Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Thanks Barriej sounds just the same. The pipe in the diagram at the bottom is the run off into the soil stack but it looks to me like it might be getting dry and full of gunk. As you say because we aren’t running enough water through them each day.

I’ve given is a good rodding 😉 and added some bleach and vinegar and the smell has gone for last 48 hours. I definitely don’t want to be opening that sifonico every time I start a holiday so I’ll have to keep trying things until I hit on something that works.

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

This is not an uncommon problem, Barrie. We have this thread, I included another thread in an earlier reply and over the years seen quite a few discussions on this. It seems that there are several causes and fixes too like replacing seals etc. We're lucky our quick fix (mentioned earlier) works well. I don't fancy removing the toilet and changing the seals... And 'rodding the downpipe' is a scary thought :)

I have to say that Ive not heard of this much in UK installations, seems like the old fashioned U bend stops most of these problems. "If it aint broke..... "
Jon

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

They don't seem to use traps here unless its been done by a Brit.

My FIL used to look after around 40 villas and flats a few years ago and he said that most had issues with smells after being empty for months on end. You would be surprised just how fast the water in the toilet bowl evaporates.
He used to ensure the plugs were in the sinks and he used a kids toy (a little gel bag thing) to put over the shower plug hole. Toilets he put loads of bleach and then cling filmed over the toilet bowl.
It stopped smells and cockroaches as some of the flats were in a place near here called 'cockroach alley' you could never get rid of them.

Ive just looked at our sink in the kitchen, it doesn't have a trap either, just down and 90 off into the wall.

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

This may not be the answer but our experience was having had a ‘gentle’ whiff of drains in our apartment bathroom I tracked it down to the join between the toilet pedestal and floor tiling. It turned out the toilet waste pipe (s shaped) just emptied into the floor drain without any type of flexible sealing ‘boot’. Our plumber said the the absence of a sealing thing was quite normal, for the life of me I cannot think why this should be so.

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

We get a smell sometimes as well. It does seem to move from one toilet to a different sink and then a shower etc etc but eventually it goes when we are using them all. When our place was renovated I couldn't be at the house all the time and it always seems whenever I was away something was fitted and later I found out using a U bend wasn't a done thing.
Light switches and power points were also another issue of 'cultural differences'.
With toilets and when leaving the house empty for some period of time I tend to cling film over the bowl so the water takes longer to disappear. Not perfect but delays it for a while.
I actually leave myself a note for when I get back to remind myself to remove the cling film...........

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

I think that’s one of the pranks we pulled at university! 😆 seems I’m another in a long line of people dealing with the same issue. Strange it’s just accepted so widely and plumbers continue to work this way

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Its not strange really, you build a house/flat/castle to a set of codes and then the owner just decides to use it for a couple of weeks a year...The builder can't vary the way they work.
I will admit that not using traps etc to me is silly but thats the Spanish regs.
They work differently in Germany as well and don't ask about toilets in Saudi please....

Same with electrical stuff, UK loves ring circuits (and is one of the few countries that fuses plugs), but that wont work here as each circuit has to be balanced to 'pull' the same amount of current so you get sockets and lights on the same circuit, in the states its one live all the way round but the Neg is radial..but its only 110v so not so bad. For 220 on cookers its two lives no neg.. go figure.
I installed a machine in a factory on a small Caribbean island and they poked two wires into a 3 phase socket to power the drill for the floor bolts, I was the only one who was shocked by this (not actually though) :)

Like I said we had smells when we used the flat in 2019 for the holidays but now we live here full time we have no issues at all.
Nor do any of our neighbours except for the second homers, cause the couple who have the flat opposite of the landing mentioned the same thing yesterday when they arrived (its the first time back this year for them).

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Im going off topic here... But you mentioned wiring....

Interesting re wiring in Spain...

Do you know if it is possible to replace a light switch (its upstairs on our landing doubled up with a switch at the bottom of the stairs)..

Replace it with a switch and a standard plug socket please?

Thanks
Jon

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Cant see an issue most of the circuits are under loaded anyway.
We have a plug socket/light switch combo in all of the bedrooms.
We contract for 5.2kw and the power only 'trips' when we have the oven, hob, TV and lights on over Christmas... SWMBO likes a Christmas tree that our neighbours the other side of the barranca can see and read by :)

From memory we have one A/C unit, the TV, three sockets and two lights on one circuit.
And the others are balanced the same. Its unlikely that you would have all the appliances on each circuit on all together.

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Thank you Barrie.... For the prompt reply...

I wont be loading it too much, so that isn't a problem. Do you think that the switch/socket gizmo you have will fit into my existing light switch or would I need to change out the back box please?

I suppose that I can get it at say Leroy Merlin for example... The switch will need to be a 'double switch' to work with the one downstairs.... Of course I would need live, neutral and earth at the current back box too (though I am OK to be naughty and lose the earth)....

With leccy prices shooting up, will you still be lighting up the area at xmas? :)

Thanks again

Jon

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Our 2002 build has just that - practically all the sockets are hanging off one circuit for some reason. Electrical standards were improved in a 2002 law so there's less chance of things like that happening in newer builds.

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

That would have been when the old Uk systems and the EU started aligning standards.
I got to 15th edition in the Uk and then went to industrial which was another ball game, so we had one qualified industrial spark with up to date certificates (we all still did the work, he just signed it off)...