House Odor Help for Friend in Phoenix
 

She is first of all an immaculate housekeeper which makes this even more puzzling! Their house has a "musty" smell, not pet, not food, not dust, not furnace, not plants, not smoke, vaguely sort of damp. They have checked drains, pipes, furnace, appliances, shampooed rugs, laundered everything, cleaned attached garage, searched closets, checked roof, cleaned all footwear, checked luggage, and everything else they can think of to possibly be the cause. They have put our activated charcoal and the smell remains. They do not want to mask it with scents, but rid it. Any suggestions ?

Has she tried simply opening windows and airing it out? My other thought is to put vinegar in little dishes in every room for a day or so, but I can't remember if that was for odor or something else. Can't hurt to try.

Rosie might help, She has a show on the radio in Phoenix. http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/d...ie-romero.html

It could be that the basement floor has dropped away from the walls a tiny bit. That happened to us and while we didn't see it, we could smell it. Basement repairs may be in order but sure hope not..

Do they have a sump pump? If they do, they should check this out. HEPA filters can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowe's etc. they are free standing filters that remove 99% of all allergens and contaminants. This will remove the musty smell. How old is the house? Do they have a basement? If so, there may be leaking water down the walls. Have they checked the outside lines? We had a broken pipe for a year before we realized it.

Does she have bathroom tubs that they don't use or sinks. I found if we don't keep water in the traps, they will dry out and you can get an odor. She might think about that.

It probably has to do with a fireplace more than anything else if they have one. We were told our chimney has to bebuilt higher than it was and that made a difference. living in Phoenix also. Most of us don't have basements. - jna

Probably time to call a professional....could be rising damp, sometimes the ground the house is built on (what's underneath?), if it is damp, it will need to be fixed before they start getting toxic mould build ups. Hope they work out what it is before their health gets affected.

Is there mildew in the pad under the carpets? We had a leak from an outside faucet pipe that burst without our knowledge. The pipe ran inside the wall in a downstairs bedroom closet. Started with a slow leak but built up over time and eventually burst. We contained it, but when we pulled up the carpet in that room, we found black mildew growing on the cement floor. No barrier was put down before the builders put a carpet pad and carpet down. We also at one time found a dead bat in the duct work. That smell is a musty unpleasant odor. Friends of ours had a bat infestation in their attic above a hallway. They could not figure out where the musty smell was coming from for quite some time as the smell permeated throughout several rooms of the house. The bat droppings were a real mess just beyond the attic entrance in the ceiling of the hallway. They didn't trace it until the weather turned warmer and the bat urine gave off a rancid ammonia smell.
Have they checked behind the shower walls? We have a downstairs bathroom that has the shower wall exposed into a back room. We found mold growing on that from a leak draining down from a defective drain in the tub to the bathroom on the upper floor.

I would pay for a home inspection. Good luck to them and hopefully they will be rid of this soon.

My experience is that somewhere in their house there is a water leak. They should take the advice already given and have professionals check. Unfortunately it will probably cost thousands to fix.

Don't know how it works in the USA, but here for around $450.00 you can hire an expert from a registered building/architectural company who only do inspections and troubleshoot -not repair. They give a written report and will advise on how to fix the problems. Then you have the option of tackling the job yourselves or hiring a relevant tradesman. The $$$$ add up when you hire a contractor who troubleshoots and fixes.

Sometimes there are plumbing issues where the pipes leak inside the walls. If it's a small enough leak or drip, you might not see any wetness on the outside of the wall, but it's damp inside and causes a musty smell. Lot's of possibilities. I hope she resolves it soon. This kind of thing can be a nightmare.

Is there a bathroom where the sink or shower haven't been used in a long time? The water evaporates in the U trap and if it isn't used in a while you can get sewer gas. Also, is there crawl space under the house? If there is, check the yard to see if its graded to drain water away from the house -- if it isn't, it may be under the house and building up bacteria/mold.

I'd also go up into the attic to check for any possible roof leaks -- it could be just small enough that it dampens the insulation/top of drywall and there could be bacteria/mold there, too.

have they checked for water leaks within the walls? We had a similar situation. Could not find the source of the musty smell. Well, when we found it, it was mold and mildew from a leaking pipe within the slab underneath the kitchen cabinets. We saw no evidence of water until we began to see dampness at the front base of the cabinet. When we tore it down all was covered with mold and pretty far gone. Needless to say we had our pipes rerouted through the walls and ceiling and changed the cabinets. No more smell!

You stated they have cleaned everything. Has she laundered all, every scrap, of her stach. Material will take on a sour ordor after time, even if you wash fabric when you buy it. Mold is something you don't want to mess with.

any clay in her foundation? if it gets wet, it stinks.

My daughter had a problem like this, it was the tile in the bathroom leaking moisture into the wall. Had to have wall repaired and tile redone.

Mold and mildew can not only cause smells but they can be very bad for the health of the occupants. Please call in a professional. This can be really life changing if not addressed!

Do they have a crawl space under the house? Could be something like pack rats under the house.

this sounds crazy but I know of a lady that couldn't find the source of where her problem was it just smelled musty she poured bleach down every drain every day for about a week and the smell left now she flushes bleach about once a week to prevent it happening again. she could try this untill she can get it fixed if it is a leak

If it is mold that is undetected, place bicarbonate of soda in containers in the suspect places. Half a teaspoon of oil of clove in a litre of water will kill mold spoors. Bleach does not kill them - they always come back if you use bleach. Spray onto the mould and wipe off after a few minutes. It will have a strange smell as well but it soon goes away. All the best with your problem.

If it is the drains, half a cup of bicarb soda and half a cup of salt. Put into the drain and add one cup of vinegar. Be careful as it will bubble up. After a few minutes, flush the sinks.,

Just a note, if you have a septic tank please don't do this, it kills the bacteria that breaks down what comes into it.

Since it is Phoenix in an ultra dry climate, has she had the swamp cooler/air conditioner serviced?
Otherwise I agree with the others water is leaking somewhere and needs to be stopped or dry rot will set in and it is like cancer, just keeps growing if the wood isn't replaced.

Here is another suggestion....could it be a dead rodent in the walls. Here we have lots of mice and rats who live out in the wild and would like to live in the house. I live in an old house an there is spaces between the inner and outer walls. I put out poison in places I know where they can come in. It is the kind that is supposed to make the rodents seek water and hopefully go out of doors to die. Well every now and then one goes into the wall space and dies there. It makes a musty smell in the house. I don't have a solution except to put out some cedar cuttings to freshen the air and wait a week or too until the smell leaves. It does make my son's Jack Russel dog go nuts though as he searches the perimeter of the rooms looking for the rat.

I'm thinking a mold inspection from a reputable company would be a great idea.

The air ducts and Central Air/Heat drip pans may need a professional cleaning.

Check for BLACK MOLD hidden where you cannot see it! I still suffer from conquesences from this. It was found around our air conditioner outside my bedroom door. When our AC was replaced the man took short cuts and did not install the inside unit correctly.

Best of luck, delma

I am sure this is a serious problem for your friend and I hope she gets to the bottom of it. But her situation did remind me of a humorous story involving a divorcing couple, curtain rods and revenge involving awful odor in the house. I looked it up

http://jokemail.blogspot.com/2007/09/curtain-rods.html

If she needs some light relief, please share. I hope she can find a solution that fixes her problem without huge effort and expense.

how about those containers that suck up the moisture... wish I knew what they are called. I bought mine in Walmart in the area that had ironing boards etc.

My brother/sil's house smelled like mold for a long time. One summer she hired a friend and me to clean. I dug all the dust/dirt from the spaces between their wide board pine floors....PU...but the small disappeared. It was just lurking in that small space.

I just scrolled to the top of this page and noticed that there is a banner ad for a mold remediation company!! I have not Googled or looked up mold at all. Is this coincidence....or is the computer reading our content even when we don't Google???? Scary!!

The company is in central NY too.

Does she have a front load washer, if you don't leave the door cracked alittle it will smell, then get the sheets at the grocery store and wash one in it-just another suggestion-jna

I'll say here that I haven't read all the posts - but I had a musty smell in my place and finally checked with a plumber who told me that if I had a drain that wasn't used a lot - shower, tub, etc, the musty/mildewy smell could easily be coming from there - my cure was to periodically run water down the drain and keep it "hydrated" and the musty smell stopped. Water in a drain at the "J", or is that "P", trap keeps smells from coming back into the house...if the drain isn't used, the water in the trap dries out and smells from the drainage system can come back into the house...

If it is just odor and no cause can be found, try OdozOut or some other commercial odor remover.

I have been on a septic tank for my whole life...64 years and I use bleach whenever I want....in whites and towels, especially. No harm done. We have our tank pumped every 3 years,as recommended. The pumpers never mention any problem.


[QUOTE=KalamaQuilts;5853457]Just a note, if you have a septic tank please don't do this, it kills the bacteria that breaks down what comes into it.

We had a musty smell in our laundry room. I bought Damp Rid and it was amazing the moisture it drew out.

One late-winter day there was an annoying smell that seemed to be coming from the back bathroom, but we could find nothing there, and no amount of cleaning made a difference; smell kept getting stronger as days passed. We finally checked outside, and way under the deck that was outside the bathroom area...was a dead cat.

Check the clothes washer.....build up on the outside of the tub could be the culprit. I think there are some products out there just for this.
Diana in tX