Identifying a Strange Smell From Under Floorboards

[Hodgie]

Hi Everyone,

I need some help from the Pistonheads experts! I have a strange smell coming from under the floor boards in my house and trying to find the source of it is driving me insane! The smell is coming from the floor void in the upstairs bedroom in-built cupboard, however, I think it is only coming from here as there is a gap in the carpet is letting it escape from this point.

It is very difficult to describe the smell, not the horrible stink a dead rat or mouse makes, not the fishy smell of old electrics, more like a slight chemical smell. It has been present for around 6 months and has stayed the same, not got any better or worse.

A bit about the house, it is a brick terrace house, built in 1914, so solid external walls etc.

So far I have lifted the floor boards in that room and not found anything obvious. There are no signs of droppings, nesting etc. from rodents. There is also no obvious signs of damp and everything appears dry. The floor void has a 'breeze' circulating under it, the source of which I can't find at the moment but it must be ventilated from somewhere!

I get a bit obsessed with these sort of problems and I am currently banging my head against the wall! I have booked a plumber in to come and investigate and also service the boiler and check the flue just in case.

Has anyone had a similar problem that they could offer any advice on?

Thanks

Hodgie

[GetCarter]

Dead mouse probably. Give it 6months it'll go... or rip up the floorboards...

[mike74]

Yeah dead something, probably mouse.

When I had a dead mouse it wasn't a particularly strong or overly unpleasant smell, it was a sort of sickly sweet smell.

[MX5_Nuts]

Sounds a bit like a toilet/sewer smell which can smell 'chemically' like you're explaining. Maybe a crack/loose join somewhere in a pipe?

[Hodgie]

Thanks for the replies.

I originally thought a dead mouse, but the fact its been there for 6 months makes me think it would have faded off by now? I have hired a colour inspection camera so will have a good search in each room to see if i can find anything.

The sewer smell maybe a possibility if it can create a chemically smell, I am hoping the plumber can confirm if this is the cause or not.

[Hodgie]

Just to update this, i had the plumber around who tested the whole system, ran some checks and serviced my boiler. He gave everything a clean bill of health and said the smell was not related in any way to the plumbing or heating.

I decided to pop round and see the neighbors to see if they had a similar problem, their house smelled very strongly of the smell i have been finding! I think it is moth balls being used and the smell is coming in from under the floor boards through the party wall/joist pockets. So I will be getting the expander foam out at the weekend and sealing up these areas which should hopefully cure it!

[Simpo Two]

Heh, amusing to think that nobody knows what mothballs (naphthalene) smell like now!

[Hodgie]

Simpo Two said:

Heh, amusing to think that nobody knows what mothballs (naphthalene) smell like now!

I barely knew what they were, it's a strange smell!

[Sheepshanks]

Hodgie said:

... which should hopefully cure it!

Yes, but you'll now gets moths! I had a really good suit eaten by the buggers, could have wept.

[mike74]

Hodgie said:

Just to update this, i had the plumber around who tested the whole system, ran some checks and serviced my boiler. He gave everything a clean bill of health and said the smell was not related in any way to the plumbing or heating.

I decided to pop round and see the neighbors to see if they had a similar problem, their house smelled very strongly of the smell i have been finding! I think it is moth balls being used and the smell is coming in from under the floor boards through the party wall/joist pockets. So I will be getting the expander foam out at the weekend and sealing up these areas which should hopefully cure it!

That sounds like a rather tricky situation, how did you untangle yourself from that once you realised the smell was their house?

[Hodgie]

mike74 said:

That sounds like a rather tricky situation, how did you untangle yourself from that once you realised the smell was their house?

I changed the conversation very quickly to other plans for DIY! It could have been rather embarrassing, they are good neighbors and the fault isn't theirs. I am just glad it is not something more sinister and I can now stop pulling the house apart!