We have a house that was built in 1948. We bought it in 2005. We know there were some drainage issues and have two sump pumps under the house, as do most of our neighbors. This morning, we woke up to a very strong smell of mud coming from under the house. It was mainly in one room, but by the end of this rainy day it is throughout the house. We have been through rainy days before but never had this smell. I have noticed, having slept on my son's floor recently, that it is very cold and I can feel a draft through the carpet. Is this something we can insulate against or is it a bigger problem than that? Is there something else I need to be careful about or check on? Why after almost four years am I smelling it now for the first time? What about mold issues? I have a two year old son who's health I am concerned about.

Is your house on a basement or a crawlspace? In either case you need to actually get under that son's floor from the underside and see just what is under there. If you are feeling a draft, then obviously there is an open area to the outside that needs repaired. Do you have gutters on your home directing the excess water away from your foundation?

We have a crawl space under the entire house. We had a friend come and replace our sump pumps under the house a few months ago while it was still dry. He said underneath the house looked okay because we were worried about the water that collects under there during the winter. It is a neighborhood problem because we are at the bottom of a hill. Everyone has sump pumps. He said he did not notice any leaking pipes or pools of water at that point but placed these two pumps where he could tell water would collect. One of them is under my son's room. He also checked for mold because it was a major concern of mine. All of us have had allergy problems that seem to be getting much worse for my son and husband. He said he didn't see any but thought that when we do remodel we should have the wood treated under there to prevent any. We will be remodeling soon, now especially, because the house needs it. We have aluminum framed single pane windows and we need a new roof soon. Our gutters do move the water to the street in most of the cases. There are no downspouts near his room. We do have water collecting in two pools right against our foundation, which I know is not good. Now that we are aware of them we will be out clearing a better path to a nearby drain and making sure it doesn't do that.

Do you know if we can have the wood treated and then just insulate to prevent the drafts and smells? Thanks you so much for your response. My son woke up this morning with a barking cough that came out of no where. I will move him out of the room tonight.

Twinkiedooter, There is a vent under my son's bedroom window that leads to under the house. I was told by one of the contractors that the more vents the better to help the area dry out faster once the rain stops. Should I be covering the vent up?

Easiest thing I can think of to suggest would be to check your insulation under your house for spots that are missing and also to make sure there is a layer of plastic between the insulation and the open area that does not have holes in it. As for the vents I did concrete work for a while and yes the vents help out drying up the area but most vents have a way to open and close them I would recommend closing them when it gets closer to winter time and opening them in the spring to summer time.
Hope this helps