We've been living in the same home for over 6 years. It's a normal, modern home & we keep it clean. Maybe 6 months ago, this strange smell appeared in my daughter's bedroom. It's a combination of musk, fish & just plain stink. Sometimes it only lasts for a few minutes, sometimes hours, sometimes days. Then, it goes away without a trace. It may stay away for days or even a week. But, then it comes back. It's strong.

We've sniffed everything in the room, including my daughter & can't identify a particular item or even an area of the room where it seems to originate.

Any ideas?

Catsmine

That's why we leave these up to be read years later.

321543

Here is food for thought . I was having the same problem. We don't have Pets . However we do have small children. Despite our cleaning habits our toddler son would sometimes urinate on the carpet with out our knowing. This can be cleaned on the surface with enzymes but is a slow process . However if it has soaked to the padding you may have to call in the professionals .
Stop sniffing , by a black light and use it (usually done at night time ) watch for yellow or green glowing looking spots , any signs of animal or pee stains from kids .

baker44

I have found when there are odors in the house, such as in cooking, the best way to get rid of them is with an electric potpourri pot. Run it for a few minutes or longer if you need. But this does the trick. I don't have a long-term cure, however. Good luck.

lisnew

Thanks to the people who posted about light fittings. Thank goodness! We've had this smell for 8 years and had replaced floorboards, carpets, had pest control checks... After reading the posts here, I cannot stress strongly enough to people to check their electrics. The room affected is to be our nursery. Having read the posts here, we finally checked the white plastic ceiling light socket. There was a 100 watt bulb in the fitting and the fitting, although rarely on, had melted (we couldn't see it because of the lightshade). When we took it down, it absolutely stank of fish! We cannot thank the person who posted about electrics enough; had we left this light on in the nursery once the baby arrived, we have no doubt that it would have caught fire. The fitting has been replaced and the smell has now gone. Strangely enough, we thought the smell was coming from a corner near the floor-just turns out that the air was circulating least in that corner so that's where the smell gathered. Thanks again! Please anybody else, check your electrics if it's a musky fishy smell!

Blades9911

I am not sure who to give the credit to but I was having the same odor that you are speaking of and could not find it for weeks. I came onto this site and one of you mentioned that the smell may be coming from the electrical box. So I stuck my nose in there and sure enough, it most certainly was a fuse (my AC breaker) that was overheating, basically melting and every time I turned on the AC, it was causing the fuse to overheat. I thought it was a dead animal, or mold or who knows. But thanks to you guys, I figured it out. It was a simple fix. Replace the fuse and your smell will go away!

nationlabs

It seems to be either a dead animal in your ventilation system (air ducts), walls, attic, or crawl space or a mold problem that could be growing in the air ducts or building structure. Either a mold problem or dead animal odor circulates when there is movement, doors or windows are opened, or if the heater, a/c, or house fan is turned on.

I would look into a having a professional check it out, such as a mold inspector. We used this one: IndoorRestore Environmental Services Home - Mold Inspection and Testing, Remediation, and Restoration. They are headquartered in California, but apparently work nationwide.

Gav1111

we have a funny smell in my room. i can smell it everywhere hallway, sitting room and kitchen but my mum and friend can not its not me because they can smell it in my room. it smells like mold we have took all electrical plugs out and tuned them all off and the smell hasn't gone. i have told my friend and mum bout this and they seem to not be caring should i care because no plugs smell nothing in the room smells. could it be a rat under the floor boards who has died ( i life in a farmhouse ) but this smell hasn't been here since i lived here ! ( 1 year i lived here) tell me what i could do ?

a1coopernut

did you glue the carpet down - if so the glue might give it a stink when its humid

a1coopernut

is the carpet glued down to the floor - i`ve found smell like that from the glue when its humid out

RadarNose

I too, was looking for an answer to the "fishy odor" just a day or two ago and thankfully, found this site. This was the first time my husband and I had ever encountered this smell in our living room. It was brief but VERY STRONG. We have cats and my husband blamed it on one of them, perhaps spraying (which I might add they do not do this in the house!) I investigated everywhere trying to pin point the cause. Then I googled up the problem.
This forum put me on to investigating electrical possibilities and I sniffed all the outlets, switches, appliances, etc. I even sniffed out the hot water tank in another room and the wall switch to it. Nothing turned up.
I still felt uneasy the whole day.
Next morning I went in the back room where the hot water tank is located in its own space behind a wall panel. I heard a strange buzzing sound coming from the wall switch that turns the tank off or on! WHOA! There was no smell, but I knew something was wrong. I turned it off and pulled the breaker on it.
We called a good friend who is an electrician and he came over and pulled the wall switch out.
Thank goodness! A loose wire in the switch box had burned out part of the plastic! It had been sitting in there arcing and sizzling.
I sniffed the switch after he removed it. There was the awful fishy smell! Why the smell showed up in a room not even near the problem, I can't explain that. That smell never even showed up in the room it happened in.
I learned from this website and this experience to never take anything that seems odd for granted. Always check it out.
I appreciate this website.