My son bought a home several months ago and immediately after moving in began to notice a very rank smell in the master bedroom. He has had the carpets cleaned, replaced the carpet and pad in the bedroom, replaced the tiolet seals and the smell continues to worsen. he recently isolated the smell to a particular spot on the wall next to the floor. He pulled the carpet back, took off the drywall and found only what appears to be baking soda. There is no evidence of mold or mildew. The smell is so bad that they are unable to stay in that room. Does anyone have any ideas on what this smell might be?
COMMUNITY FORUM
- Forum >
- Miscellaneous >
- odor identification
Interesting. There have been some very other interesting posts over the years about odors as well (you might try some searches).
One thing that comes to mind is that something (such as a rat) might have died inside the walls. I have had this unfortunate experience a couple of times over the years (fortunately not in a bedroom). It does reek to high heaven.
It's possible that some well-meaning individual might have tried to use rat poison. I even wondered if this might be the "baking soda". If it really IS baking soda, the previous owner no-doubt knew of this problem--in which case it might be worth a call to him. (I have heard that previous problems that should be disclosed often are not--as some less-than-scrupulous sellers realize that only very expensive home repair problems are worth pursuing legally).
In my experience, if it is a rat (or worse--such as a raccoon, or ?), it will probably be worth digging around and finding it to get rid of the smell. Drywall is inexpensive and a decent skill for any new homeowner to have some skills with. As you say, they can't stay in the room.
If it's something else (such as a sewage backup), they need to know about that as well.
It's a gross problem, but in this case I'd suggest following the nose--and if they can't stand it (understandable!), perhaps hire someone who can.
Good luck...please post back if you can find anything!
Regards,
-k2 in CO
Moderator, Miscellaneous Forum
http://www.bobvila.com/BBS/Miscellaneous
One thing that comes to mind is that something (such as a rat) might have died inside the walls. I have had this unfortunate experience a couple of times over the years (fortunately not in a bedroom). It does reek to high heaven.
It's possible that some well-meaning individual might have tried to use rat poison. I even wondered if this might be the "baking soda". If it really IS baking soda, the previous owner no-doubt knew of this problem--in which case it might be worth a call to him. (I have heard that previous problems that should be disclosed often are not--as some less-than-scrupulous sellers realize that only very expensive home repair problems are worth pursuing legally).
In my experience, if it is a rat (or worse--such as a raccoon, or ?), it will probably be worth digging around and finding it to get rid of the smell. Drywall is inexpensive and a decent skill for any new homeowner to have some skills with. As you say, they can't stay in the room.
If it's something else (such as a sewage backup), they need to know about that as well.
It's a gross problem, but in this case I'd suggest following the nose--and if they can't stand it (understandable!), perhaps hire someone who can.
Good luck...please post back if you can find anything!
Regards,
-k2 in CO
Moderator, Miscellaneous Forum
http://www.bobvila.com/BBS/Miscellaneous
