This happened to us when we had someone else living in our basement.We even tore out walls looking for the smell.It ended up being one of those diaper genies that the lady of the house filled up and forgot about it, this lasted for a few months before we found the cause.I hope you find it ,there is nothing worse then a bad smell that you can't find.

First off, I am glad it is not your daughter, that made me laugh when I read it. Have you inspected your plumbing? Could be a sewage smell from a leaking pipe. I will tell you that the water from a kitchen, or bathroom sink, or bath tub, or washer machine is some of the worst smelling "waste water".
Have your plumbing checked out. And if there is moisture under the house, you can use powdered lime to help with the smell until it goes away. Lime is hazardous to your lungs, so wear eye and breathing protection.

Has anyone checked the plumbing vents to make sure they are not clogged? Again it may not be sewage from the toilets, but from all the other drains , that usually smells worst than the sewage from toilets.

And I hope it is not a ghost as the post on the first page suggested.

I have a foul acrid odor in my house off and on. I thought it was a skunk in the attic but it's not that. I notice it more when I turn the air conditioner on. It's so bad that it burns your eyes, gives you a headache and makes you feel very lethargic.Someone told me that my airconditioning pipes in the attic could be leaking. Would it smell like that? It will go away for about a week and then it's back for days on end. Anyone have any suggestions?:confused:

I've experienced the gross fishy smell on three occasions, once at work - when it culminated in the extension lead catching fire, the 2nd and 3rd time I was aware and found the culprit quickly. Best test is to put all electricals off, then gradually re-introduce after checking all for any signs of overheating.

We have a horrendous smell in our attic, I'm pinning my hopes on it being caused by a damp area behind the chimney where two tiles are leaking. It permeates everything in the loft, we pulled all items out to see if was being caused by a bunch of christmas decorations or suitcase, but although they stunk when bought down they soon returned to normal when out of the loft. I'm half expecting to find a fungus growing up there at some point as that's the kind of smell it is and it does seem to worsen when the weather is damp, as this summer has been.

If it goes in the next 3 weeks then I'll know that the builders fixing of the tile and pointing has done the trick.

Check to see if there is something electrical that is overheating. Eletrical elements overheating (possibly affecting the plastic casing) causes and awful fishy smell. If it's intermittent check what's changed next time it happens.

I'm a plumber and I deal with this sort of thing all the time.
If you sniffed around and can't find the source, it could be coming from up above.
Is there an attic above the room? It's also possible that a small rodent could be nesting somewhere between the walls and defecating.
Another possibility is that if something like milk may have spilt on the carpet or on the fabric of furniture it will release an odor and will become more severe on some occasions than others, depending on the temperature and humidity of the room.
There is a new product on the market, and I highly recommend. It's called Room Shocker. It will illuminate any severe odor in a 500 square-foot area by decontaminating the room of any odor causing mold, mildew, bacteria, fungus or even chemical compounds. The stuff is pretty amazing. It will get rid of the odor and sanitize the room. But first, I recommend you make sure the source of the problem isn't a rodent between the walls. If you search the internet under dead animal removal you will find several specialist in your area that can come out and assess it for you for a fee. The other way to go is try the Room Shocker first. It will most likely take care of the problem and if it doesn't the website offers a money back guarantee. So you get a refund and then call the dead animal removal service.

Best of luck.
Joe the plumber

:cool:
I'm a plumber and I deal with this sort of thing all the time.
If you sniffed around and can't find the source, it could be coming from up above.
Is there an attic above the room? It's also possible that a small rodent could be nesting somewhere between the walls and defecating.
Another possibility is that if something like milk may have spilt on the carpet or on the fabric of furniture it will release an odor and will become more severe on some occasions than others, depending on the temperature and humidity of the room.
There is a new product on the market, and I highly recommend. It's called Room Shocker. It will illuminate any severe odor in a 500 square-foot area by decontaminating the room of any odor causing mold, mildew, bacteria, fungus or even chemical compounds. The stuff is pretty amazing. It will get rid of the odor and sanitize the room. But first, I recommend you make sure the source of the problem isn't a rodent between the walls. If you search the internet under dead animal removal you will find several specialist in your area that can come out and assess it for you for a fee. The other way to go is try the Room Shocker first. It will most likely take care of the problem and if it doesn't the website offers a money back guarantee. So you get a refund and then call the dead animal removal service.

Best of luck.
Joe the plumber

Bad smell in only the bed room how do I find what causing it

Some of you folks have had a smell due to an electric overload. That makes a lot of sense to at least check first as it would present the most immediate danger and most easily remedied cause. Priorities after that I would rate as:

1) Plumbing vent pipes
2) Moisture problems, such as leaks or standing water
3) Mold/mildew problems from old moisture issues
4) Pest problems, either rodent or insect
5) Chemical issues, such as carpet or plywood outgassing
6) Exterior causes, such as fertilizer or industrial smells on the wind

Let me repeat, CHECK THE ELECTRIC, FIRST AND FOREMOST, nothing smells as bad as a burnt down home!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ahkmark

We discoverd the smell in my daughter's room!
It is coming from the cieling light. We were burning a 100W bulb in a max 75W socket and we think it was making the socket smell (must have been plastic getting too hot). Anyway, we left her bedroom light off for 10 days just to be sure....and no more smell.

We are going to replace the sockets and make sure we use only the max light bulb. We found they do sell ceiling light fixtures that allow for 100W so we may replace the whole light.

I hope this helps. We are relieved because the "fishy" smell was driving us crazy!

Anne:)

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Thank goodness for all the answers on this site. My husband and I have lived in the same house for 33 years and have been experiencing the same smell for about a month. We have done all the things everyone listed: checked plumbing, crawled through the attic, ready to call critter control. It has been driving us crazy. Finally I tried some internet research and came up with your answer. After reading it, I remembered that we recently replaced the bulb in our celing fan last month. We went straight to the light, turned it off, and took it out. Yep! It was a 100w bulb that was in a 75w socket. The smell coming from the area was strong. All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you!

Please allow me to repeat myself.

CHECK THE ELECTRIC !!!NOTHING smells as bad as a house fire

Is your smell almost vinegary?

Bkarrer, note that this question was asked 2 years ago. The original poster hasn't been back. My comments were for the forum, not the question.

I have the fishy smell that comes around 11am in the morning for a few hours in my bedroom that is backed up to the bathroom... the electric wall box is in that bedroom... and sometimes when I turn the hot water off or on from the power box (to save money from being on all day)... I notice the buttons are warm... when the fishy smell comes, my eyes water and my nose runs... my answer from the LL is just to run a fan in the basement... can someone help me?. Jan in the Poconos

Jan,

Until our experts check in, the warm buttons at the power box disturb me. Ask your landlord(that is what LL means, yes?) to check the connections at the power box. Electricity flowing through the connections over the years can loosen the screws.

Have you checked for mold in the walls? Have it tested. Also, not that your kids are doing this, but it happens. Have you checked their drawers for panties that have been shoved in the back due to embarrassment?

My neighbors were having a fishy odor in a hallway closet, under the stairs. At first they thought it was something (rodent) that had died inside a wall, but, after carefully checking, couldn't find anything.

This smell has gone on for months and seemed to be really bad one evening. I decided to Google it and found this forum along with another one that all basically said the same thing. One thing stood out though... the comment that said... "Check the electrical, nothing smells as bad as a burnt down house".

My neighbors electrical panel is in that closet.
Sure enough, her husband discovered a hot wire that night. Upon pulling the breaker, he discovered that the back of the breaker had actually melted inside the panel.

Thanks for the heads up!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arw621

One thing stood out though...the comment that said..."Check the electrical, nothing smells as bad as a burnt down house".

My neighbors electrical panel is in that closet.
Sure enough, her husband discovered a hot wire that night. Upon pulling the breaker, he dicovered that the back of the breaker had actually melted inside the panel.

Thanks for the heads up!!!!

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