[Kim J.]

Please recommend how to stop the smell coming from the shower stall drain. The shower is located on the second floor. I have poured bleach down it and let it sit for about 30 minutes but the smell returns. I have read to use oxygenated bleach but I am not sure if this would work any better.

Also, there is a smell under one of the bathrooms sinks in the same room the shower is in. I have wiped the inside of the cabinet with a bleach cleaner but the smell returned. Both smells are musty.

Our house is almost 1 year old and I am unsure why we have these types of odors.

Thank you,
Kim

[speedball1]

Hi Kim,

Smells and weird noises are the hardest to track down if you're not on site to do it. Shower smells are caused by rotting hair mixed with grease. I would have the shower drain snaked out to remove any build up in there and then pour a gallon of bleach down the drain and let it set over night, (1/2 hour isn't long enough to do any good). Next morning flush it out with two large pans of boiling water. The bleach will desolve any hair that's left and the boiling water will desolve the grease and flush the entire mess out into the sewer. You might try the "bleach thingy" with the bathroom sink also. Good luck, Tom

[Got__Lucky]

I found the information on this site helpful. I solved my smelly shower problem based on what I learned here. The tile sits on a sandy material that sits above the shower pan. The bleach needs to get in there and kill whatever is making the smell. Pouring bleach in the drain doesn’t work , it has to fill the drain pipe above the trap so it can seep in under the tile. I used a ball on a wire to seal the drain just above the trap. The wire was so I could get the ball back out later. I sealed around the ball so that no bleach could go down the drain. I kept filling the drain with bleach until the level stayed even with the top of the drain. It seemed to take 15 minutes or so. It's a cup or 2 of bleach. I let it sit over night. I pulled out the ball and flushed with water. No smell except for a strong bleach smell that went away after a couple of days.
I used straight bleach and good ventilation.

[Grace11]

Get a Grate Seal. It'll solve all your problems for good. You'll never have to put polutants or money down the drain ever again =D See www.grateseal.com you can buy them online. Australian company too!