cause of smelly bathroom

[Michael]

Purchased 45-year old home. Bathroom smells like a combination of smoke and that typical "old bathroom" smell.

We've scrubbed everything, but the smell is still there.

Anyone know what causes this? Do we have to replace the toilet and sink (which seem rather old)?

Other info:

The laminate floor seems somewhat recent. The faucet and its drain pipe have a very slight leak. We've put a bucket under the drain pipe to catch the droplets (which then evaporate) until we get it fixed. The toilet resorvoir (not the bowl) looks nasty.

[Speedy Jim]

Brace yourself. It's just possible that the source of the odor is under the new laminate.

But first, clean the toilet tank either with a commercial cleaner or plain old bleach. Mildew (which smells) tends to breed inside the tank.

If the sink is old, the overflow passage in the bowl may the source of very nasty odors. You can't effectively clean the passage but as a temp answer, use a turkey baster to pump bleach down the overflow hole.

Jim

[Patscga]

What is an "old bathroom smell"? Lived in some old houses and new ones and never noticed any difference. Pat

[Paul]

My bathroom and house smelled like "old lady pee" when we moved on, took considerable time getting the smell out. Turns out the subfloor under the toilet was coming up, the wax seal was bad. Replaced floor along with a full continuous sheet of vinyl, new subfloor, replaced toilet flange because lip was bent out of shape. Good to go.