the drains! As previously mentioned, the Spanish drains are not equipped with traps and as soon as the residual water has evaporated, the air starts to come back up the drain, bringing the smell with it. We have a brand new house and one of our shower rooms has had a smelly drain since day one. I just run some water down it and the smell goes away. It's annoying but not life-threatening!

Hola     yes those smells      if some "paper or cloth"  get caught    this starts   to draw water    (trying to remember the name  from my plumbing classes in the 70s)   I think wicking  is the term      so long ago    where have the years gone ?  

Do you have a steam cleaner?     this can help,    try some "Zoflora"  found at  Ice Land  (over seas)     or  strong bleach   (also at Ice Land)

yes the water in the traps do evaporite over a short time        another tip   try some silicone around the "joints"  of the bathroom ware     even the part that touches the floor     (just a small bead    if you are not DIY  savvy    try   Clear    silicone  with washing up liquid on your finger )     

Then  blame us Men    (spray ?     hence    Zoflora       )      I would advise against  cling film    more on the WC     what if you forget    or been on the Vino     (cheap at Aldi)  

just run water    helps         plus open windows        air fresher may be if no windows                   hope this helps     

If you're living in the house full time, it shouldn't be a problem. If you lock and leave for any period, particularly in the summer, water in traps and toilets will evaporate and allow foul air into your property. Sometimes basin, bidet and bath waste all use only one trap.

I always put cling film over the toilets; plugs in basins and overflow, and turn off the water before leaving. Always works.

I had the same problem.....

2 years of "sniffing" to determine the problem.

• Sealed everything with silicon, round bottom of toilet, sink, showerbase.
• Sealed brick in the roof void, sealed all holes in there too
• steamed floors and walls
• umpteen air fresheners
• Notices, sometime smell more prominent on windy days.
• smell vanished when window open.

I bought a boroscope camera for my iphone, and proceeded to probe down drains etc.  Noticed when tightening the hair guard in the shower, the mounting pillar moved allowing water in the trap to slowly drain out. the bottom on the pillar was cracked!So I put araldite glue in bottom and that solved problem for a few months, after which the araldite shriveled and water leaked away.   So ended up ripping up shower based (had no option) and replace it.  Under the showerbase, in addition to the crack in the trap the trap hadn't been assembled correctly.
All sorted now.

Thank you for taking the trouble with your detailed and helpful response Alanatbaz. We are working through your suggestions and others and am relieved that the smell is barely noticeable now

Hi Pam.

We used to have the same problem when we hadn't visited our apartment for some time. Now we cover our toilets with clingfilm before we leave, and put bleach in all the sinks etc. We visited in December for the first time in 21 months, both toilets still had water in them and the Apartment smelt fine.

Hope this helps

The showers have very small water traps. There is a spray you can use to squirt down after a shower and also the overflows on sinks. It is made for this purpose and comes with a plastic straw  (like WD 40)