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TheBeachHouse

TheBeachHouse

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Couple complained that the room smelled of dead animal. DH checked. Oh year, it stinks! It is a third floor room of a three story house. So he checked under the eves and decided it might be wet insulation from before PO replaced the roof. (It has been VERY humid the past few days.)
We are booked, so no way to move them.
He took out all the stuff that was stored there. Sprayed a chit-load of Fabreze and opened the windows. He also comped them one night of a two night stay.
He double checked around 5 PM and the room smelled ok.
What else?
 
Well I think your comp was right on. Unless he continues to complain, and the smell returns I think you are good.
 
Did the right thing. Could be a bird that got in but could not get out. One Spring went over to the log house and found a bird upstairs - in the chimney of an oil lamp. It probably got in down the fireplace chimney, still cannot figure out how/why it got into the lamp chimney.
 
Holy cow, my house, too. It's the damned humidity. No one is in the room now so I've got the windows open and fans running.
I think you did enough. Unless the smell comes back.
 
Comp was good, get some magic zymes and keep it stocked for such emergencies. With magic zymes you can spray it on everything, including a spray on the walls and it will kill all the odours.
 
Beachie we have an old NE house too. Humidity will let up for a couple of days and then return big time next week. I have not had much of a problem since we installed the split ductless AC units but last week I did notice a musty smell in the common room, which does not have AC. So I broke out the Kanberry. gel..works great. You can order on line or maybe there is a retailer near you that sells it. Give it a try.
 
Musty & dead or two different smells. I get both here! Being on the coast in a very old house built out of huge wood timbers really soak up the moisture and then with the use of the double jacuzzi tubs, the moisture in the room is a lot.. We also get some dead smell sometimes which usually come from under the floor. Magic Zymes works ok, but if it's really a dead smell, it's not going to do the trick. We've got 2 machines that we tackle the problems with. The first is a dehumidifier. We rotate it from room to room as soon as someone checks out and the room smells moist. We'll take it out about 1/2 hour before check in and it really solves the problem. The other machine is an ionizer. It's expensive, but for the dead smell, it really works. No one can be in the room though. It creates a bleachy sort of smell but will permeate through our hardwood floors. It will also take out any kind of perfume or smoke smell.
I've also gone to using an electric wax warmer in the living room. Some people are affected by smells, but in general, most people make a comment about how good it smells when I show them around. I use food fragrances like 'baked apples' or 'vanilla cookies', etc.
These old houses certainly can be an odor challenge!
 
Breakfast Diva said:
Musty & dead or two different smells. I get both here! Being on the coast in a very old house built out of huge wood timbers really soak up the moisture and then with the use of the double jacuzzi tubs, the moisture in the room is a lot.. We also get some dead smell sometimes which usually come from under the floor. Magic Zymes works ok, but if it's really a dead smell, it's not going to do the trick. We've got 2 machines that we tackle the problems with. The first is a dehumidifier. We rotate it from room to room as soon as someone checks out and the room smells moist. We'll take it out about 1/2 hour before check in and it really solves the problem. The other machine is an ionizer. It's expensive, but for the dead smell, it really works. No one can be in the room though. It creates a bleachy sort of smell but will permeate through our hardwood floors. It will also take out any kind of perfume or smoke smell.
I've also gone to using an electric wax warmer in the living room. Some people are affected by smells, but in general, most people make a comment about how good it smells when I show them around. I use food fragrances like 'baked apples' or 'vanilla cookies', etc.
These old houses certainly can be an odor challenge!.
Click to expand...
Breakfast Diva said:
Musty & dead or two different smells.
Click to expand...
But not everyone smells things the same way. The smell here is eau de damp basement. We've got the dehumidifier running all the time right now. (Usually just for 4 hours on a timer.) It's just one room and it's because of the water pipes coming up from the basement. Also, secondary problem occurs when the gutters are full of leaf mold. Just the one room.
The PO's put those pods under the bed that absorb odor. Didn't work. We ventilated the storage area behind the room. Didn't work. Rerouted the downspouts from the gutters. Nope. It wasn't until we completely cleared the gutters that the smell went away. It took us three YEARS to figure this out. I hated renting that room when it was humid. Luckily, this summer hasn't been bad. It poured buckets this past weekend and has been damp ever since. Drying out today. Yippee! (Door to room is open, windows are open, vent fan is running. Will leave that door open until the room rents. And cross my fingers.)
 
Morticia said:
Holy cow, my house, too. It's the damned humidity. No one is in the room now so I've got the windows open and fans running.
I think you did enough. Unless the smell comes back..
Click to expand...
When we bought this place we pulled some, but not all, walls down. Hauled out the lath and horsehair plaster...and thousands of tiny animal skeletons/remains. Ewwwww
So when the humidity is really bad here I know that the remains of little creatures, piling up in those walls for over 150 years, is the cause of the "animal smell". Fortunately, the smell goes away once the air dries out. Not much you can do about that if you live in an old house by the sea. We think of it as part of the charm of old New England!
wink_smile.gif

 
Silverspoon said:
Morticia said:
Holy cow, my house, too. It's the damned humidity. No one is in the room now so I've got the windows open and fans running.
I think you did enough. Unless the smell comes back..
Click to expand...
When we bought this place we pulled some, but not all, walls down. Hauled out the lath and horsehair plaster...and thousands of tiny animal skeletons/remains. Ewwwww
So when the humidity is really bad here I know that the remains of little creatures, piling up in those walls for over 150 years, is the cause of the "animal smell". Fortunately, the smell goes away once the air dries out. Not much you can do about that if you live in an old house by the sea. We think of it as part of the charm of old New England!
wink_smile.gif

.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips. I am passing them on to DH.
We know the PO replaced the roof. DH thinks this room might have been where the worst leak was and that when they replaced the roof, they didn't bother to replace the insulation leaving dampness and possibly mold.
We have had the smell two other times this summer, but a simple window opening and Fabreeze spray has helped. And we always caught it BEFORE the guests arrived. This week has been beyond humid around here.
The charm of old New England sounds good. I'll use it!
 
Morticia said:
Breakfast Diva said:
Musty & dead or two different smells. I get both here! Being on the coast in a very old house built out of huge wood timbers really soak up the moisture and then with the use of the double jacuzzi tubs, the moisture in the room is a lot.. We also get some dead smell sometimes which usually come from under the floor. Magic Zymes works ok, but if it's really a dead smell, it's not going to do the trick. We've got 2 machines that we tackle the problems with. The first is a dehumidifier. We rotate it from room to room as soon as someone checks out and the room smells moist. We'll take it out about 1/2 hour before check in and it really solves the problem. The other machine is an ionizer. It's expensive, but for the dead smell, it really works. No one can be in the room though. It creates a bleachy sort of smell but will permeate through our hardwood floors. It will also take out any kind of perfume or smoke smell.
I've also gone to using an electric wax warmer in the living room. Some people are affected by smells, but in general, most people make a comment about how good it smells when I show them around. I use food fragrances like 'baked apples' or 'vanilla cookies', etc.
These old houses certainly can be an odor challenge!.
Click to expand...
Breakfast Diva said:
Musty & dead or two different smells.
Click to expand...
But not everyone smells things the same way. The smell here is eau de damp basement. We've got the dehumidifier running all the time right now. (Usually just for 4 hours on a timer.) It's just one room and it's because of the water pipes coming up from the basement. Also, secondary problem occurs when the gutters are full of leaf mold. Just the one room.
The PO's put those pods under the bed that absorb odor. Didn't work. We ventilated the storage area behind the room. Didn't work. Rerouted the downspouts from the gutters. Nope. It wasn't until we completely cleared the gutters that the smell went away. It took us three YEARS to figure this out. I hated renting that room when it was humid. Luckily, this summer hasn't been bad. It poured buckets this past weekend and has been damp ever since. Drying out today. Yippee! (Door to room is open, windows are open, vent fan is running. Will leave that door open until the room rents. And cross my fingers.)
.
Click to expand...
Yup - always better to fix the problem than mask the symptoms. But as you said, not always obvious.
 

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