Good morning Reddit.
I moved into a new apartment.
Basic info.
It’s a mansion. Built in 2019. Modern.
Live on 7th floor (if it matters).
When I moved in no smell from the shower.
Been there 2 weeks. Now the shower smells of rotten eggs (we all now the smell)
I have cleaned the shower properly 2 times since I moved in, even before I noticed the smell.
I have cleaned the drain, tried to clean the pipe by sticking the shower head in the drain and aiming it at the end of the pipe, put in the chlorine tablet but no luck.
Still the same smell.
However, when I shower the smell does go away. Is this because of the steam and soap etc. I don’t know.
Or is it because the old water is being “pushed” away?
Takes about 5 minutes after I’m finished and the shower smells again.
I have a washing machine connected outside the shower (I’m assuming they all lead to the same pipe?)
Any tips on how to keep the smell away? Or is it some other part(s) that needs cleaning?
Thank you and have a good day.
18 comments
Something I do is keep the window in my bathroom open in addition to all the cleaning methods you mentioned!
Sounds like you have a problem with the pipe/drainage system that’s most likely causing the sewage gases to release in your bathroom. I would contact the landlord or insurance (if you’re the owner) to deal with the issue.
Next step drain cleaner. Better wear gloves when your pour that down the drain. Let that do its work overnight and see if that helps. If that doesn’t do anything, contact your landlord. There may be a problem with the bend draining/evaporating/not existing that allows the foul smell to come back up from the drainage pipe. That’s my two cents because you say the smell stops when water goes down while you’re in the shower.
> Can’t get rid of the smell in the shower
Have you tried soap and a washcloth? 🤣
> Any tips on how to keep the smell away?
Are you sure all the parts of the water trap are there and properly assembled?
Pipeline stuff, I reckon.
Short term fix: Pour some bleach and boiling water down the drain, let it sit. I just have a habit of doing this once a week.
I know nothing about plumbing, so I assume the people talking about pipes/drainage are correct but one thing I found out about Japanese tubs is that the front panel can be taken off to better clean everything. It is connected by those annoying clips that are a pain in the ass to put back on. If you are waiting for the manager to take a look, I recommend seeing if you can remove that to clean better.
I had that issue in an old apartment I lived in and I assumed it was some sort of broken “trap” in the drain. It was one of those bathrooms where the toilet and shower and everything is together and there was the drain in the floor outside the bath tub for any water which got out of the bath/shower. I had to put plastic wrap covering it because it constantly smelled like farts and it was awful. The building was old and the management company was useless so I never was able to get it fixed (it was super sus because like a week or two after we moved in we got a flyer in our mailbox specifically for like drain/pipe repair lmao.) So we think they were trying to get us to pay for the repairs instead of doing it themselves
Going to second that this is most likely sewage piping problem, and you’re smelling the smell from sewage gases rising up. Call the landlord and tell them about it
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I had a shower drain “lid” rotated 180° and it somehow allowed the aroma to escape the drain.
There is a pipe that curves down and then up right below the drain. Normally this holds enough water to block any gases from coming up the sewer pipe and into the bathroom.
Yours is most likely cracked and leaking the water that would collect there. You need a plumber to fix it.
Do you have a washing machine that you are not using? That can cause smell issues in the drainage area.
In this case you need to pour water into the drain for the washing machine every so often.
Do you have a roll cover for the bathtub? Sometimes the smell comes from the cover (it starts smell really bad once humidity goes high) . If nothing works with cleaning the pipe, you may want to soak it with lots of Kabi-killer for about 30min.
If you want to save some money, you can use kitchen bleach mixed with alkaline detergent or neutral detergent and use a 100 yen shop blush to paint all the roll-cover.
Warning: Never ever mix it with acidic detergent!!!
You will have strong smell of chlorine, make sure to open up all the windows when you do this.
Have you been using the washing machine? If not, make sure to run it. I used to have that problem when I had the place to hook one up, but no washing machine. Until I got one, I just poured boiling water down the drain from time to time to fix it.
Pour baking soda and then vinegar down the drain. Natural and doesn’t hurt anything.
Edit2: I think [this website](https://curama.jp/bath/magazine/488/#a5) will answer your question for sure. Use Google Translate if you can’t read Japanese.
From reading your comments, I’m almost positive that you didn’t put the trap back together properly after cleaning it.
In most western countries, the trap is in the pipe itself where you can’t see it. In Japan, it’s right there at the top and you should be able to see the water.
I suspect you have the type shown on the left side of [this image](https://www.suido-trouble.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/bath_traptype.jpg). The top part (目皿) is the hair-catcher grate. Take that off and look for the part labeled 椀(ワン) in this image. ~~It should look like an upside-down cup.~~ (See edit below) Twist it to the left, pull it off, and you should immediately notice that the sewer gasses are more intense and you can see directly into the deep-dark drain. Then replace it, turn it clockwise until it clicks into place, and **make sure that the edges are submerged in water so no gas can escape.** Check for cracks as well.
Sometimes, if you dump a lot of water in the drain (like after a bath or when emptying a cleaning bucket), a siphon effect will pull *too much* water into the drain so that there’s not enough to reach the lip of the upside-down cup. If that’s the case, you’ll need to get into the habit of turning the water back on for 5 seconds after the bath is fully drained.
If this doesn’t help, let me know. I have more ideas but I’d need pictures to identify your drain type.
Edit: Sorry, my brain is fried and I’m thinking of kitchen sinks. The “cup” is more likely a ring as in [this image](https://cdn-img.curama.jp/c/r=auto,w=620,h=620,f=webp,a=0/original/faq/d446754f-be6c-4e91-ae1c-4c2b0791e833/d4ad7036-4b80-415e-b719-12594abb484b.jpg). Still, the function is the same and the procedure for checking it is the same. Twist the outer ring to the left, check for a stronger smell, replace it, click it into place.
Have you checked if the smell is from the towels, maybe?
There was a decomposing human body in a motel’s roof-top water tank in LA, 2013, found after several people complained of the smell. Just a thought
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elisa_Lam