Voids in bathroom floor

[Ben36]

Hello there,

 

I'm new to the forum so apologies if this is in the wrong place. Hopefully you can see in the photos that we have two voids in our bathroom that go into the space below the property. One is in the cupboards where there is a gas meter at floor height (!) and the other is behind the toilet. There is a bit of a damp smell, slugs and spiders seem to have easy access and it's generally a little unpleasant. I was wondering how to best cover these voids without damaging pipework. Happy to consider moving items if needs be but looking for any ideas.

 

Thank you in advance for your help,

 

Ben.

[ProDave]

I think there are 2 issues here.

 

Voids in the floor like that will let cold air in, cause draughts, add to your heating costs and let insects and rodents in.  So it needs to be dealt with.  the gas meter will have to be moved before you can sort that out properly and a lot of your already butchered  built in units will need alteration / repair.

 

BUT before you do all that, the voids in the floor should not be responsible for bad smells.  The space under a floor should be well ventilated by air bricks should basically be dry and there should be nothing to smell.  So you need to have a good look at what's there, in particular check you don't have a leaking drain pipe under there.

[PeterW]

The damp smell will be where someone has forced the flexible connector from the WC pan onto the soil pipe and sealed it with silicone by the looks of it. 
 

Also, I doubt the condensate drain from the boiler has a trap in it so you could be getting a whiff through the boiler too. 
 

Cadent / Gas would condemn that meter if they saw it as you can’t see the joints correctly and it cannot be isolated to be removed. Electricity meter is similar - wrong place and boxed in like tbat is wrong. 
 

I guess this is a DIY conversion of an old pantry or utility into a bathroom and it’s been done to no real standards. Sadly, moving the gas meter will be £6-800,electric will be similar. Reinstating those cabinets will be £2-300 but it can be done properly. 

[Ben36]

Thank you very much for taking the time to post such good advice. 

 

Can I ask what is wrong with how the electricity meter has been setup (other than it feels weird to have it in the bathroom)?

 

Kind regards and thanks again,

 

Ben.

Edited July 6, 2020 by Ben36