The Home Improvements Thread (3)

SHL said:
Suggestions on getting rid of smelly odour from shower drain? It's one of those linear ones. No blockages as water flows nicely. So far, I've opened the cover and thoroughly cleaned the trap etc but the smell still persists.

View attachment 1842294
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can you confirm the brand used? sunridge, geberit, etc
 
SHL said:
Suggestions on getting rid of smelly odour from shower drain? It's one of those linear ones. No blockages as water flows nicely. So far, I've opened the cover and thoroughly cleaned the trap etc but the smell still persists.
Click to expand...

Any and all drain related smells and issues are dealt this - at ~R25 I would give it a go.

1755775984767.png
 
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SHL said:
Wirquin Venisio 800 like the below pic but with single channel.

View attachment 1842375
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so it comes with a 5 year warrentee. If you struggle let me know i can arrange with one of the technical guys from wirquin to come assist you.
The s trap is built into the channel. It should always have some water in it to prevent smells from the drain. If its empty there could be a issue. For example if you flush a toilet or empty the bath it can create a vacuum in the pipes that suck the s trap dry.

if you don't use it often it will lose the water in the s trap and smell. for now pour some bleach doen the trap and check.
 
qscwbt said:
so it comes with a 5 year warrentee. If you struggle let me know i can arrange with one of the technical guys from wirquin to come assist you.
The s trap is built into the channel. It should always have some water in it to prevent smells from the drain. If its empty there could be a issue. For example if you flush a toilet or empty the bath it can create a vacuum in the pipes that suck the s trap dry.

if you don't use it often it will lose the water in the s trap and smell. for now pour some bleach doen the trap and check.
Click to expand...
I thoroughly cleaned out the built-in trap.
1755782844731.png

I think the problem lies in this pipe. Impossible to reach but I'm going to try flooding with caustic soda as mentioned then take it from there.
1755782616616.png
 
I have one of these, different make, it has a rubber seal thing that sometimes doesn't close after cleaning - then it stinks - no idea what I'm going to do when it finally gives up.

For your picture above this post, you could try one of these:

Builders | Shop DIY, Paint and Building Materials Online

www.builders.co.za

(I just bought one last week because our drain line in the kitchen for the washing machine, dishwasher, main sink, and island sink - are all shared and finally blocked, flooding the kitchen via the dish washer outlet)
 
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SHL said:
Got some caustic soda, going to flood and leave overnight.
Click to expand...
Be very careful with caustic soda, it gets really hot and will damage plastic and PVC parts and corrode chromed finishes.

Make sure you wear eye protection and don't get any on your skin.
 
_Jakes_ said:
Be very careful with caustic soda, it gets really hot and will damage plastic and PVC parts and corrode chromed finishes.

Make sure you wear eye protection and don't get any on your skin.
Click to expand...
Noted. I'll dilute and test it first but why do they recommend it for cleaning drains if the drain pipes are PVC?
 
Last edited:
xrapidx said:
I have one of these, different make, it has a rubber seal thing that sometimes doesn't close after cleaning - then it stinks - no idea what I'm going to do when it finally gives up.

For your picture above this post, you could try one of these:

Builders | Shop DIY, Paint and Building Materials Online

www.builders.co.za

(I just bought one last week because our drain line in the kitchen for the washing machine, dishwasher, main sink, and island sink - are all shared and finally blocked, flooding the kitchen via the dish washer outlet)
Click to expand...
Definitely going to get this. I have to 2 linear shower channels. Thankfully the other one hasn't troubled yet.
 
SHL said:
Noted. I'll dilute and test it first but why do they recommend it for cleaning drains if the drain pipes are PVC?
Click to expand...
Caustic soda heats up when mixed with water, if the solution is too concentrated it can melt the pvc, if you follow the instructions you should be ok.
 
My Foooooook. Too many posts to quote.

I have 3 of these POS drains. Hold on, this is gonna be a long one.

The ones I have come with, like a square plastic cup/insert that you put in the middle of the hole and act like a trap. The waste outlet sits on the backside in the middle of the drain. It has no built-in proper trap like some of the ones quoted here. If you remove the insert, there is a straight outlet pipe that connects to your waste, wherever that may be. So then it is basicly a free flow.

The only layer of protection is this stupid plastic cup. Water flow out of the waste is also really slow when using the provided cup/trap.

Shower # 1, Main bedroom upstairs:
  1. Removed the POS plastic cup. Now I have a free flow out of waste.
  2. The waste pipe connected to the shower comes down a utility shaft next to the sewage waste pipe.
  3. Installed a normal black rubber trap that connects to the sewage pipe with a collar fitting. So I created my own proper trap downstream of the shower at ground level, and it is accessible.
  4. The draining and smell problem went away. And my shower drains instantly.
  5. Sweet sorted

Shower # 2, Spare room upstairs:
  1. Exact same process was followed as shower # 1
  2. Sweet sorted

Shower # 3, Guest bathroom downstairs:
  1. I removed the cup/trap and improvised a DIY trap using these things from Temu. Tried all of them in some or other iteration of building my own "trap"
  2. 1755831911874.png
  3. None of them worked for my application.
  4. I have spent hundreds of hours trying to sort this shiiit out. My whole bottom floor of the house smells like a kakplaas at times. Total fsckup.
  5. I am back to using the standard cup/trap thingy, and my last plan is to silicone that thing in place.
  6. It has an o-ring-type rubber, but it does not seal very good.
  7. It seems as if it holds enough water to act as a trap at this stage, so I will try the silicone move.
  8. If that doesn't work, I am going to chop up the shower floor and install a linear drain that has a proper trap underneath and lift the shower floor.
  9. I can't live with this anymore.

Notes:
  • Shower # 1 gets used daily. And it is 2m x 1.2m or somewhere in size. Double shower. So the trap is constantly filled with water
  • Shower # 2 gets used maybe 3-4 times a year. Trap is not constantly filled with water. I let the water run every so often just to keep things flowing. Single shower
  • Shower # 3 gets used maybe once a year. Even if I were to use it daily, it would not make a difference. Double shower, also 2m x 1.2m

Lessons I have learnt:
  • It's amazing how much your own shiiit stinks.
  • Fancy shower drains without proper traps are total BS.
  • Make sure your fancy BS walk-in shower has a decent sloped floor.
  • Having utility shafts is amazing when shiiit hits the fan.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
What part of the country are you in? Would be good to see how they hold up over time.

All the UPVC products they manufacturer here should have additives for the local UV conditions, so they should last for a pretty long time.
Click to expand...
I got uPVC double glazed windows in my house. Been about 10 plus years now, without any significant wear & tear / degradation of the uPVC frames. they are far better at insulation than aluminium / steel / wood etc.

my house consistently shows a +-2 - 5 degree deference in outside / inside temperatures without the need for heating or cooling
 
TedLasso said:
Here you go. Had to learn how to make a collage.

Edit: this was a wall painted 5 years ago , I guess without the proper prep.
6264ac85995845addba1af3589bbe9d1.jpg
Click to expand...

:X3: that reminds me I still have a boundary wall along my driveway that I want to clad with nutec, like I did in my backyard to hide the vibracrete & k@k ugly electric fencing.
 
W@P said:
My Foooooook. Too many posts to quote.

I have 3 of these POS drains. Hold on, this is gonna be a long one.

The ones I have come with, like a square plastic cup/insert that you put in the middle of the hole and act like a trap. The waste outlet sits on the backside in the middle of the drain. It has no built-in proper trap like some of the ones quoted here. If you remove the insert, there is a straight outlet pipe that connects to your waste, wherever that may be. So then it is basicly a free flow.

The only layer of protection is this stupid plastic cup. Water flow out of the waste is also really slow when using the provided cup/trap.

Shower # 1, Main bedroom upstairs:
  1. Removed the POS plastic cup. Now I have a free flow out of waste.
  2. The waste pipe connected to the shower comes down a utility shaft next to the sewage waste pipe.
  3. Installed a normal black rubber trap that connects to the sewage pipe with a collar fitting. So I created my own proper trap downstream of the shower at ground level, and it is accessible.
  4. The draining and smell problem went away. And my shower drains instantly.
  5. Sweet sorted

Shower # 2, Spare room upstairs:
  1. Exact same process was followed as shower # 1
  2. Sweet sorted

Shower # 3, Guest bathroom downstairs:
  1. I removed the cup/trap and improvised a DIY trap using these things from Temu. Tried all of them in some or other iteration of building my own "trap"
  2. View attachment 1842524
  3. None of them worked for my application.
  4. I have spent hundreds of hours trying to sort this shiiit out. My whole bottom floor of the house smells like a kakplaas at times. Total fsckup.
  5. I am back to using the standard cup/trap thingy, and my last plan is to silicone that thing in place.
  6. It has an o-ring-type rubber, but it does not seal very good.
  7. It seems as if it holds enough water to act as a trap at this stage, so I will try the silicone move.
  8. If that doesn't work, I am going to chop up the shower floor and install a linear drain that has a proper trap underneath and lift the shower floor.
  9. I can't live with this anymore.

Notes:
  • Shower # 1 gets used daily. And it is 2m x 1.2m or somewhere in size. Double shower. So the trap is constantly filled with water
  • Shower # 2 gets used maybe 3-4 times a year. Trap is not constantly filled with water. I let the water run every so often just to keep things flowing. Single shower
  • Shower # 3 gets used maybe once a year. Even if I were to use it daily, it would not make a difference. Double shower, also 2m x 1.2m

Lessons I have learnt:
  • It's amazing how much your own shiiit stinks.
  • Fancy shower drains without proper traps are total BS.
  • Make sure your fancy BS walk-in shower has a decent sloped floor.
  • Having utility shafts is amazing when shiiit hits the fan.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. I'm assuming mine is as you mention, straight outlet pipe that connects to waste so the smell is probably coming from there, although, my other shower has no smell problem and has same linear channel. I'm going to try the drain snake pipe cleaner thingy and the caustic soda. If that doesn't help, I'll have to consider breaking and re-installing the channel.
 
xrapidx said:
www.onedayonly.co.za

40% off on GripMaster Mesh Drain Strainer Roll | OneDayOnly

GripMaster DIY Self-Adhesive Mesh Drain Strainer Roll available to buy online at onedayonly.co.za, SA's best daily deals site, where EVERY day is Black Friday!
www.onedayonly.co.za www.onedayonly.co.za

Wonder if this is worth it.
Click to expand...
It might be worth it from a usability perspective, not so much from a monetary perspective..

you can get this same thing off temu for 24 bucks.. score if it's at the local warehouse..

More and more with onedayonly I have been noticing a trend of them selling Chinese stuff at heavily inflated prices..
 
WAslayer said:
It might be worth it from a usability perspective, not so much from a monetary perspective..

you can get this same thing off temu for 24 bucks.. score if it's at the local warehouse..

More and more with onedayonly I have been noticing a trend of them selling Chinese stuff at heavily inflated prices..
Click to expand...
Yeh, that was the plan, add it to the next temu order, mine needs to be cleaned roughly monthly, and its usually clogged hair. (and I don't have any, so its my wife who only showers there once a week)
 
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