On Apr 21, 11:24 pm, Mike P mike@askme wrote:
On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:44:25 GMT, "John" wrote:

.. Recently I have noticed a mildew/damp type smell in the bathroom and think I
.. have finally narrowed it down to the bath overflow. I can't see any leaks
.. under the bath and the plug hole itself smells fine even though the overflow
.. is connected directly to the U bend that the plug drains into. Anyone got
.. any advice about what might be causing it and how to get rid of the smell
.. please?
..
.. Cheers
..
.. John
..
I washed the shower curtain and it cured the smell :-) It was the base
of the curtain causing the problem.
If it is your overflow, then place some thick bleach down it.

Mike P

That's good tip. We've washed our plastic shower curtain liner a
couple of times to get rid of a grungy rime along bottom of it .
But replacing it is also simple and cheap. In fact last time we bought
two liners (good plastic thickness too) for less than five bucks
Canadian (2 to 3 quid?); changed one and kept it as a drop sheet and
put the spare liner in the bathroom cabinet.
Good idea too btw to keep a spare wax toilets seal in there; just as
well in our case, cos we got only one john! Although last time I used
a non-wax spongy rubber toilet base seal, that has worked well for
past 4 to 5 years.
We have also used the cholorox/javex etc. bleach down the bath plug
hole into the trap and allowed the fumes to rise up the tube/channel
to the bath over flow. It is also possible on some, including ours to
disassemble the bath overflow plate and fish down the overflow to
dislodge built up muck! But one has to be careful not to 'lose' the
fitting on the other side of the tub if it has tendency to fall away!
We did this by carefully loosening two screws, then removing one
screw, sliding the overflow trim plate away and then inserting a
longer screw to hold onto while poking the pipe. Only done that once
in 37 years! Your mileage (construction) may differ?
You can also try getting water into the bath drain by putting a couple
of inches in the bath, allow water to start draining and using the
rubber plunger place flush over the overflow try and suck water water
back up to flush out the overflow; replace the plug as you do this.
Grunge may come out of the over flow or get flushed away.