Recent uilding odor & smell diagnostic FAQs, set #3

Frequently asked questions about how to track down the source of odors or smells in or around buildings. Where is that horrible smell coming from? Is it the dog? Maybe not, as these reader questions and moderator replies explain.

This article series provides a methodology useful for tracking down the sources of odors in buildings. How to find the cause of odors, odor sources, and how to find and cure the source of smells in building air, water, heating and cooling systems, or other sources.

More FAQs on Finding the Source of Odors or Smells in Buildings

Recent Questions & Answers about Odor Diagnosis & Cure in and around Buildings, posted originally

at ODORS GASES SMELLS, DIAGNOSIS & CURE - topic home.

On 2018-04-27 by (mod) - what to do if the dead mouse smell persists

Sorry to say, Kate, that once you've cleaned the surfaces that are accessible, if the dead mouse odor persists your options are:

Ventilate and wait - a small mouse ultimately dries out and stops smelling - not the most aesthetic nor healthy approach but possible

Cut and look - cut strategic openings, typically 2x4" in an area that will let you inspect below the cabinet or perhaps into nearby wall cavities. Before doing this I'd also inspect the kitchen from below - perhaps there's easier access from a basement or crawl space.

YOu can also use our recommended (no cost) SMELL PATCH TEST KIT to test surfaces to see if one is a stronger odor-emitter.

On 2018-04-25 by Kate corner kitchen cabinet had a foul odor

Home is 14 yrs old. A lower corner kitchen cabinet had a foul odor and I suspected a dead mouse.

The cabinet is used for storage of plastic containers, shopping bags both paper and plastic, sealed plastic water bottles and no food has ever been stored in it. After removal and careful inspection of everything, nothing was found. I washed the walls and shelves of the cabinet with kitchen antibacterial cleaner and the odor remained.

I rewashed all with bleach and the odor has greatly subsided but now the general area outside the cabinets has the same foul odor. The cabinets are pressed board with wood doors.

The upper cabinets reach to the ceiling and the backsplash and counters are granite. All cabinets have been inspected, the bottom kickplate under the cabinet was removed, the attic has been carefully inspected, all 6 socket/cable/phone plates on the granite backsplash were removed.

Lighting fixtures have been inspected. Cabinets are on an interior wall. A bathroom is behind the wall with floor to ceiling tile on all walls. No odor in that room.

Cannot find the source of the odor. It hangs in the air in one corner of the kitchen. It is now 2 weeks.
Totally nauseating!

On 2018-03-27 by Homeowner (Condo) Burnt Toast Smell on/off daily for years

Burnt Toast Smell on/off daily for years -

Discovered the source in my case was someone smoking in the condo next door.

Older condo and the smoke travels through the electrical outlets into the shared wall cavity. It smells like burnt toast. Remove drywall, bag the outlets, plastic barrier (between suites), fire stop the wire runs, seal the joints, and bingo, smell is gone.

On 2018-03-07 by (mod) - bad odour from only one rest room

If you mean that the odor is from just one fixture in a restroom with multiple toilets or urinals, then I'd suspect an improperly-installed unit with a bad seal to the waste pipe. Your plumber can remove, seal, replace the unit.

On 2018-03-06 by vivek

we have a high end just commissioned rest room in a commercial bldg . we have started getting bad odour from only one rest room which is at mid lvl. but not able to identify the source.

On 2018-03-04 by Angel

We just moved, have been here 3 months and just started smelling a burnt wire smell. It is coming from the front door

. It’s warming up here and with the full glass door the front door is putting off an odor.

Not sure of what paint they used but it smells toxic. I have COPD and asthma and the odor is really bothering me. What can we do?

On 2018-02-18 by Rachel White spirit chemical smell in house

White spirit chemical smell in house where could it be coming from checked all cuboards.

On 2017-12-15 by (mod) - get rid of sulphur odors

If the problem is ONLY in the laundry room then the issue might not be with water supply but rather with sewer gases backing up and coming out through the washing machine stand pipe into which your washer drains.

Try sniffing close to that opening - if the odor is stronger that's probably the odor source. You may be facing a clogged sewer line, a blocked plumbing vent system, or a failing septic system (sorry if that bad news turns out to be the case). If drains are slow at other fixtures that will tend to confirm the drain blockage/septic system guess.

If that's the case

see SEWER GAS ODORS https://inspectapedia.com/septic/Sewer_Gas_Odors.php

If the problem is in only hot water there could be bacterial contamination in the water heater.
In that case

see ANODES & DIP TUBES on WATER HEATERS https://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Water_Heater_Anode.php

If the problem is noticed in cold water then the problem may be in the actual water source, perhaps a private well.

WATER ODOR TREATMENTS, CURES - SULPHUR -https://inspectapedia.com/water/Sulphur_Odor_in_Water.php should help

Or for a more broad approach to tracking down sulphur odors see SULPHUR & SEWER GAS SMELL SOURCES https://inspectapedia.com/odor_diagnosis/Sulphur_Odor_Sources.php

On 2017-12-14 by Pat Graham

Since I moved into apartment a month ago, there has been a rotten egg smell around the washing machine. The apartment had been vacant for 3 months so washer had not been used during that time.

The maintenance crew has been here at least 4 times, eventually said cause was a back-up, and that they removed the "clog" Strong odor remains, had two of my aquaintances, (witnesses) attest to this because the crew said they don't smell it. I had initially ran a Clorax wash, and tried a powder machine cleaner to no avail

They replaced the washer but strong odor remains. I'm a 76 year old female on a fixed income. What agency could I contact that would conduct an air and odor test for a reasonable fee?

they

On 2016-11-10 by (mod) -

Peter, Writing as Martin Dunn,

unfortunately long wordy posts with nonsense language are either ignored by readers or deleted by the moderator.

RE-posting a portion of Peter's comment:

In the last week a strong smell like a sweet vanila or syrupy smell has occurred in a double kitchen cupboard & the two drawers ,,we have emptied & washed all the contents & thoughrily scrubed the cupboards & drawers ..we even put the drawers & the shelves outside & the smell is still there..

The smell isn't in any other cupboards or drawers & only happened this week..It is the actuall wood that smells ..please can anyone help with an explanation

On 2016-10-28 by mod) - collect a water sample that is taken ahead of any water equipment in your building

Phil:

If you have not done so, collect a water sample that is taken ahead of any water equipment in your building and have that analyzed by a water test lab.

On 2016-10-28 by Phil

Sometimes when I wash my hand towels sush as kitchen towel and sponges and they get wet in a little bit they have a smell of oil on them.
I have well water which is run through a water softner.
Sometimes it will wash out but cone back at times.
Can you please help???
Thanks !!

Email us as follows
philthralls@gmail.com

On 2016-10-17 by Patty

We are having a very strong chemical smell in one of ours rooms. The smell only appears when the sun hits that side of the house. It is only smelling in one room. Who would i call to come and detect this smell for us. Im worried the smell may be harmful.

On 2016-10-15 by K.J.K.

Additional info related to my 1st post below:

So... I'm like 90% sure that the fumes I complained about in my previous question are coming from the materials used to weather-proof the underground part of my condo. I got down in the dirt & sniffed around the base of my house & smelled the same odor that's making me sick inside. Yes, this problem is turning me into a crazy person.

I can't leave the windows open long this time of year. Once they're closed up the air in that space is heavily saturated within hours. I'd already painted most of the cinder block walls with concrete paint. There are some exposed patches behind my cupboards which is where I traced the original smell before it became so unbearably strong.

I'm so sorry for rambling. This is the only place online I've found anything even remotely helpful. My budget for fixing this is about $200. Im open to any suggestions or advice.
Thanks again for listening.

Me & my mother moved into a condo Aug 2015. The first level is a few feet underground with cinder block walls up to window level. My first week in this place I smelled something that (for lack of a better description) reminded me of turpentine or mineral spirits. It made me sick; pass out, fall off a step ladder, have a seizure. I got a CO detector.

I called in the fire department. They tested for gasses, didn't find anything, thought I was nuts.
Online research led me to the concept of off-gassing

. I spent about 100 hours painting the custom cupboards & drawers built into the wall to seal in the exposed pressed wood. This helped a lot but not 100%.
2 weeks ago the underground part of my building was weather-proofed.

A week later that smell started up again. It's grown in such intensity that I've had to seal up that part of my home. I did the paper towel/foil test & concluded that the smell is not coming from the cupboards (which I thought might be off-gassing again) but it might be coming from the cinder block wall behind them (where they did the weather-proofing outside).

My next door neighbor says he doesn't smell anything in his place but he also doesn't spend much time on the 1st floor & admits his sense of smell is shot since he had his stroke.

I am depressed & desperate. That part of the condo is my personal living space & it's absolutely inhabitable.

Do you have any idea what could be going on? How can I fix it? Who can I call to help?
Thanks so much for your time.

On 2016-10-03 by Anonymous

came home today, our whole apartment building smells like oil/gas/paint or maybe some kind of glue? not sure what it could be, and if its harmful at all?

On 2016-09-25 by Linda Mulley (llmulley@gmail.com)

We have an ongoing odor problem in our basement apartment that has resisted all "cures" so far. The odor is not easy to describe - not an obvious one, just what might say is an "off smell." We cleaned every appliance, rug, piece of furniture, checked cavity for dead critters (had a pest specialist do this), checked the wood stove and all pipes, etc.

We do have a dehumidifier (no HVAC) in the unit which runs often.

There is not evidence of mold although the smell is somewhat musty. No improvement or it seems so, then the odor is back. We feel we need professional help with identifying the source of this odor. Is there a list of qualified professionals who do this kind of work?

we're desperate as we rent this apt for income and feel we can't do this without solving this problem. Thanks!

On 2016-09-24 by mod) - look for a drain leak into a building cavity, dead animal in a building cavity, or a chemical or cleaner spill.

I'd look for a drain leak into a building cavity, dead animal in a building cavity, or a chemical or cleaner spill.

On 2016-09-05 by gjfokens@hotmail.com

Bad odor confined to one upsatirs bathroom. We have replaced the toilet and wax rings twice.

We have done a smoke test. We have cut an access panel from the adjoining closet to see the tub plumbing - no odor there. Isn't a classic sewer smell. Odor grad worsening over two to three years. Seveeral plumbers have tried to find the cuse without success. Help!

On 2016-08-15 by mod) -

Char


Unless sunlight is shining directly on to the carpeting I'd be surprised if sunlight were a factor in carpet odor off gassing.

You could try ventilating the home to see if you could speed the offgassing from new carpet padding. Often heat plus ventilation can speed that process.

I'd also ask that you tell us what is different between the odorless new carpet and the smelly new carpet: brand, model, different carpet padding, different subfloor, prior spills, moisture level, ventilation, &c.

On 2016-08-15 by mod) - carpet padding odors

Re-posting

AUTHOR:Char (no email)

I just had wall-to wall carpet/ padding replaced on stairs leading upstairs and the second floor/ hallways 3 rooms...We had that " new carpet smell but that quickly turned into an obnoxious odor 2-3 days later. Directly from the front door to the right is the stairs.

The odor hits us even before we get I the house when opening screen door. I used ur suggestion and tried smell patch test which determined no smell

On areas I tried. It seems to be more powerful when sun hits that side of house. I called carpet installer and he is sending someone out. I asked my neighbor to lend her nose and she detected same odor. I can only describe it as cigar smoke mixed with some type of petroleum smell. The installer tacked the carpet to stairs ( not glued) I am At a loss to find this odor source…

Garage is on the other wall… No odor, basement no odor…

Any suggestions? And what companies can diagnose my problem? BTW my neighbor who came to smell had exact carpet/pad installed 2 mos. earlier by same company.. I'm thinking perhaps the vehicle transporting materials compromised the carpet or pad as they were taken out last, therefore laying on bottom Of can floor..

is asking installer to remove stairs carpet ( where smell is) unreasonable… The rest of upstairs no smell just beautiful carpet.. Help please!!

On 2016-08-01 by mod) - dealing with a bleach smell

With apology for being of a rather cautious nature - a result of thousands of building inspections - a bleach smell that was not present when you first saw the home but that suddenly appeared right after closing makes me think that somebody did something, perhaps out of fear that discovery of a problem (mold, sewage backup, something else) someone did some bleaching, cleaning, disinfecting, or the like during the contracting interval.

Freon is odorless.

If you smell bleach there was probably bleach spilled or used somewhere in the home, perhaps at stronger than necessary concentration;

If cleaning using mild cleaners, water, vinegar if you like, plus ventilating and drying the house does not fix the problem I'd try the SMELL PATCH TEST KIT procedure (search InspectApedia) to see if you can pinpoint the emitting surface; that will need further cleaning or perhaps sealing.

I'd look around for reasons why someone was fooling with bleach: a water leak that caused mold growth, a toilet overflow, etc.

On 2016-08-01 by Broderbund

Hello

My wife and I recently purchased a home.......originally built in 1950's and remodeled in early 1990's.

Half of the home is on crawl space and newer areas on slab. Two HVAC units service the house. My understanding is the older part of the house has metal ducts and the newer portion has flexible duct work.

The day we closed on the house we noticed a fairly strong chemical smell (bleach/chlorine like) in the house but chalked it up to the house being closed up.

its been 60 days since we closed and while i believe the smell is marginally better it is still lingering. so much so that you can smell it in your clothes after spending some time in the house.

We've had multiple professionals (including certified Indoor Air expert) look at the house and all are stumped.

You can actually smell the bleach like smell at the front door before you enter the house and it's particularly strong in the foyer as you enter through the front door.

Here is what we know at this point......

1) One of the air handlers has a freon leak........we had more freon inserted and seems to be operating ok this point.

2) We've spoken to the prior owner and she claims she never used bleach to clean out the drain lines on the HVAC units (who know if she is being truthful). I know one of the drain lines is working ok.....attempting to find the other one to make sure that one is draining ok as well.

3) We had all the air ducts cleaned by a professional service

4) The smell does not appear to be emanating from the crawl space (we've had it inspected)

5) I've read articles about sewer gas smell but this is not a rotten egg smell ---- it smells very much like chlorine or bleach

6) We've cleaned the house with a light vinegar & water solution and aired it out with industrial fans........the smell continues.

Any thoughts on if the HVAC units could be causing this? It's strongest in the foyer area but seems to be prevalent throughout the house. We're really frustrated and want to figure this out before moving into the home in the next 30 days.

Grateful for any thoughts, ideas or next steps......

On 2016-07-11 by mod) -

Depending on how long a smoker occupies a space, space size, materials present, amount of smoking, cigarette tar and odors can persist for decades unless there is a combination of professional cleaning and sealing of the appropriate materials and surfaces.

Depending on how air moves in a building it is possible for odors from one area to move to another, though smoke odors from two stories above seems a bit unlikely - why wouldn't there be even stronger smoke odors in the space between you and the odor source? If you are convinced the source is two floors above you'd want to look for an air and odor transmission path that is unique to the two spaces.

On 2016-07-11 by Mario

We get very strong cigarette smell in our laundry room. We live in the 2FL of a 4 story bldg where the 1FL is the parking garage. We were told the person in the 4th Fl smokes but then he moved and we still get the smell. By the way we do not smoke at all. Any suggestions?

On 2016-07-09 by Anonymous

The maintenance man at my apt are blaming my dog for the sulfur smell, rather than if my dog was urinating on the carpet, it would smell like amonia.

On 2016-07-08 by mod) -

Marlene

You've done part of the job by tracking the odor to a specific place.
You've done another part by finding what passes through the walls in that area.

In addition to a leaky plumbing vent stack (seems a likely guess) another possibility is that the leak is not immediately in piping that passes through the wall or near ti, but below that point;

Openings in framing for pipes, wiring, or simply variations in how drywall was installed can permit air movement in wall cavities that can be surprising, and that can transport odors from one building area to another.

I would look at what's below the closet.

On 2016-07-07 by Marlene

We moved into a brand new townhouse. Over the last month a oily/ plastic smell has started to build in a walk in closet. The closet is not attached to the next townhouse and the wall that seems to emit the odor the most is an interior wall. I removed everything from the closet to see if it was something we brought in, and it didn't make any difference.

We even had the fire Dept out to look for hot spots in case wire was burning and the room was fine. We have now cut holes in the drywall to look for anything but all the wood and drywall appears fine.

The closet is next to a vent stack from the bathroom below but the stack also goes through another closet adjacent to the smelly one and it doesn't have any smell. We are at a loss. The smell is getting worse and making me physically ill. Any suggestions?

On 2016-07-06 by Neal

During hot days I have a tar smell in the interior of my house stronger near the exterior doors. No new roofing. 18 year old house. Only happens on hot humid days. Any ideas?

On 2016-06-29 by mod) -

Debbie, you ask an important question since a garage odor that in fact is coming from a garage could also be an indicator of the presence of dangerous carbon monoxide gas from a garage where vehicles are running. To be safe be sure there are CO detectors properly installed and working.

Beyond that, it's just not often that one can diagnose the cause of an odor from e-text alone. You need an onsite consultant.

On 2016-06-29 by Debbie

There is an odor where I work that smells like the garage at home or like a commercial garage. It's kind of a combination of dirt and grease or oil. I have a very sensitive sens of smell so no one else smells it but it gives me a headache.

On 2016-06-23 by mod) -

This is a bit broad - 3 different gases, all possibly hazardous;

It might help to track down the odor to a source - if there is one that can be pinpointed - such as a surface (Search InspectApedia.com for SMELL PATCH TEST)

If no surface gives results more things to check include

- if this is a building wide problem other neighbours will have the same odor observations

- if this problem is unique to one specific condo that's very diagnostic and we can start asking what's different thereon

Keep me posted

On 2016-06-23 by Jan

My son's three four floor townhouse/condo has an odor problem resembling the additive to natural gas, formaldehyde or pesticide.

The gas company found no leak but the sickening odor persists in a steady manner unaffected by weather, time of day or any other variable.

The obstacles to obtaining information about the townhouse construction/maintenance/insecticide spraying history seem insurmountable to us as visitors from out of state.

The odor is strongest in the basement at the outside wall and in the kitchen near the stove. The diffuse nature of this odor makes the sniff test difficult.

Can you suggest a course of action. My son's family is up to its eyeballs with work/eat/sleep so we are attempting to trouble shoot on their behalf.

On 2016-06-09 by mod) -

Thanks for the suggestion, Bert; unfortunately there is no magic does-all odor bullet, not paint nor anything else is a substitute for finding and removing the problem source.

On 2016-06-09 by Bert Gurder

You can paint a permanent air purification system on the walls of your home or office, just add the ionic paint additive to the paint, turns the walls into a air purification system. Your home will me free of pet, smoking odors and toxins one treatment will remain as long as the paint on the wall surface is intact.

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Continue reading at ODOR DIAGNOSIS CHECKLIST, PROCEDURE or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see ODOR DIAGNOSIS FAQs-4 - more-recent questions & answers about the sources of and cures for smells around or in buildings.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ODOR DIAGNOSIS SIX STEPS
• ODOR DIAGNOSIS CHECKLIST
• ODORS GASES SMELLS, DIAGNOSIS & CURE
• SMELL PATCH TEST to FIND ODOR SOURCE

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