# Why does my master bath toilet smell like shit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841 "2012-10-16T02:17:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/1 "2012-10-16T02:17:42Z")
Allrighty, not _literal_ shit…but it smells like a truck stop trough-style urinal. I have no idea why this is like it is. I keep my toilets generally clean. There’s no mold or anything. But recently I started noticing this foul aroma emanating from the commode. So, in spite of the fact that I know that you really shouldn’t use chlorine tablets in your toilet, I bought a couple tablets and plunked them in there. It over time has mitigated the smell somewhat, but I can still smell that distinct “urinal” smell from it, just now it’s masked some by a strong chlorine smell. What am I missing here? The inside of the toilet tank is clean, fresh water. The bowl has what appears to be fresh water. There is no residual filth or mold in the bowl. Could it be the wax seal or something is contaminated somehow? I have two sons whom sometimes forget to flush when they pee but not often enough to generate this odor. It isn’t sickeningly strong, but it is noticeable and wasn’t there before. What’s changed? What could it be? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/2 "2012-10-16T02:21:57Z")
What you’re missing is that you’re cleaning the wrong thing. Get a mop, thoughly mop the floor around and behind the toilet. Then use a magic eraser or damp sponge on the walls nearest the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/3 "2012-10-16T02:27:17Z")
Boys. That says it all. Unscrew the toilet seat from the base and check for dried pee in the hinge area. Even if you can’t see any try soaking the whole thing in the bathtub for a while to get rid of any hidden smells. Clean around the base of the toilet under the edge where caulk is supposed to be if the caulk is missing. Stand at the toilet, pretend you’re a little boy peeing, turn in a circle. Clean all these areas. Can they hit the side of a cabinet, a wall, a shower curtain. Clean EVERYWHERE. In between the tank and the bowl there’s sometimes a horizontal flat area that acts like a pee shelf. Get a towel wet and pull it through and scrub around. Look for peed on items in cupboards and places where pee could have seeped under cabinets. Last resort, pull the toilet out and replace the seal and clean underneath it really good, then make sue to caulk the base so pee can’t get underneath. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/4 "2012-10-16T02:43:31Z")
OK. I also wonder if it’s in my carpeting. Yes, my entire master bathroom is carpeted in that low-pile stuff, except for the tiled area around the shower enclosure. I am wondering now if maybe enough accumulation of “near misses” by my boys may have contaminated the carpet or padding that surrounds the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/5 "2012-10-16T02:44:44Z")
There shouldn’t be caulk around the base of the toilet. The toilet has a big, soft wax ring that acts as a gasket between it and the poo pipe. If that ring has deteriorated, as they all do over time, you may be getting some leakage under the toilet. Depending on where the toilet is, odor may be the only (easy) way to notice. If you have piss water soaking into your floor and sub-floor, this is a bad thing, ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/6 "2012-10-16T02:52:05Z")
It’s the carpet. I think carpeting in a bathroom is foul. I also hate carpeting in a dining area. And all tan-ecru-beige-“light brown” and every color contained within that spectrum should be BANNED from being used in carpet. Get rid of the carpet. Buy bathroom rugs and wash frequently. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/7 "2012-10-16T03:02:09Z")
Good advice, except, insert “ **Have the kids** …” before “Unscrew”, “Clean”, “In between”, and “Look for”. Nothing else will be as effective at improving their aim. But don’t let them try to replace the wax ring. > [@Zulema](#): > > Boys. That says it all. > > Unscrew the toilet seat from the base and check for dried pee in the hinge area. Even if you can’t see any try soaking the whole thing in the bathtub for a while to get rid of any hidden smells. > > Clean around the base of the toilet under the edge where caulk is supposed to be if the caulk is missing. > > Stand at the toilet, pretend you’re a little boy peeing, turn in a circle. Clean all these areas. Can they hit the side of a cabinet, a wall, a shower curtain. Clean EVERYWHERE. > > In between the tank and the bowl there’s sometimes a horizontal flat area that acts like a pee shelf. Get a towel wet and pull it through and scrub around. > > Look for peed on items in cupboards and places where pee could have seeped under cabinets. > > Last resort, pull the toilet out and replace the seal and clean underneath it really good, then make sue to caulk the base so pee can’t get underneath. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/8 "2012-10-16T04:03:00Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > It’s the carpet. > > I think carpeting in a bathroom is foul. > > I also hate carpeting in a dining area. Much to my chagrin and laziness WRT tiling some floors, FWIW I have both. I do so love my spaghetti sauce stains on the carpet in front of my stove. I suppose it’s possible it’s the carpet, but I have checked, it’s dry and so is the padding and sub-floor. Could the carpeting really hold this strong of a urine odor due to repeated exposure even while dry to the touch? ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/9 "2012-10-16T06:46:13Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > There shouldn’t be caulk around the base of the toilet. The toilet has a big, soft wax ring that acts as a gasket between it and the poo pipe. If that ring has deteriorated, as they all do over time, you may be getting some leakage under the toilet. Depending on where the toilet is, odor may be the only (easy) way to notice. If you have piss water soaking into your floor and sub-floor, this is a bad thing, Yes, but the wax ring is small and round and the base of the toilet is large and oblong. There is room around the edge of the toilet base, between the toilet and the floor, for pee to seep under. I’m talking about the under the toilet that is wider than the wax ring. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/10 "2012-10-16T07:30:13Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Much to my chagrin and laziness WRT tiling some floors, FWIW I have both. > > I do so love my spaghetti sauce stains on the carpet in front of my stove. > > I suppose it’s possible it’s the carpet, but I have checked, it’s dry and so is the padding and sub-floor. Could the carpeting really hold this strong of a urine odor due to repeated exposure even while dry to the touch? You know what, after seeing what was mopped up from around the toilet used by my boys, I can’t believe your carpet could be pristine, and yeah, it can hold this odor forever. It’s pee in your carpet, man. Even when they hit the target, if there’s water in there there will be a splash (and my boys weren’t that great at hitting it, although they thought they were). I mean, my husband did not believe me, so I sent him in there to wipe various things–and not just the floor, but the wall and the cabinets within a 4-foot radius–and see what came off. Uh, yeah, it was all pee-stained. So your carpeting may be dry now, but it has dried pee in it. Every time they use it they probably spread a little more on it. I am prejudiced, though. I basically think all carpeting is nasty. Look at the water after you steam-clean it. Bathrooms and kitchens need to be mopped a lot, and you might notice, carpet almost never gets mopped. Nobody’s going to steam-clean it once a week. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/11 "2012-10-16T07:49:14Z")
Note also that dried pee isn’t dried pee. Not in carpets or anywhere. Pee is kind of oily, so it never really dries out. Just notice a place on your patio or sidewalk or any other pavement where a dog left a puddle. It never really dries. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/12 "2012-10-16T07:51:33Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > OK. I also wonder if it’s in my carpeting. Yes, my entire master bathroom is carpeted in that low-pile stuff, except for the tiled area around the shower enclosure. I am wondering now if maybe enough accumulation of “near misses” by my boys may have contaminated the carpet or padding that surrounds the toilet. I’d consider carpet a prime suspect. Eeeewwww. I have never understood why anyone thinks carpet in a bathroom or kitchen, which will soak up potentially smelly spills and be very hard to clean, is a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/13 "2012-10-16T07:56:41Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I suppose it’s possible it’s the carpet, but I have checked, it’s dry and so is the padding and sub-floor. Could the carpeting really hold this strong of a urine odor due to repeated exposure even while dry to the touch? As anybody who has pets will tell you, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/14 "2012-10-16T08:53:38Z")
You could also introduce a rule one of my aunts had in her house–I’ve no idea how you’d enforce it though after the boys reach an age where they can attend to the facilities unattended (lame euphemism, and another one to follow): _No standing while doing your business!_ For the kitchen or dining area, you could do what my mother does for her dining room. Her kitchen’s uncarpeted and the dining room/living room combination has wall-to-wall carpet. Mom placed a large bathroom throw rug under the dining room table. When that rug get soiled, she washes it. For the most part, nothing hits beyond the protected area. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/15 "2012-10-16T16:16:15Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You could also introduce a rule one of my aunts had in her house–I’ve no idea how you’d enforce it though after the boys reach an age where they can attend to the facilities unattended (lame euphemism, and another one to follow): _No standing while doing your business!_ There is also the [lower the toilet lid before flushing rule](http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1839) (you’ll never leave your toothbrush lying in the open again after reading this…). “If an alien came from space and studied the bacterial counts, he probably would conclude he should wash his hands in your toilet and crap in your sink,” Gerba said (2). The alien would almost certainly not put your toothbrush in his mouth because, with its traditional, uncovered spot in the bathroom, it is one of the hotspots for fecal bacteria and germs spewed into the air by the aerosol effect (5). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/16 "2012-10-16T17:25:00Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > OK. I also wonder if it’s in my carpeting. Yes, my entire master bathroom is carpeted in that low-pile stuff, except for the tiled area around the shower enclosure. I am wondering now if maybe enough accumulation of “near misses” by my boys may have contaminated the carpet or padding that surrounds the toilet. I was going to say that possibly your wax ring is decayed enough that either sewage is running out under the toilet, or sewer gas is leaking out under the toilet, but you have boys and carpet in the bathroom? I think you’ve found the issue yourself. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/17 "2012-10-16T17:51:17Z")
I’m guessing a wax ring problem. It sits between the sewer pipe and the toilet. If it fails, then the water will seep out under the toilet when you flush. Not only does this mean sewage is seeping out, but the water can rot the floor. How good are you with home repairs? Switching the wax ring isn’t too complex, but it is a bit messy. Check out some youtube videos on how to do it. If it is urine in the carpet, go to the pet store and get something designed to remove urine odors (like Nature’s Miracle). It has enzymes which break down the urine. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/18 "2012-10-16T17:54:38Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I was going to say that possibly your wax ring is decayed enough that either sewage is running out under the toilet, or sewer gas is leaking out under the toilet, but you have boys and carpet in the bathroom? I think you’ve found the issue yourself. This is what I initially suspected…that the wax ring was allowing sewer gas to seep out. I am not seeing any liquid coming out from under the commode at all. One other (possibly unrelated) note: this toilet makes a “screeching” sound when flushed and re-filling. I don’t know what is causing that. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/19 "2012-10-16T17:57:56Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This is what I initially suspected…that the wax ring was allowing sewer gas to seep out. I am not seeing any liquid coming out from under the commode at all. > > One other (possibly unrelated) note: this toilet makes a “screeching” sound when flushed and re-filling. I don’t know what is causing that. Your fill valve assembly is the root of the screeching issue. Easiest fix is just to buy a new assembly and install it. They aren’t terribly expensive or hard to install. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841/20 "2012-10-16T18:12:14Z")
If you don’t have one already, this might be a good time to switch to a low-flow toilet if you have to pull the old one out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-master-bath-toilet-smell-like-shit/637841.md?page=2)