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kimaby2 · Feb 25, 2013, 08:48 AM

I moved into my home about 2 months ago. My daughters room has a musty smell and I cannot find it. I had the carpet in the entire house upstairs and down replaced because it smelled of pet urine. It was sealed, new padding, and new carpet. The walls and ceiling in my daughters bedroom had KILZ used on it and painted. Before it was painted I pulled everything out the her room thinking maybe it was her mattress that smelled. It was not, it is in the room itself. I tested the air with a mold kit from home depot and nothing has appeared on the test. I checked the air vent in her room and the attic access in the hallway and there are no musty smells from there either. The entire time I have had an air purifier and bought some houseplants to help clean the air. I had someone come in with a electronic moisture meter to test the walls. There are no pipes in the walls and there is no connecting bathroom. It is military housing so I cannot just put a hole in the wall to find the musty smell. There are no visible signs of mold, mildew, or any discoloration, so the housing manager is out of options. I do not want any of my children in that room. My daughter has frequent nosebleeds so I do not want the mold causing more problems. I had to fight to get everything in that room done because the housing manager and workers said they could not even smell the pet urine. I had to have them come in with a blacklight to prove to them that something was in the carpet. I knew there was something because I kept sneezing like I had allergies and I do not have any allergies. I still smell the musty smell in her bedroom but since there are no visible signs they cannot do anymore than they have. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

joypulv · Feb 25, 2013, 10:13 AM

You don't mention the attic or basement. Do you have a basement? Have you been in either one to check for things like dead mice and squirrels?
I live in rural New England and it seems like every kitchen I have ever had smells a bit musty from dead mice or rotten food they drag behind stoves, fridges, in walls! When they really get bad they stink to high heaven.
There's also the flooring under the old carpet - presumably plywood. Of course urine will sink right into it. I'm not sure what you mean by 'sealing' anything - paint or poly on the wood floor?

kimaby2 · Feb 25, 2013, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by joypulv

You don't mention the attic or basement. Do you have a basement? Have you been in either one to check for things like dead mice and squirrels?
I live in rural New England and it seems like every kitchen I have ever had smells a bit musty from dead mice or rotten food they drag behind stoves, fridges, in walls! When they really get bad they stink to high heaven.
There's also the flooring under the old carpet - presumably plywood. Of course urine will sink right into it. I'm not sure what you mean by 'sealing' anything - paint or poly on the wood floor?

I do not have a basement. The bedroom that has the smell is upstairs. I am not sure what they sealed the floor with, I know it came in a can like paint does. I checked the attic if that's what you call it. It is not for any use, it it just the rafter beams, and I took a video of it with my camera phone to show the housing manager. It has been blown with insulation. I know it is not a dead mouse because I have smelled that before and it would not have smelled for this long, and the housing manager agreed with that. The attic does not have a smell in it. I did pull up the carpet a few times after they had replaced it and did sniffs tests everywhere and did not smell anything. The house is set up like a duplex so there are neighbors on the other side of the wall, but I have 2 other bedrooms on each side of the musty bedroom and neither of them smell. Thanks for response.

joypulv · Feb 25, 2013, 10:51 AM

1. I would ask the neighbors about their room on the other side of her wall.
2. I would get someone to crawl in the attic right over her room.
3. Last resort, take a square of ceiling out from below her room, 16" by 16", right in the midline of two joists, hopefully where the pets most likely peed.
Lifting the carpet to sniff got you a nose full of carpet, padding, and sealing paint smell. It may be masking old smells in the subfloor and joists.

kimaby2 · Feb 27, 2013, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by joypulv

1. I would ask the neighbors about their room on the other side of her wall.
2. I would get someone to crawl in the attic right over her room.
3. Last resort, take a square of ceiling out from below her room, 16" by 16", right in the midline of two joists, hopefully where the pets most likely peed.
Lifting up the carpet to sniff got you a nose full of carpet, padding, and sealing paint smell. It may be masking old smells in the subfloor and joists.

OK. I have emptied the room and checked the attic above her room. There was absolutely nothing in the attic except beams and insulation. Other than the messy insulation and having to move it around to see under it, it is the best attic I have seen as far as no damage or leaks of any kind. I took the air purifier out, I'll give it another couple of days without air purifier and do another sniff test, but I do not have any ideas of where the smell is coming from.

CoolPeter · Mar 15, 2013, 10:30 AM

Can you lift the carpet and take it out of the room, keep in the lawn or garden for a few hours and see of the smell persists or not. If that is the case then I am afraid you have no other option than spend a few hundred dollars to get the carpet and everything of that sort cleaned from a professional carpet cleaner.

kimaby2 · Mar 20, 2013, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by CoolPeter

Can you lift the carpet and take it out of the room, keep in the lawn or garden for a few hours and see of the smell persists or not. If that is the case then I am afraid you have no other option than spend a few hundred dollars to get the carpet and everything of that sort cleaned from a professional carpet cleaner.

I still cannot find the smell in this room. It is not the carpet or the padding for sure. The smell comes and goes everyday like clockwork. Workers have come in with cameras and cut out holes in the walls and check the attic and air vents. It is a musty meat smell that comes around 6 in the evening and leaves around 7 in the morning. I think I am about to be let out of the lease and not offered any housing because it is military and they cannot find the problem, they will not offer another home. Any solutions?