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Koolkitty · Nov 9, 2007, 09:06 AM

I have a really terrible smell in my house. It has been there for 3-4 weeks. It is really strong in one particular room, our study, and on a bad day, you can smell it as soon as you walk in the door. I can only describe it as a sour smell, at first I was concerned that there may be a dead mouse or rat beneath the house and the smell was coming up through the floor. However, I think that this would gradually disappear after a couple of weeks if it was a dead thing, and instead it is getting worse.

I had a plumber out who checked under the floor and couldn't see anything, there is absolutely no sign of dampness on the walls or floor, he was stumped as to the cause and could only suggest putting a leak sealer in the central heating system. We haven't done this yet but I have little confidence that this is going to work.

I am tearing my hair out here! I am embarrassed for anyone to come into our house as it smells like a rubbish dump, but no one seems to know what it is!

Can anybody help or do I have to live in a stinky house forever?

KISS · Nov 9, 2007, 10:32 AM

Let me think outloud for a bit. Where could a smell originate:

1. Sewer system (suggest smelling the drains)
2. Dead animal
3. Broken solvent bottle
4. Gas leak
5. Combustion chamber problems (Gas hot water, Gas furnace)

The closest smell to sour is a gas leak. That odor is unmistakeable. It smells like rotten eggs or sulphur.

See here:
What You Need to Know About Natural Gas Detectors

Koolkitty · Nov 9, 2007, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by KeepItSimpleStupid

Let me think outloud for a bit. Where could a smell originate:

1. Sewer system (suggest smelling the drains)
2. Dead animal
3. Broken solvent bottle
4. Gas leak
5. Combustion chamber problems (Gas hot water, Gas furnace)

The closest smell to sour is a gas leak. That odor is unmistakeable. It smells like rotten eggs or sulphur.

See here:
What You Need to Know About Natural Gas Detectors

It is DEFINITELY not a gas leak, I would recognise the smell of gas. Maybe my 'sour' description was misleading. I have to admit that a dead animal was my initial thought, as it kind of smells like that but I haven't found anything and I would have thought that if it was under the floor and decomposing after 3-4 weeks the smell would gradually diminish rather than increase in strength?

I had a leaking pipe in a close by area about a year ago, however this was professionally repaired and there is no evidence of a problem in the same area again.

I am stuck.

htruong43 · Dec 20, 2007, 03:54 AM

Originally Posted by Koolkitty

I have a really terrible smell in my house. It has been there for 3-4 weeks. It is really strong in one particular room, our study, and on a bad day, you can smell it as soon as you walk in the door. I can only describe it as a sour smell, at first I was concerned that there may be a dead mouse or rat beneath the house and the smell was coming up through the floor. However, I think that this would gradually disappear after a couple of weeks if it was a dead thing, and instead it is getting worse.

I had a plumber out who checked under the floor and couldn't see anything, there is absolutely no sign of dampness on the walls or floor, he was stumped as to the cause and could only suggest putting a leak sealer in the central heating system. We haven't done this yet but I have little confidence that this is going to work.

I am tearing my hair out here!! I am embarrassed for anyone to come into our house as it smells like a rubbish dump, but no one seems to know what it is!!

Can anybody help or do I have to live in a stinky house forever?

I have the same problem, except that the strong smell in the second floor office. I do not have natural gas in the house, so it is not gas leak. My next step is to replace the toilet wax ring (was suggested here) and hope the stinky smell goes away. Any help with this grovelling would be greatly apprciated.

speedball1 · Dec 20, 2007, 06:50 AM

The wax rinh's the first thing I would check. It's possible for a wax ring to contain water and allow sewer gas to escape with each flushy. Flush the toilet and sniff around the base. If the sme;ll gets stronger after a few seconds then you have located the source of the odor. Good luck, Tom

Koolkitty · Dec 20, 2007, 07:17 AM

Thanks very much for your reply - in fact we finally got to the bottom of the problem, we have a waste pipe running from our utility room sink under the toilet and hall floors. A push on connector had come off, therefore all the waste from the sink ( which included kitty litter etc) was dropping under the floor instead of being taken away. So it has now been repaired and our house smells OK again!

Thanks anyway!