Weird smell in the house
OK, I’m being frank. I have written this headline with one eye on Google. Because, well, it’s what I just caught myself thinking of Googling.
A hard thing to admit, but there’s a corner of my old house with a weird smell in it. I’ll caveat this with a couple of things. Firstly I’m sure – despite my best efforts – that the house doesn’t always smell that brilliant anyway. If you can say different I salute you. The other thing is that it doesn’t smell all the time. Or even most of the time. It’s a mysterious presence, almost like a ghost, manifesting only on occasion. But, you know, often enough that you’d rather it didn’t.
I find myself wondering about causes, reading events and portents. Is it when the wind comes off the sea at a certain angle to the house? I find myself checking for north-westerlies on the internet. It can’t be anything that has been caused my any work I’ve done – or not done. Because it’s always been there for 8 years. It’s in one corner of the main room, where it backs on to a hallway. I’m trying to give you all the relevant information. I have turned detective. I have become obsessed.
I have been here before, once, when something died under a wooden kitchen floor, elsewhere. Days were spent going through denial, acceptance etc – sniffing at the kick plates and shining a torch down the cracks. It ended after a long day, half the floor torn up, the rat curled up in his newspaper grave. A kitchen apocalypse. Before the final discovery though I genuinely thought I would lose my mind.
Here I’m toying with putting down a carpet in this room, but of course need to pull the floorboards up first for a thorough investigation. What if I find something awful? It could be a bricked-up nun… Why I am telling you this? It’s certainly not an incentive to drop round for tea, is it? I’m just after a sympathetic ear, I guess. A sympathetic ear and a finely attuned nose. Has this ever happened to you? What did you do? And what the hell was it?
Worst smell ever, lasted for weeks. We played hunt the dead fish for ages before discovering a squashed lizard in a groove along the top of the kitchen door. I’d certainly know it again!
How awful, your rat story would be my wife’s worst nightmare, she would move out and never come back! A photograph of one (or any related creatures) in a newspaper or magazine have to be censored by me. The idea of one being in the house and found dead in the house would just be the end!
As to what you do? I really don’t know, I just hope it isn’t rodent related.
I’m wondering if you have a dog who might do some sniffing around to better pinpoint the zone of terror? I had some dead rats in my garage, my dog definitely sniffed around in the area where they were. We had to rip out a bunch of drywall to get to them and spray any wallboard that didn’t go with a diluted solution of bleach and water. I’m sorry and good luck!
I had similar right in the corner of a room – occasionally a definite whiff of something, only to disappear when up close to the errant area. One day, uncontrollable spluttering & watering eyes at the reek of burning cat piss forced the guy hand-sanding the boards to stop – and the penny finally dropped. Repeated use over years by the previous owner’s tom cat as a dedicated toilet area was the explanation! Only really heavy duty sanding down through many layers really gets rid of all vestiges of odour – good luck…
I’m sorry I cannot offer any advice but I’d be interested in knowing how this story ends. Thanks and good luck!
We had a very bad smell when I was a child: it arrived at the same time as a French exchange student which was all good and hilarious and we spent a good two weeks trying to subtly help him improve his bodily hygiene. And after we left we found the cat had left a mouse under his bed, poor bugger.
What are these photos about then?
thanks Jo! Yes it’s defo not a rat or mouse – that smell is never to be forgotten, right? The pictures… glad you asked. They are stills from the video for Shakin’ Stevens’ 80s hit “This Old House” about a rickety old house he has to fix up. Ever the home-lover I was obsessed with this as a child. An American song I guess, I didn’t then know what the ‘shingles’ were that he had to fix.
we had a pong when we used the shower – we found a Rat had died on the pump motor for the shower and of course, when we showered the pump would get hot and a miasma would go up – bllluuurrrrrrggg!