We live in a split level house. We have a mysterious smell, like a skunk that comes and goes and not always in the same room. Sometimes it is in the hallway, other times near one of our fireplaces, sometimes in the stairwell, and these areas are separated by as much as 50 ft. Most of the time we smell it in the evening. We live in the country, so the first time we smelled it we thought a skunk was outside, very near the house, but we don't smell it outside. I've heard people say electrical wires can make that smell. Others say it could be drain water. Does anyone have an answer?

You may have a skunk that had babies! This could be why you smell it in different area's? You might want to get an exterminator in to check this out.

Good luck! I have skunk problems too!

Skunks do like to tunnel under and into homes. I had one who came up under the bath tub drain on a slab foundation. This is not an easy fix and you might be wise to get a pro for some estimates. Based on what the pro says you can better decide if you can tackle it yourself.

Lol.. don't mean to laugh but I usre hope you don't have one under your house.. and if you do go and investigate and get sprayed.. make sure you remember CREST toothpaste to get rid of the smell on you and what else comes in contact with the skunk spray.. squirt some in the washer and wash closthes normally.. squirt some on yourself and lather up and wash off.. trust me it gets rid of the smell

I hate skunks with a passion.. I didn't get sprayed but I had to deal with my dogs that did and it was a direct hit and was not nice.. my momma dog killed the skunk so it let all it's spray go at once.. was not nice.. :eek:

Good luck in finding out what it was..

Marion

Are you sure nobody is smoking the skunk herb in or near the house.

I think you have ants in the wall. You may say I'm crazy but once,in another house, I had this faint smell from time to time. I traced it to near the French doors. Getting down on my hands and knees I could smell it on the carpet and saw an ant go through a tiny hole. I went down into the basement and in that spot pulled away the insulation from above the plate. Whew it was alive with ants.
Last night I was woken by a very strong skunky odor. No smell outside. It is ants in the wall of the house. I am absolutely convinced. It happens from time to time in the spring. I have checked outside and there is no evidence of ants entering the house. We are on a slab so they could be getting inside from under the slab. I am not sure there is anything we could do except drill holes in the wall. I just hope they are not carpenter ants.

Every time I used 'Mop & Glow' (floor wax) on my floors, it left a Skunk smell. I changed to 'Future' but years later I tried it again and the smell was there still.

A wandering smell? Do these whiffs show up in the air currents from a heat/air system? The duct work might be suspect. You say you live in the country - Do nearby farmers use fertilizers or manure? Those smells can ride the wind for fifteen miles. Several chemicals can cause those odors, including Mop'n'Glow. If the smells are strong enough to cause problems, your air conditioning system would be the place to start looking for a cause.

I too live in the country and am having the same problem. I'm hoping its not an electrical fire. The smell kind of roams all over the second level of the house.

Wow, we are having the same problem! Started smelling skunk in the house faintly a month ago. The smell is much stronger now and I'm finding ants EVERWHERE! Right now the skunk smell is more obnoxious than the ants. Help!

I also have a skunk smell in the basement that comes and goes. Yesterday during spring cleaning I uncovered a massive nest of ants, Outside the window where the smell seems to be located. I bet it's the ants, I am calling a pest control company to professionally spray. I hope this takes care of our smelly basement.

You have described exactly what is happening in our house. We live in a condo in a city suburb. Did you figure out what is making the smell? I'd love to know. This is driving me crazy.

The skunk smell is coming from the basement through the air ducts. I just had someone check the furnace, it's clear. He suggests I have the air ducts cleaned. Did this get rid of the smell?

I think it's the ductwork. It is for us. Started when we moved in 5 years ago. Double have gotten under our house every year. BUT, something happened 2 days ago that has convinced us with out a doubt. I sat up in bed hearing what I thought was a cat fight... but it sounded more like chirping sometimes. I put my feet on the floor to get oo and I actually felt bumping underneath along with the sound. Then came the spray smell that filled the house about 30 seconds later. It was aweful. We too always had a smell that would pop up in diff. areas in the house. Sometimes it smelled like almost a sweet skunk smell... ugh, horrible. Sometimes it smelled like something dead. Now we know what it is. We looked under the house through a crawl space, and sure enough they have ripped through the ductwork. Some parts have been ripped to shreds. We always trapped them to get rid of them before. Here's what's happened... we wld trap them, but the babies would get stuck in the ductwork... and the momma would have gotten trapped... so they die in there... needless to say, we are ripping out all the ductwork once they've been trapped again. Hope this helps!

Lol just sounds like you got an individual in or around your place that likes to smoke a little bit of grass that's all, you said you had a split level right, does someone else live with you? He just probably changes where he lights up, believe me speaking from experience. If your innocent or forgetful, like my mom, you'll link the smell with a skunk but someone who knowledgeable and experienced will know right away.

My problem is similar, but not quite the same. I have a single story suburban house on a slab very close to a rural area. We have lived here three and half months. The smell did not come on gradually. Last night at about 2:00 - Bam! There it was. None outside. None on the dogs. None in the attic.
I'm pretty sure it is not ants. We had a bad infestation of brown recluse spiders and had it professionally sprayed inside and out and I sprayed the whole area when ever we would see one. It seems to come from the walls. Open a closed closet and it is stronger. It is NOT MJ. I know that smell. It is not rotting mammals or birds. I know that smell. I have had starlings and mice die in the walls. If a skunk died in the walls I would think I would smell the dead animal before the "perfume" was released.

This would make me think of a sewer vent clogging up or a mustelid spraying near your air handler unit, since the onset was so sudden.