Strange odors ... locating and eliminating
We have 3-4 units out of 48 that have "mystery odors" -- We have had no luck in getting rid of them or pintpointing their location. they've VERY old buildings but there's no carpeting so once we do, we SHOULD be able to kill them. My cleaning man & maintenance man BOTH cannot detect any unpleasant odors in these places, but they're there. My wife, me, and every prospect has detected them like a 2x4 between the eyes.
They smell like dirty laundry, maybe...possibly a hint of urine, but mostly like unwashed socks, underwear and armpit smell, I can go on and on ...
Has anyone had a problem like this? Any tips on ID'ing and correcting the odors? Is there a "nuclear" option like those Ozone machines, or some nerve gas level material I can bomb the place with!!
Thanks so much for any hints.
Dead animal in the walls or the duct work system??
@Kenneth LaVoie any evidence of mice or rats in the building previously? Could be a dead animal in the walls, floors or attic space as @Joel Owens mentioned above.
If sufficient enough in quantity, urine will pass through carpet and pad and the wood floor/subfloor below will absorb it... replacement is the only option I've used successfully.
You might want to check all the drains (sinks, tubs, laundry, toilets, etc.). If the drains are not used regularly, the water in the trap can evaporate and allow some very unpleasant odors into the area. Very easy fix.
If a plumbing vent has been compromised, this too can allow in odors.
Gas leak - rotten egg smell?
Nerve gas likely to cause bigger problems than odors.
Is this before or after painting? Walls can absorb all kinds of smells.
Is there a crawlspace below structure in need of a good inspection?
Any long-term plumbing leaks in walls? Those $20 pin-style moisture meters at the big box stores are darn handy. The good meters will run you $380-ish.
Have plumbing repairs in past included installing "Studor" vents or air-admittance valves in the venting ? These are cheap, plastic things that some plumbers say may fail.
Ammonia was often used in plaster work back in the day both for the plaster for walls and for moldings. If there has been a recent leak is the plaster emitting ammonia now?
Milk paint on walls or decorative mural?
Has the subfloor been repaired using OSB or other particle-typed product which can hold a lot of moisture?
Hope this helps.
My real estate agent was having a tough time selling a house due to a mystery smell. Standard tricks for locating and/or masking did not help. I went over with him and we did a thorough inspection. Finally found the source:
Opened the blinds in a basement window and there in the window well were the carcasses of 2 bunnies and a raccoon, fairly fresh and rotting away.
Be thorough in your search.
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Originally posted by @Linda Weygant:
My real estate agent was having a tough time selling a house due to a mystery smell. Standard tricks for locating and/or masking did not help. I went over with him and we did a thorough inspection. Finally found the source:
Opened the blinds in a basement window and there in the window well were the carcasses of 2 bunnies and a raccoon, fairly fresh and rotting away.
Be thorough in your search.
I had the same problem in my house, though I knew it smelled like dead critters. The baby bunnies jump would down into the window wells to escape the hawks, but can't jump back out. Same issue with field mice.
I put aluminum plaster lath over the window wells to keep the critters out without spending a small fortune.
Perform a smoke test to either confirm or eliminate it being on your plumbing sewer drain or vent lines. I use a flashlight and turn off the lights when I test. Makes it easier to see the smoke.
Perform a peppermint oil test. Very effective and cheap DIY alternative.
Do both these test with Ac off first then with it on.
I am a big fan of ozone generators, and hey aren't that expensive. Go to a a hydroponic supply shop (i.e. Store for people who grow weed, trust me, there is one near you!) they'll have options for 200-500 that will do the trick. Remember! Ozone is sufficient quantities is toxic!
Ozone works by chemically neutralizing he odor molecules. So, if you do have a poor creature in the walls, he will eventually put off more stink. You could always drill a small hole in the drywall and see what odor comes out.
I guess I would start by copious amounts of baking soda in offensive areas. Maybe some charcoal. IF it has ductwork,,, a ductwork cleaning may be in order. Had a guy in our store the other day, was buying a register boot ,,,said his tom cat pee-d on theirs and smell could not be removed so he was replacing the end boot.
I know how aggravating it can be. I have an attic that makes me sick to death to go up there without a respirator. Cant smell anything but obviosly some weird mold. its the only thing that makes me sick like that. But my nose doesnt work well since they took it apart in 1980
What odors are you specifically smelling,,,and others say it smells like??
When you say cat urine smell I think of meth. Then again Im in hickville Michigan
Big difference between urine and dead animal. If it's the latter, it should be fairly easy to locate the smell. In my personal residence, we had one die in our wall near the sink in the kitchen. It was easy to specifically locate the studs it was in between just by smelling along the wall.
If it's the former, my friend had bought a house that also had a smell. It was detemined it was urine from the former owner's dog. This was harder to locate and pinpoint the exact location (I'm sure it wasn't in a one location but more of an area. He had good luck with using killz in the area to eliminate the smell. If you don't know, killz is a primer/sealer that had to be applied to the wood subfloor and walls then recarpeted and painted. He's had no problem since.
I hope this helps.
oh, and the dead animals will stop smelling after a while. If it's dry out, it will be faster than if it was humid. A small animal, like a chipmunk or mouse, is say is around 2-4 weeks. I'm not sure about larger animals but odd imagine it's much longer.
It's been in the one apartment since we bought the building in 2010. It smells like unclean people lived there and kept piles of dirty laundry (smells like BO but not "pure onion like" BO, like sick, unclean people BO). I've since done about 30 hours of ozone (2-5 hours at a time with a few hours in between) and it's BEGINNING to mitigate the smell. I'm hearing all sorts of stuff to try to find the smell and I appreciate it. I'm copying and pasting like mad! The apartment NEXT to it doesn't smell at all, nor do any others besides that one although the common area does just a little bit. (leading to the smelly one). All wood flooring but some gaps in that flooring which could be holding something. We've bleached damn near every surface. We'll keep at it!! It is a 1700s building, so the plaster issue could certainly be it!
If that unit is vacant turn on the ozone maker and walk away for a LONG time,,,like days or a week. Cant see what it would hurt.
If smell still there would pull all carpet, seal subfloors. Could be related to how those people lived there, seasoned foods, or drugs. Might haxe to kilz all the walls and ceilings