Thu 19 Jun, 2014 03:56 pm
After about two months after moving into a recently renovated place, I noticed an odd, awful smell in the closet that happened within hours. At first I thought it was the baking soda I had recently bought, although it was an odd assumption. I has been two months since the smell has started, I have checked all clothes and shoe boxes. I have wiped walls, floors, and shelves with Lysol disinfectant wipes. The smell is strong enough to radiate into my room and it is horrible if I keep the door shut. Any ideas on what the cause may be? Or any ways to solve the problem?
@That1Girl,
I have heard that coffee grounds scattered around are great for removing odors. Of course, you can only scatter them around floors and shelving. Can't treat the walls that way. Good that you checked clothes and shoe boxes as that might have been an obvious choice.
Coffee grounds means coffee right out of the container, not after it's been brewed.
Let us know what finally worked.
@That1Girl,
Do you have a landlord. Has he/she been contacted?
Without playing detective too deeply, what do you know about renovation and that closet and area? Is it possible that something is dead behind the walls?
Something you wrote is not clear:
Quote:awful smell in the closet that happened within hours.
Within hours of what? Your moving in? How do you know when the smell started? When you moved in..or when the renovation was completed?
@That1Girl,
Cleaning the walls, floors, etc... isn't going to help if you have a dead animal stuck somewhere in the walls (mouse, squirrel, etc...). I bet it's likely that.
Try and pinpoint the exact location of the source.
Or hire an exterminator. It's likely he or she will be familiar with the smell of a rotting animal corpse. After that? Get a carpenter to cut through the wall and remove the poor critter.
@Ragman,
When I say within hours, I am referring to, I went shopping for a few hours and when I returned it was there, I had never smelt it before. I had lived here for about two months at that point. In regards to the renovation, Just paining and installing drawers. nothing behind the wall that I am familiar with. Sorry if renovation was an improper word for such change.
@That1Girl,
Still, it might be something not your fault - er, dead mice? (or worse?) - within the walls.
Myself I have little sense of smell, and when I lived in an area where there were occasional skunks showing up, I was worried my dog would get sprayed and I couldn't smell it...
luckily, that never happened.
@That1Girl,
Sometimes smells like you describe come out when the weather changes, like cat pee, for instance, on the floor.
You are going to have to be more specific about the smell.
Check the bottom of your shoes. It could be coming from there - after stepping in dog poop, for instance.
Have you ever read "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe? A man seals his rival behind a wall to die. Maybe your landlord sealed his ex wife behind some sheetrock in there?
If the landlord won't address the complaint, tell him you'll have to make a complaint to the board of health.
Try out some room fresheners for some days or take help form an exterminator if you think something is dead and smells so badly because after sometime it will get decompose and the smell will be stopped or if you think it is something else then you should get it checked.
Their might be any sanitary pipe near by your room or under floor, and had broken. Check for this, it may be possible.
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