[jmurray]

For the past few days I have had a horrible odor in the master bedroom of my house. The smell reminds me of a litter box that needs to be changed. That's the only way I can describe it. Not like cat urine (ammonia), but cat feces. I can't really describe it. It's really strong. Anyway, I believe it's giving me headaches. I've cleaned the entire bathroom. Poured bleach down the drains. Nothing is working. I have a vent fan in the ceiling that I've covered to see if that's the source of the odor, but it still there. I can't tell if it's a plumbing issue or something else. The house in only about a year old. The smell isn't present anywhere else in the house. Just the master bathroom. Please help. I'm going to go crazy if I can't get rid of the smell! It's making me miserable. By the way, we don't have a cat!

[ballengerb1]

It could be rotting hair in a drain or a bad wax ring under the toilet. I think a bad ring is your problem, its venting sewer gas into your bath. If you run the exhaust fan it can actually pull more gas into the room.

[Stringer]

Possibly the seal on the toilet at the floor may need repaired.

Secondly, even though you have poured bleach down the drain it is necessary that the "trap" below the drain always has water in it to stop the sewer gas from entering the bathroom. Not only the sink trap but also the bathtub trap.

Our downstairs guest washroom has a sink and a shower, I found when the door was closed for a period that a slight oder was in this room. Upon closer inspection I found it was coming from the shower drain. Since this shower was not used a lot the water in the trap evaporated and the odor was allowed to enter. By simply turning on the shower for 3-4 minutes the trap was refilled with water-problem resolved.

I hope this advice helped, possibly a plumber will also respond to verify or correct me.

Good luck,
Stringer

[ballengerb1]

"Possibly the seal on the toilet at the floor " that's what we call a wax ring.

[jmurray]

Would I be able to tell from just looking at the base of the toilet if the wax ring was bad? Everything looks to be in tack on the outside at the floor. The toilet isn't rocking or loose or anything like that.

[ballengerb1]

No sorry but you can't tell if a ring is bad by inspecting the toilet. The toilet doesn't have to rock but that is one way to make a good seal go bad. It is easy and cheap ($2) to replace a seal so when you have the symptoms we just go for it. Sewer gas smells exactly like you think it should smell but hair is more of a rank odor almost like something dead. You have bleached the traps so I'm going with a bad wax ring. This may help locate the odor, turn on your exhaust fan and put your nose close to the floor right next to the toilet base. If the ring is bad the exhaust fan will draw some gas into the room.

[jmurray]

Well, I had a plumber come in and he of course couldn't smell anything! Probably because he walks around smelling like that anyway so it was no different! He didn't do anything for me. Before I call another one, when I put my nose down to the base of the toilet it doesn't seem to be coming from there. Although, maybe I could be smelling the wrong side or something. Turning the fan on and then sniffing the base still doesn't tell me that the odor is coming from there. I'm going to bleach the shower drain once more to see if that makes a difference. I don't think I let it sit there long enough the first time.

[Stringer]

And always make sure that there is waterin the traps in the shower and the sink.
Stringer

[ballengerb1]

Murry, when you bleach a drain let it sit over night, the next day flush with a bucket of the hottest water you can tap. It works well but you can also try grandma's brew. 1/2 cup of baking soda mixed with 1/2 cup table salt, dump in drain. Add a cup of vinegar and watch the action. Allow this to sit over night followed by a bucket of really hot water.