[RB Peeple]

I had the same problem. I thought it was the drain - there are stories all over the internet with people ready to rip out there bathrooms because the smell is so strong. In my case, you could smell in downstairs.

A plumber friend explained that if soap or a hair finds its way into the overflow pipe - mold can form (I have a 3-year old who splashes around in there each night). He said it was unlikely that it was the drain because that drain gets flushed 3 times daily with showers and bathes - so mold cannot form. The soap/hair gets in the overflow pipe can just sit there - and grow with the humidity of the bathroom.

I unscrewed the cap of the drain overflow - and low and behold - there was a thin coating of mold all over overflow PVC pipe.

I put bleach in the spray bottle and sprayed inside the pipe vigourously. I bought a LONG flexible pipe brush from Lowe's (or a plumbing supply store) and then scrubbed the pipe a good 6-8 inches down. Repeat 3 or 4 times. Clean the rubber gasket that compresses the pipe to the tub - and also the overflow cap. Make sure EVERYTHING is clean or the mold will come back faster.

In my case, this appears to be a 1x a year job - no idea why - it just is. Oh, and one more thing, make sure the screw that holds in the overflow cap is stainless steel. The contractor that installed the initial overflow cap didn't put a stainless one in - and the screw rusted to the overflow cap - causing major problems getting the cap off. This last time - it came out very easy.

[speedball1]

Hi RB and Welcome to The Plumbing Page. At AskMeHelpDesk.com. You're responding to a 4 year old dead thread so I gave you one of your own. Look in then upper left hand corner of the first post form the date in the first post before you post, Thanks,

I unscrewed the cap of the drain overflow

Here's a cutaway of a lavatory. Show me what you unscrewed. Back to you, Tom.